Despite all the new trends such as staycations and the desire for activities related to physical distancing, hotels are still under pressure to give guests a remarkable reason to visit over what all these other players have to offer. Besides technology’s ability to boost team productivity and tighten the purse strings, devices and their supportive software are now a lucrative means by which to maintain a hotel’s relevancy amongst customers.

This is why HITEC is perennially my favorite tradeshow of the year. Postponed until the final week of October due to the coronavirus, this convention gives hoteliers a glimpse into what the future holds for their properties while also providing a clear and present solution for many of our woes – nowadays the foremost of those being the need for software to facilitate enhanced cleanliness protocols, social distancing, contact tracing and better interdepartmental communications.

In this particular instance, let’s focus on how you can deploy various technologies to increase the guestroom experience, especially now that the internet of things has become instrumental for maintaining service delivery while limiting in-person contact with onsite staff.

Part of my job as an asset management consultant for hotel properties is to evaluate technology vendors to then decide which will have a meaningful impact on back-of-house operations and the front-of-use guest experience. Needless to say, Covid has amplified the need for connected management software to the nth degree. To this end, I’ve sat in on demos for a fair share of IoT devices that can advance the in-room experience so as to compensate for a lack of person-to-person interactions.

Besides the push for new energy and water management systems that can save big on overall utility costs, when it comes to what visitors see and interact with, I’m still looking for that wow factor. Technology can help you maintain that irreplaceable charm that was previously offered by your teams who were trained to deliver service with a smile.

To truly impress guests with your in-room technology nowadays, though, you cannot proceed in a one-off manner or simply offer a bandaged solution to the challenges presented by the coronavirus. That is, one new device isn’t going to leave an enduring impression because it won’t appear as wholly embodying your brand’s theme as a purveyor of guestrooms that ostensibly better than a home.

Instead, you must make this a semi-perennial investment with a team in place to devise the rollout plan for each successive feature installation. With a solid strategy, you would then go about setting up a cluster of IoT-enabled amenities that together will let you market the rooms as unquestionably progressive and tech-forward while also delivering a meaningful experience once guests arrive.

The other fear is that, with hotels all over the world experimenting with customer-facing IoT integrations, these features may soon lose their marketing pizzazz or, worse, become the expectation where you are then compelled to play catchup. Looking beyond any base requirements for viral safety, for these front-of-house upgrades, you can consider phone-enabled lighting, motorized drapes or blinds, smart thermostats, door locks and door sensors with “Do Not Disturb” features. Many of these also tangentially benefit your housekeepers because these infer fewer physical touchpoints in the room.

These are relatively simple additions, but the added benefit is that they can inevitably help with operational efficiency. For instance, a DND control through a guest’s phone will one day not only cause a light to ping in the hallway to notify passing room attendants but also send a notification straight through to the housekeeping management software’s admin dashboard so virtual task boards can be seamlessly adjusted. And vice versa for when that DND is switched off to indicate that the guest has left his or her room.

While smart thermostats are already widely recognized as a proven means of reducing the energy bill by helping correct the needless temperature modulation of a vacant room, such prearrival control functions also help increase comfort, maintenance scheduling efficiency and, eventually, security as only a registered phone signal will be allowed access to given rooms or floors. As previously implied, with most of these IoT controls synced to the guest’s phone, BYOD (bring your own device) will mean an easier post-checkout sanitization job by your room attendants.

The overarching idea here is to give travelers a reason to yearn to stay in one of your rooms versus all the other options that one can find on the internet. Some hotels achieve this through outstanding artwork, décor or interior design. Others do it through impeccable service or F&B. Technological installation should be one more tool in your arsenal and for that I would highly recommend you attend this year’s postponed HITEC in San Antonio then start evaluating your options in advance of the budgetary planning cycle for 2021.

One of the world’s most published writers in hospitality, Larry Mogelonsky is the principal of Hotel Mogel Consulting Limited, a Toronto-based consulting practice. His experience encompasses hotel properties around the world, both branded and independent, and ranging from luxury and boutique to select-service. Larry is also on several boards for companies focused on hotel technology. His work includes five books, “Are You an Ostrich or a Llama?” (2012), “Llamas Rule” (2013), “Hotel Llama” (2015), “The Llama is Inn” (2017) and “The Hotel Mogel” (2018). You can reach Larry at larry@hotelmogel.com to discuss hotel business challenges or to book speaking.

