> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.roamingiq.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.roamingiq.com/network-administrator-console/managing-your-venues/connect-an-existing-venue-to-a-property-management-system-pms.md).

# Connect an Existing Venue to a Property Management System (PMS)

This page explains what happens to the units, subscribers, and subscriptions a Venue already has when you turn on PMS sync.

A Venue that is already live with units and subscriptions may also have a Property Management System (PMS) added. When doing so, the first sync has to decide, for every unit and subscriber, how to complete the sync.

This page explains those decisions. For the steps to set the connection up, please refer to the [Connect a Venue to a Property Management System (PMS)](/network-administrator-console/creating-a-new-venue/connect-a-venue-to-a-property-management-system-pms.md) article.

### What Should I Check Before I Enable the Sync?

Check the Venue's default Service Plan. Neither RealPage nor Entrata sends a service plan, so every subscription the sync creates is placed on that plan.

**If the plan is priced, every resident the PMS reports becomes a billable subscription with no payment method on file.** Every one of those payments will fail, and each subscription is then handled as described in [Shopping Cart Payment Rules](/network-administrator-console/network-operator-settings/shopping-cart/shopping-cart-payment-rules.md).

### When Does the First Sync Run?

Three things must be on together: the PMS Profile for your Network Operator, and the two Venue switches "Enable Unit Sync" and "Enable Subscriber Sync". Both Venue switches are off by default.

On an existing Venue, enable Unit Sync on its own, review how your units were matched, and only then enable Subscriber Sync. No subscription is created until Subscriber Sync is on.

### How Does VAULT Decide Whether to Update a Unit or Create a New One?

Unit sync runs first, before any resident is looked at. A Unit is identified by its Venue, unit number, building, and floor, and the PMS syncs to that identity. **As long as these match, your existing units stay where they are and start carrying the sync** — enabling the integration does not give you a second set of units. The first diagram below shows the full decision.

Each unit the PMS reports is matched either to a Unit a previous sync has already stamped, or to the Unit with the same unit number, building, and floor. A matched Unit is updated in place: its address is refreshed from the PMS, and everything in the right-hand column below is left alone.

You are left with two units for the same apartment only where the identity VAULT stored is not character-for-character what the PMS reports. **That comparison is exact:** VAULT stores the unit number, building, and floor you type in upper case with spaces and punctuation removed, and substitutes DEFAULT where you leave the building or floor empty, while the PMS values are compared as the PMS sends them. So a unit where you left the floor blank will not match one the PMS reports on floor 1.

### What Changes on a Unit the PMS Has Matched?

| Rewritten on every sync | Not touched by the PMS           |
| ----------------------- | -------------------------------- |
| Address Line 1          | VLAN                             |
| Address Line 2          | Purpose                          |
| City                    | Allow Overlapping Subscriptions  |
| State                   | All Shopping Cart settings       |
| Postal Code             | External Venue Unit ID           |
| Country                 | SMS Code                         |
|                         | Unit number, building, and floor |

### How Does VAULT Decide What to Do With a Resident?

Subscriber sync runs after unit sync. VAULT finds the unit by its PMS ID, then looks for an active subscription in that unit belonging to that resident. Where the unit is empty it creates the subscription on the Venue's default Service Plan. Where somebody else holds the unit, the resident is placed on a temporary unit if [Overlapping Subscriptions](/network-administrator-console/creating-a-new-venue/overlapping-subscriptions.md) are enabled, and refused if they are not. The second diagram below shows the full decision.

**VAULT never puts a second subscription into an occupied unit, and never changes the subscription already there.**

**VAULT looks for the resident's existing subscription only in the unit the PMS points to.** Where your units were matched, that is the unit your subscriber is already in, so their subscription is claimed and nothing is duplicated.

### What Happens to Units and Subscribers the PMS Does Not Report?

A Unit the PMS does not report is left exactly as it is. VAULT will not delete or deactivate a Unit because the PMS stopped reporting it, unless that unit was created by the PMS.

A subscription no PMS sync has ever stamped is also left alone, so subscribers who predate the integration are not affected. The third diagram below shows the full decision.

