An overview of technology for hospitality.
We finished 2017 with an overview of how hotels are using Apple TV in guest rooms. Our VP of Global Sales, Christy Doherty, took some time to share some of the innovations you’ll see in hospitality for 2018. Apple TV provides many means of communication between your hotel and your guests. Using messaging, hotels can leave personalized messages on the opening screen to delight guests. This method may also be used to provide operational messages such as informing guests about a fire alarm test or maintenance outside their room. This type of messaging can reduce costs, decrease need for in-room telephones, and save time with efficient and targeted announcements. F&B menus come to life with full screen images and layered product information. A dish of the day or waiter recommendation provides the guest a better experience and allows you to promote specific dishes when they are in-season or off-menu, increasing profits by allowing chefs to purchase and sell produce according to fluctuating prices and delighting guests with personalized service. This kind of menu can also increase revenue by providing wine recommendations and desert selections to accompany the meal. Integrating with your brand CMS can bring the individual guest profile into …
2017 has seen Apple TV steadily gaining a foothold in guest rooms around the world. This technology combines some of the most useful standbys in hotel technology with innovations that make sense to the guest experience and impact it in a positive way. Hotels today are using Apple TV in guest rooms for: Entertainment – Travelers are no longer limited to watching whatever is actively playing on TV while they’re at home, and enjoy bringing their own content and streaming from sites like Netflix and Hulu even when they’re away. Smart TVs in guest rooms make this easy and scalable for the hotel. (See this article on Content Streaming and Data Security.) Messaging – This can serve as signage within the room and be as personalized you wish. Use this space for everything from a welcome message when guests enter the room, to real time hotel information, and even event promotions. F&B – Menus are enhanced with gorgeous photos and navigation while sales are boosted through in-the-moment messaging and easy access to information and ordering. Housekeeping – Apple TV can be combined with beacon technology to alert housekeeping that a room needs attention, play the housekeeper’s favorite song while they’re …
The EU GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is a significant change aimed at safeguarding data privacy for EU citizens. It was approved on April 14, 2016, and came into effect on May 25, 2018. The regulation applies to any organization that collects data on EU citizens, regardless of the organization’s location. Compliance is mandatory for any entity that processes data on EU citizens to sell goods or services, make it especially relevant to the travel industry. Hotels, in particular, are significantly impacted by this regulation as they often store consumer data in multiple locations and receive it from various sources, such as OTA bookings. As a result, compliance will involve implementing stringent protections for all technology used to collect data within a hotel, conducting staff training on privacy protection, and establishing protocols in the event of a security breach. Our Monscierge team has plans to ensure a smooth transition for our clients. In the coming weeks, we will provide more information about what this entails and how to comply.
Written by Monscierge Software Engineer, Matt Owens. Amazon’s Alexa is a cloud-based voice service that allows software developers to build natural voice experiences that offer customers a more intuitive way to interact with the technology they use every day. The Alexa voice service raises interesting questions about the future of artificial intelligence technology in the hospitality industry. Monscierge makes connecting hotels with guests easy. Our Connect platform enables guests to make a request directly to hotel staff with the touch of a button on their smartphone. Alexa presents the opportunity to innovate the Connect platform in ways that have not been possible in the past. The development team here at Monscierge recently developed a proof-of-concept which allowed us to submit a staff request via an Amazon Echo, using only our voices. The program we wrote allowed our Echo to handle much of the communication that would normally require human input to interact. Here’s an example of requesting pillows: Us: Alexa, tell the front desk I’d like some more pillows. Alexa: Do you prefer soft or firm pillows? Us: Firm. Alexa: How many firm pillows would you like? Us: Two. Alexa: Your request for two, firm pillows has been submitted to …
Over the last few months, we’ve been talking a lot about “killing the cheeseplate”. This phrase came from the early days of Monscierge as we were working with staff at a local hotel. When asked how he would change hotel operations, one staff member said he would kill the cheeseplate. He explained that he delivered a cheeseplate as a welcome gift to guests, but he was also discarding most of them untouched at the end of the day. He expressed a desire to tailor these gifts to guests in order to provide more personalized and valued services. Killing the cheeseplate means redefining the guest journey through personalization. That is the attitude we took to heart during the creation of Monscierge Connect. Rather than using technology to decrease the need for human interaction, we have embraced the notion of using technology to create more opportunities for unique interactions with guests. We can do this through personalization of the entire guest journey, providing means of communication that guests prefer, and eliminating common guest frustrations such as waiting in lines. Specifically, hotels now have means to identify guests as they walk through the door, greet them by name, and have their favorite treats …