This article may not be reproduced without the expressed permission of the author.

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The Curant mobile service platform puts an assortment of inclusions literally at a guests’ fingertips through their mobile product. These include room service, poolside and beachside ordering, the ability to schedule spa and other on-property amenities, and on-demand communication with the concierge and operations teams. Food and beverage ordering becomes seamless without the need to flag down a server or wait for a bill, while management enjoys an easy setup and seamless integration with their POS and other back-end systems. Curant also keeps staff connected with updates and notifications in real time.

Curant is at the forefront of the hospitality industry’s continued adoption of mobile applications and tools. According to the “2020 POS Software Trends Report,” 51% of companies surveyed noted they would be adding a mobile POS and 44% said they’d use a third-party integration delivery system.

“Most smartphones are more powerful and have more capacity than the desktop computer from a decade ago,” said Diallo Powell, Founder and CEO of Curant. “We all walk around with an incredibly robust machine in our pocket; needless to say, it makes a lot of things possible that weren’t just a few years ago.

“We partner with hotels and resorts to introduce technology that enhances brand affinity while easing and enriching guest interactions. We are working with our partners to define the next phase of service, in a hyper-connected and digital world, and complement traditional methods to optimize hospitality.”

The fully optimized tool alleviates the pain points that often accompany a guest’s stay by putting them in control. At the same time, the property benefits with lower payroll and operating costs, and higher transaction value. The most measurable success has been a seamless, elevated, more engaging guest experience.

“We are thrilled with the branded Thompson Zihuatanejo app experience from Curant. The ease of use for our guests and colleagues has far exceeded our expectations,” said Jason Cotter, Managing Principal, JPC Hospitality Advisors. “We have about 200 meters of beach we’re serving, and the app gives us the ability to meet our guest’s needs without delay.There’s nothing quite like it that we’ve seen in the market.”

Curant’s 100% white-labeled platform allows the app to meet exact brand specifications and is easily implemented and integrated without the need to purchase new hardware. Other features include secure payment and guest signature capture, location and upsell/cross-sell capabilities, automatic staff notifications, and on-the-go operational monitoring, reporting and product administration, which allows for easy changes in real time across multiple revenue centers.

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Each of these numerous touchpoints — from pre-stay, to arrival, to post-stay — create countless opportunities to connect with or enhance the experience of guests.  With the help of new technology, making the most of each primary touch-point seems easier than ever before. From mobile check-in, to better front of house management, enhanced convenience, data-backed personalization and more, connecting with each guest feels more accessible than it did in the past, while confined within limiting legacy infrastructure.

With these technological advancements in mind, many hoteliers as how they can best capitalize on each touchpoint, to create a truly exceptional guest experience.

But what if we told you the answer lies in breaking down those moments to something smaller, but even more impactful?

With the steady rise of mobile, we come to understand the importance of ‘micro-moments’ in the guest journey. These occur when guests reflexively turn to a device (often, their smartphone) to learn something, do something, discover something, watch something, or buy something. These are intent-rich moments when guests will share their preferences, and make decisions. And as you might imagine, these micro-moments can influence almost every stage of the new guest journey.

Imagine the guest journey as it existed before the mobile revolution: When considering a trip, a prospective guest would likely flip through travel magazines, and make an appointment with their local travel agent to discuss options. Once flights and hotels were decided, the agent would confirm their reservation details. When they arrived at the hotel, the guest would make their way to the front desk, wait in line, (eventually) retrieve their room key, and make their way to their room. If the guest needed anything during their stay, they would have to either phone the front desk, or physically flag down a nearby staff member. At the end of their trip, they would bring their belongings downstairs and manually check-out with the front desk, returning their room key and settling any outstanding charges on their profile.

If you notice a pattern, it’s that the guest’s decisions can only be implemented through a limited number of macro-actions — flagging down a staff member, calling the front desk, etc. The entire wealth of the guest’s options, preferences and impressions are lost to the hotel. As you might imagine, the rise of mobile has allowed hoteliers to access the full range of micro-moments, allowing them to change the guest journey dramatically.

