While the SkyTouch Hotel OS® is known for helping hoteliers operate their properties more efficiently, it’s being used creatively in other places too. At universities, it’s helping with some of the unique operational facets of campus hotels. But one flavor of Skytouch’s easy-to-learn property management system is also being used in the classroom.

The cloud based property management system’s choiceAdvantage® version is training the hoteliers of tomorrow by preparing the next generation with real world simulations in an academic environment. It’s happening at Northern Arizona University where university students are experiencing and learning directly from using a version of the SkyTouch Hotel OS®.

Galen Collins, Ph.D., Professor and Associate Director at the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management, located at the W.A. Franke College of Business within Northern Arizona University, says students are responding positively to the exercise.

In the classroom, Collins said they use the cloud based PMS as a hotel simulation. Students first train through a series of modules, then have opportunity to operate the PMS system itself. During the class, students learn different elements of the PMS and how it relates to operating the hotel. They experience management and auditing functions, create reports and more.

“Students have a very favorable perception of the PMS design and learning experience. This PMS is very suitable for classroom use and appropriate for a sophomore-level college course in hospitality information technology.  The students have found the PMS skills gained are practical and transferable,” he said.

According to Collins, key advantages of this system are:

  • Ease of deployment. Essentially it is just there. With no hard disk space required, or the need for installation and configuration of additional software at each local workstation, Collins’ students simply type in a web address to access the SkyTouch experience.
  • Ease of classroom management. Because all system upgrades and enhancements are automatically a part of the cloud based PMS, students are always benefitting from access to the latest version of the software. This is critical as SkyTouch regularly enhances its product with new features, many of which are requested by actual users of the PMS. For Collins, this increases the time he can teach, while eliminating time needed to upgrade the product.
  • Training Modules. Prior to utilizing the PMS during lab activities, university students engage with the system’s interactive multimedia Web-based training modules. The modules allow students to learn at their own pace while reducing the time the instructor must spend reinforcing basic topics.
  • Cost reduction. Ongoing expenses associated with deployment, support, and maintenance are greatly reduced or eliminated. This is because a cloud based PMS is constantly updated remotely, introducing new features without any property level interaction necessary. This is important in both a university and professional environment as it allows for more dollars to be spent elsewhere.
  • Broad accessibility. Students, including those enrolled in the online HA 270 course (Hospitality Information Technology), can tap into the power of a cloud based property management system from anywhere. They have access to the application from any computer with browser software and Internet access. This allows them to learn outside the classroom setting.

When universities, such as Northern Arizona University, use a cloud based PMS such as the SkyTouch Hotel OS®, it helps prepare the next generation of hoteliers with the most advanced technology experience. But it also gives hoteliers opportunity to hire those recent graduates that already have trained on the system to start performing at their jobs right away. That makes partnerships such as this one a benefit to not just professors and students but hoteliers too.