### What Changes on a Subscriber the PMS Has Matched?

| Value                            | RealPage      | Entrata                                                                                          |
| -------------------------------- | ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Email address                    | Never changed | Not changed on the first sync, because it is what Entrata matched on. Can change on a later sync |
| First name                       | Never changed | Replaced, where Entrata sends one                                                                |
| Last name                        | Never changed | Replaced, where Entrata sends one                                                                |
| Telephone number                 | Never changed | Replaced, but only where the number Entrata sends is usable                                      |
| Subscription start and end dates | Never changed | Never changed                                                                                    |
| Service Plan                     | Never changed | Never changed                                                                                    |

### The Same Decisions as Diagrams

These diagrams show the decisions above in full.

**Deciding whether to update a unit or create a new one**

```mermaid
flowchart TD
    A["PMS reports a unit"] --> B{"A Unit already exists<br/>in this Venue with the same<br/>unit number, building, and floor?"}
    B -->|Yes| C["Update that Unit"]
    B -->|No| D{"A Unit already carries<br/>this unit's PMS ID?"}
    D -->|Yes| C
    D -->|No| E{"A VLAN is free in<br/>the Venue's range?"}
    E -->|Yes| F["Create a new Unit<br/>and assign a VLAN"]
    E -->|No| G["Skip this unit"]
    C --> H["Replaced with the PMS values:<br/>Address Line 1, City, State,<br/>Postal Code, Country.<br/><br/>Address Line 2 is always cleared,<br/>whatever the PMS holds"]
    C --> I["Left alone:<br/>VLAN, Purpose, Allow Overlapping<br/>Subscriptions, all Shopping Cart<br/>settings, External Venue Unit ID,<br/>SMS Code, and the unit number,<br/>building, and floor"]
```

**Deciding what to do with a resident the PMS reports**

```mermaid
flowchart TD
    A["PMS reports a resident.<br/>On RealPage, only the head<br/>of household is considered"] --> B{"A Unit is found for<br/>this resident's PMS unit ID?"}
    B -->|No| C["Skip the resident.<br/>No subscriber is created"]
    B -->|Yes| D{"An active subscription exists<br/>in that unit for this resident?<br/>Matched via email address, or a<br/>stamped ID from the PMS"}
    D -->|Yes| E["Match it and stamp it with the<br/>PMS references and the time.<br/><br/>RealPage changes nothing else.<br/>Entrata refreshes the name<br/>and phone number"]
    D -->|No| F{"Does someone else hold<br/>an active subscription<br/>in that unit?"}
    F -->|No| G["The unit is empty.<br/>Create the subscription there, on the<br/>Venue's default Service Plan"]
    F -->|Yes| J{"Are Overlapping Subscriptions<br/>enabled for the Operator,<br/>Venue, or unit?"}
    J -->|No| I["Refuse the incoming resident.<br/>The subscription already in<br/>the unit is untouched"]
    J -->|Yes| K["Create the subscription on a new<br/>temporary unit with its own VLAN.<br/>The subscription already in<br/>the unit is untouched"]
```

**Deciding what to do with a subscription the PMS did not report**

```mermaid
flowchart TD
    A["A subscription in the Venue<br/>was not reported this sync"] --> B{"Has a PMS sync ever<br/>stamped this subscription?"}
    B -->|No| C["Leave it alone.<br/>Subscribers who predate the<br/>integration are never touched"]
    B -->|Yes| D{"Stamped more than<br/>two syncs ago?"}
    D -->|No| E["Leave it alone for now"]
    D -->|Yes| F{"Does the PMS still report this resident?<br/>RealPage checks the email address<br/>anywhere in the Venue.<br/>Entrata checks the resident<br/>and the unit space together"}
    F -->|Yes| C
    F -->|No| G["End the subscription.<br/>The subscriber may be emailed<br/>that their service has ended"]
```

Please refer to the [Property Management System](/network-administrator-console/network-operator-settings/property-management-system.md) article in the Knowledge Base for information about creating and managing PMS Profiles.