Mobile Technologies Influence Every Stage

From the ‘research’ stage to guest bookings, check-in, digital keys, mobile concierge and more, hoteliers now have an abundance of opportunity to better engage with guests, while guests can interact with the hotel in the manner of their choosing.

To better capitalize on this rich new hospitality environment, hoteliers should ask the following questions:

1. Are you offering compelling imagery and helpful information on your social media and booking channels to captivate prospective guests during their inspiration and research stage?
2. From a booking and check-in/out perspective, is your mobile app user-friendly and intuitive? Does it offer the same functionality to mobile guests, as it does to guests booking through a desktop?
3. Are you pro-actively engaging with, managing, and promoting the conversation surrounding your brand on multiple platforms?
4. Do you offer your guests keyless entry, and/or 24/7 support via a mobile concierge in the palm of their hand? Do you offer your guests a variety of ways to communicate with the hotel, including mobile SMS and chatbots?
5. Is your staff empowered by mobile technology to better serve and respond to guest requests and communicate across departments?

Ultimately, the question comes down to: Are you present in every step of the journey —and are you useful?

A recent study conducted by Google and Phocuswright revealed that customers are using mobile devices to research products across all types of markets — from clothing shopping to international travel. This is especially true in hospitality, where over 70% of U.S. travelers agree that they ‘always’ use their smartphones when traveling. Often, guests use their mobile device to gain inspiration for future trips (think glamorous vacation shots on Instagram), or to research activities, attractions and hotel reviews (think searches to Google Maps, or the review section of Tripadvisor).

When 76% of travelers say their smartphone is the most important travel companion, hotels had better take note: over one-third of smartphone users regardless of market will view a brand negatively if their mobile experience is slow, and even a “short,” 5-minute wait at check-in can lower a hotel guest’s satisfaction by 50%. Fortunately, implementing a mobile check-in/out system can decrease front desk wait times by 20%.

In the world of hospitality, mobility is undeniably powerful.

Never Underestimate the Power of Mobility

Mobile platforms are allowing hoteliers to reimagine the guest journey, and connect with their guests on a deeper, more responsive and personalized level.  To win guests’ business, hoteliers have to ‘be there, and be useful’ across the entire guest journey. During the pre-stay, ask yourself: Is your brand showing up in common searches? Who is your competition, and what are they doing differently? When your brand does show up, what does that content look like? Is it a strong representation of your hotel, and what your property offers? Does it effectively elevate your service offering from a prospective guests’ perspective? Does it provide guests with all the information they need to make an informed decision? Is all of the information and functionality available on your desktop webpage, also available on the mobile version with the same user-friendly ease?

Once a guest makes the decision to book with your hotel, it’s crucial to provide them with a variety of mobile options for check-in, check-out, payment and in-house messaging. Is your app easy to navigate, does it offer guests push notifications and customizable settings? Does it streamline communications, along with the check-in, key retrieval, and check-out process? Does it offer targeted advertisements for room upgrades and amenities? Does it offer guests self-service options to ensure they are in complete control of their journey? Does it inform continued guest personalization for a more relevant and intuitive on-property experience? If a guest encounters a problem, are they able to text a staff member or concierge for quick resolution?

As a hotelier, these are some of the questions that should be driving your selection of mobile solutions. The guest experience is made up of many integral, intricate micro-moments, none of which should be neglected or dismissed. Ultimately, the key to reimagining the guest journey, is to develop a technological infrastructure that is proactive, responsive, and personalized to each individual guest’s needs.

Are you tapping into those micro-moments to enhance revenue, loyalty, and reviews? Are you truly leveraging the power of mobility to enhance the guest’s journey? The bottom line is this: If you don’t do it, your competitors will.

Nicole Dehler is Vice President of Product Management at StayNTouch, A Shiji Group Brand. Nicole spent more than 12 years in the Regional Divisions of MICROS Systems, divided between Product and Project Management of Property, Sales Force and Central Reservations Systems. She led the Enterprise Team in Asia Pacific as Director of Operations, looking after large scale software implementations as well as managing the regional launch of E-Commerce products and Smartphone applications. Nicole joined StayNTouch in early 2013, spearheading the PMS development, strategy, innovation and growth from the very beginning.

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The new solution, which runs on the Google Nest Hub, benefited from successful pilots in 2019 at Dream Downtown New York City, Caesars Las Vegas, and Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport, among other hotels.

