How it fits with Centro
Centro comes in two forms. Centro System Manager for Crestron runs on a Crestron processor on site and manages that site's locations. Centro cloud is the hosted platform, with more features and more than one site. This page sets out what each does, so you can tell which one a site needs.
What each one does
| Centro System Manager for Crestron | Centro cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | On a Crestron processor at the site | Hosted by Centro |
| Internet connection | Not needed to run the site | Needed |
| Sites | One site per processor | Many sites in one account |
| Sign-in | The processor's own Crestron accounts | Centro accounts |
| Live location state and location control | Yes | Yes |
| Schedules | Yes | Yes |
| Stays: check-in, check-out and expected arrivals, entered by staff or sent by a property management system (PMS) | Yes | Yes |
| Other systems, through API keys and an MCP endpoint | Yes, on the site's network, with an API Licence | Yes |
| Control by the user | The User App: a web page on the user's phone, opened from a QR code, on the site's network. Also on the location's touch screen | The Centro app |
| Ordering and in-location service | — | Available with Centro cloud |
| Bookings | — | Available with Centro cloud |
| Messaging and notifications | — | Available with Centro cloud |
| Digital signage and access | — | Available with Centro cloud |
When Centro System Manager for Crestron is the right fit
Choose it when a site wants to manage its locations on site:
- one building or one site, with its locations on Crestron Home or Crestron Custom
- staff who need to see and control locations, and check users in and out, from a browser on the site's network
- a PMS that sends stays straight to the processor through the stay API
- a site that must keep working, and keep its data, without an internet connection
- users who only need to control their own location.
When a site needs Centro cloud
Choose Centro cloud when a site needs anything in the lower half of the table: ordering, in-location service, bookings, messaging, signage or access. Choose it too when one team runs several sites and wants them in one place.
Read more in the cloud documentation:
The same Crestron systems
Both use the same kind of connection to the Crestron systems on site: the Centro driver on a Crestron Home processor, and the Centro module in Crestron Custom. A connection reports to one place — Centro System Manager for Crestron on the site's network, or Centro cloud.
What passes between them
Centro System Manager for Crestron and Centro cloud are separate. A processor doesn't send its locations, schedules or settings to Centro cloud.
- Stays can come from Centro cloud. Centro cloud can send a processor the stays from the PMS it's linked to. LCD sets this up on the site's behalf; on the processor it shows as Centro cloud under Settings → Stays → Where stays come from. See Stays settings.
- Logs go to Centro's log server, not to Centro cloud. A copy of the processor's log is sent so support can see a problem; it's on by default and can be turned off. See What it does.