“Hoteliers can now roll out the technological red carpet for hotel guests speaking 29 different languages.  With millions of travelers staying at hotels in locations where their native language is not widely spoken, hoteliers have long recognized they need to do more to serve these valuable customers,” said David Berger, CEO of Volara. “This new solution enables hotels to scale their unique brand of hospitality service to guests from many cultures, geographies, and language backgrounds.”

“At Dream Hotels, delivering a frictionless experience for all guests remains a top priority,” said Hotel Group CEO Jay Stein. “Thanks to the voice assistant solution provided by Volara and the Google Assistant, we are successfully facilitating highly accurate, multilingual interactions with travelers from across the globe. Even those with the most unique accents and distinct colloquialisms are having more fulfilling conversations with staff about the property, our check-in and billing processes, services and amenities, and things to do around town. By offering real-time voice translation from Volara and the Google Assistant at the Registration and Concierge desks, Dream Downtown has significantly raised the bar on hospitality.”

Dream Downtown Hotel Manager Felipe Munoz added: “International guests are engaging with our voice translation service from Volara and the Google Assistant every day. Even those who speak some English are having deeper, more meaningful conversations because of this technology. We have three Google Nest Hubs running the Google Assistant’s interpreter mode; two at Registration and one at the Concierge desk. When we see people having trouble communicating, we present the device and there is an immediate shift in the guest’s demeanor. Frustration is replaced with excitement! Anything a guest needs to know can instantly be communicated in their native language. They may ask for a restaurant recommendation, inquire about service hours, or request a detailed explanation of incidental charges. Regardless of what the question is, it’s rewarding to know we are improving customer service, reducing stress for staff, and greatly enhancing our guests’ experiences through real-time translation. It’s a great tool.”

The Google Assistant’s interpreter mode technology is now available to hotels across the globe.

The return on investment (ROI) is measurable as the hassle-free solution enables hotels to:

• Attract Travelers from Around the World
• Drive Revenue from International Guests
• Serve Guests in Their Own Language
• Generate Positive Online Reviews in Multiple Languages
• Modernize the Front Desk Experience

Guests and employees can use Google Assistant’s interpreter mode to translate any of the following 29 languages: Arabic, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Filipino (Tagalog), Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese.

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“Wanting to further make the Viceroy guest experience feel like a natural extension of how our guests operate daily, we incorporated a voice technology solution into our guestrooms,” said Darren Clark, vice president of technology for Viceroy Hotels & Resorts. “Volara meets the complex technical specifications of the hotel and simultaneously adheres to our obligation to ensure guest privacy.”

“When we began looking at voice technologies, we hoped to find a partner that was innovative and flexible with integrations to other third-party applications,” said Clark. “Volara understood our vision, and it already had integrations to more than 40 hotel technologies, including IPTV, room controls, PBX, music, and work order-management. Security was also extremely important to us. Volara ensures that recordings of guests are never associated with their personally identifiable information. They make sure that all recordings of guests are deleted within 24 hours – a distinct difference from the management of user recordings in the consumer environment.”

To date, guest feedback on having Alexa in rooms has been positive and reflected in online reviews and post-stay surveys. On average, the property is seeing a broad array of interactions ranging from controlling the TV and streaming music to making requests and asking about hotel amenities and services. Feedback from group business and wedding parties has been extremely positive as well.

While also in guestrooms, the Hotel Zetta San Francisco has placed an Amazon Alexa powered by Volara in the lobby to extend guest interaction and add another touchpoint to engage with the hotel. Viceroy and Volara are currently discussing a meeting room application as it would be a valuable guest service for meeting planners and social groups to use voice commands to control lighting, start video presentations, order food-and-beverage, and place additional requests from meeting rooms at the hotels.

Volara’s integration to INNCOM by Honeywell is enabling Viceroy L’Ermitage Beverly Hills guests to control lighting, Do Not Disturb/Make up Room settings, and room temperature; integration to Sonifi is allowing guests to use their voices to control the TV, change channels and adjust the volume; integration to the ALICE Hotel Operations Platform is seamlessly transmitting guest requests for pillows, toothbrushes, minibar refreshments and more; integration to iHeartRadio is enabling guests to play music and listen to podcasts; and the solution is facilitating direct calls through Alexa to the front desk, concierge, valet etc. At Hotel Zetta, Volara integrations include ALICE, the MCOMS Guest Room Entertainment Platform, and iHeartRadio. At Viceroy Los Cabos, Volara integrations include ALICE, Innspire and INNCOM by Honeywell.

Viceroy is also considering a voice assistant solution powered by Volara for back-of-house applications to streamline engineering tasks, enable room status changes, and facilitate staff-to-staff communications.

“Volara is honored to be serving as the exclusive provider of voice-based technologies for Viceroy Hotels & Resorts,” said David Berger, Volara CEO. “It’s exciting to see these leading hotels flourish as both guests and staff benefit from the voice interactions. As this luxury boutique hotel brand continues to inspire travelers to create their own singular journey, Volara continues to strive for personalization while implementing robust guest privacy and data security measures at all Viceroy hotels. We love working with innovative hoteliers and are eager to grow our collaboration with Viceroy in the new year.”

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There are multiple ways of producing 360-degree video content and also multiple ways to view it, including via on head-mounted displays and virtual reality headsets as well as budget alternatives like Google Cardboard. In fact, Google introduced a virtual tour functionality, allowing hotels to “showcase all the details that your customers love” more than six years ago. The functionality failed to reached its potential.

More recently, virtual reality technology has been put into action by solution providers like Amadeus, allowing customers to look for flights, compare hotel prices and book rooms through a virtual reality headset. The potential to use immersive booking process to allow customers to do a virtual walkthrough of faraway hotel rooms and facilities — seamlessly exploring and booking a guest room without leaving the comfort of their living rooms — is now gathering steam as hotels look to incorporate next-generation virtual reality platforms to attract more guests and secure direct bookings.

One of the leaders of the pack of next-generation solution providers is Visiting Media, whose TrueTour platform is now used by hotel brands that include Klimpton, IHG and Marriott. Accor properties in Europe and the Americas recently launched the platform’s top-to-bottom 360-degree 3D and virtual reality presentation and delivery capabilities with the goal of making it easier to upsell their luxury rooms and suites and sell their event spaces in person and at a distance.

According to Visiting Media, Accor needed to create an experience as close as possible to physically being on property, creating emotional connections and a sense of experience. It also needed to synchronize all of their most valuable sales assets in one place to create a central hub for meeting planners to find and showcase stellar visual sales experiences, with the goal of increasing group sales.

The first Accor hotels in Europe to deploy the solution were Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, Sofitel Munich Bayerpost, Sofitel Berlin Kurfürstendamm, Raffles Europejski Warsaw and Swissôtel Le Plaza Basel. Last month, Pullman Berlin Schweizerhof and Swissôtel Zurich also deployed the technology. “[The solution] enables our sellers, both Hotel Sales & Global Sales, to use new immersive visuals and provide a selling tool that fits perfectly the client’s needs to virtually experience the hotel & event space, present 360-degree images and 3D virtual tours of the property,”  said Petra Loecher, Vice President of Sales, Luxury & Premium Brands for Accor Central & Eastern Europe.

Visiting Media is currently working with Accor’s Global Sales team, building a syndication hub that will soon sync all property-level 360-degree and 3D content with global sellers worldwide in real time, becoming the first immersive content network of its kind.

Graduate Hotels also recently deployed the solution. “Once we saw the power TrueTour had to increase incremental revenue at Graduate Athens,” said Larkin MacDonald, Director of Sales and Revenue, Graduate Hotels, “it was a no-brainer to roll out the platform across our entire portfolio.” According to MacDonald, the solution “integrates all of our most important sales and marketing materials into one place, and showcases the unique character of each of our properties.”

“Not only does this technology increase time and engagement spent on hotel websites–as guests explore the look and feel of each room, but it radically increases their exposure and rankings on search engines,” said Michal Hubschmann, CEO of VDroom, which also offers a platform that allows property owners to create and distribute a 3D gallery of visual assets. The technology proactively reports to search engines rather than passively waiting for them to index a new listing, further increasing visibility and direct traffic to a property.

According to Hubschmann, hotels using the service have enjoyed up to 50% more views than hotels using regular images. The technology also allows hotels to upsell–offering an upgrade to a client who just booked a standard room by linking to a deluxe room, and demonstrating the difference.

Since earlier this year, GCH, a leading German hotel management company, has been using the VDroom platform for its hotel bookings. More than a third of the hotels they manage, including Best Western, Ibis, Wyndham, and Radisson Blu, now offer guests the ability to view their rooms in 360. GCH also created the world’s first virtual reality portal, allowing guests to discover hotels and entire destinations three dimensionally.

According to Daniel Wishnia, GCH digital marketing consultant, the “wow” effect from virtual reality offers incentive for guests to book directly through the hotel as opposed to using an OTA. This is critical for hotels that commonly pay up to 30% commission to OTA’s to serve as their booking agents. Any technology solutions that can help hotels avoid those types of commissions are sure to be embraced because there is nothing virtual about driving revenue growth and cost reduction.

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Business-2-Consumer (B2C) communications continue to evolve and spread globally. Today’s always-on generation expects near-instantaneous communications with businesses and long gone are the days where businesses require consumers to fill out an online email form only to receive a reply in 24-48 hours. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter continue to invest heavily in building out their consumer messaging platforms and capabilities.

Mark Zuckerberg announced at Facebook’s recent F8 developer’s conference that they intend to launch a re-imagined Facebook platform in Q1 of 2020. The new Facebook platform will become more of a “town hall” for open and public communications while it plans to further its development of a private and fully encrypted messaging platform for consumers. Facebook will let users chat across Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp in a completely interoperable manner. Dubbed a “SuperApp,” the Messenger platform will enable over 4 billion consumers to communicate freely and privately with each other as well as businesses, such as hotels.

Messenger and it’s privacy-focused vision for social media must be embraced by every hotelier and is where conversational marketing can provide the marketing edge to win.

Here’s the good news. As an industry-focused around being hospitable and being service-oriented, the hospitality industry already has the right mindset. The industry, after all, is built on creating memorable guest experiences and achieving service levels that encourage guests to write positive reviews regarding their stays. Hoteliers are wired to be of service to their guests.

Now for the bad news. Super Apps such as Messenger will force hoteliers to go beyond the status quo and to allocate internal resources to efficiently engage with a very demanding new generation of consumers, the “I want it now” generation. Direct messages sent to a hotel’s Messenger, Instagram or WhatsApp account will need to be responded too in near real-time and at any time, 24/7/365. But it’s not just about responding to inquiring consumers who want your engagement on their time, this all presents a conversational marketing opportunity for hotels.

One-on-one Messenger conversations should not only be considered as a new way to deliver customer service and to differentiate properties from their competitive sets, but rather as a way to deploy conversational marketing. Building relationships, one-on-one with the ultimate goal of building customer loyalty and growing future business.

Through conversational marketing, specific customer engagement and messaging should be captured, in real-time, and databased into a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system enabling future marketing opportunities. Future Messenger marketing programs, SMS/Text and, yes, email marketing all present the basis for conversational marketing and new revenue generation opportunities for hoteliers. Conversational marketing leverages the human engagement elements, through Messenger, new and traditional marketing automation platforms resulting in loyalty-building opportunities. And as all marketers know, loyalty equates to future business on the books.

Questions every hotelier should begin to ask:

• Is my hotel ready to handle the increasing amount of direct messaging?
• Will my hotel have a budget to hire staff we will need for after-hours and weekend coverage?
• Will we have in-house skills to deploy Messenger and SMS/Text marketing programs?
• How will we track the ROI of our conversational marketing efforts?
• Will my competitors have the resources to leverage conversational marketing and steal my market share?

DJ Vallauri is President and Founder of Lodging Interactive, a full-service digital marketing, social media engagement and reputation management agency exclusively servicing the hospitality industry. The Company provides cost-effective Internet marketing services to hundreds of branded and independent properties as well as management companies, restaurants, and spas. commingle:engage, the company’s social media and reputation management division, has established itself as the largest provider of reputation management services for the hospitality industry, handling over 200,000 guest review responses annually.

 

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Hospitality solution provider Angie Hospitality, developer of the industry’s first 24-hour interactive guest room assistant purpose-built for the hotel environment, has announced the seamless integration of its newly expanded line of Angie devices with hotel IP-PBX systems. As a result, hoteliers will no longer need to make additional and often costly guest room equipment purchases.

Compatible with IP-PBX systems used by many hoteliers today, the Angie device serves as an in-room SIP (Standard Initiation Protocol) device, giving guests the ability to either make offsite calls or connect with hotel personnel in various departments using Angie’s built-in voice control or high-resolution touch-screen. This advanced telephone functionality significantly augments Angie’s multi-purpose platform, which provides hotel guests with a wide range of conveniences through its award-winning virtual assistant technology platform.

Angie’s patented technology uses both voice control and touch screen capabilities to offer a complete solution for hoteliers looking to increase guest satisfaction, streamline operations, improve staff efficiencies and maximize revenue opportunities. The platform offers configurations to provide IP telephony, room automation features, energy management and more, through seamless integration with leading hotel technology system providers or as a complete stand-alone system. Angie instantly upgrades any hotel room, allowing guests to play their own music through its built-in Bluetooth speakers, make hands-free calls, access hotel amenities, charge their mobile devices, and much more. Angie can even provide guests a customized and secure in-room Wi-Fi network.

Now, by functioning as a plug-and-play SIP device, Angie is able to instantly connect with virtually any IP-PBX system without the need for complex integrations. This seamless integration with digital telephone systems provides a range of benefits for hoteliers, including a significant reduction in hardware and maintenance costs that are frequently attributed to legacy analog systems. Hoteliers can also reclaim valuable space that bulky analog servers typically take up in a property’s server room. With Angie’s telephone features utilizing state-of-the-art Voice over IP (VoIP) technology, guests are also able to enjoy HD voice quality, which provides a much clearer and crisper phone conversation experience.

“Today’s increasingly tech-savvy guests rightfully expect the same level of technological convenience they enjoy at home and on their mobile devices from hotel offered amenities — including the guest room telephone,” says Ted Helvey, CEO of Angie Hospitality. “With Angie, we have taken into account that the communication needs of each guest are different, so guests are able to either pick up a handset and dial an extension or outside number, or if they prefer simply say ‘Hey Angie,’ and ask to be instantly connected to the desired individual or department. Angie can also connect to guest’s mobile device via Bluetooth to enable cellular calls or streaming music.”

While both Angie Luxe and Angie Luxe+ models are able to serve as a guest room telephone, Angie Luxe+ is also equipped with a telephone handset for guests that prefer a more traditional experience. Alternatively, guests may enjoy touch-free convenience by simply asking Angie to connect them with a particular hotel department using voice command. Angie’s touchscreen interface further provides speed dial options for departments such as the front desk or housekeeping. Angie is also capable of fully replacing guest room IP-based telephones and saving hoteliers the expense of purchasing additional equipment by being emergency call compliant. Using an Ethernet connection, Angie can ensure that hotels can conform to state requirements for call stability, as well as other 911 emergency call needs.

Once implemented, Angie’s telephone functionalities have been attributed with significantly streamlining guest communications. For example, nearly half of guests all guests choose to leverage Angie’s telephone abilities to make calls and to communicate with reception.

“We were immediately intrigued by Angie because the solution can easily consolidate and act as a replacement for many devices in the guest room that either take up valuable real estate in the room or are costly and difficult to implement,” says Joshua Herron, Director, Technology & Experience at Innisfree Hotels which operates the Mercantile Hotel New Orleans. “Angie really is a full-featured solution that, in addition to its guest request streamlining abilities, serves to address a wide range of guest needs in a way that is far more convenient, effective and affordable.”

In addition to serving as a telephone, Angie provides each guest with the ability to access hotel and local information or make service requests using either voice interaction or the device’s built-in touchscreen. Other features include the ability to serve as a nightlight, Bluetooth speaker, USB charging station and a private in-room Wi-Fi network. Leveraging an integration with Hotspot 2.0 by GlobalReach Technology, Angie can further provide guest devices with a seamless one-time internet connection process that mirrors today’s cell phone experiences. While capable of serving as a standalone solution, Angie can also integrate with an array of disparate hotel systems to provide guests with voice- and touchscreen-based control over amenities such as televisions, thermostats, lighting and drapes.

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Hotel apps typically attract very low levels of guest engagement. In many cases, the engagement is almost nonexistent. That’s because guests are generally reluctant to download a hotel app, in the first place. The good news, both for hotels and for guests, is that there is now a solution to this problem.

Given that all major mobile phone brands now come with a QR code reader built into the camera, hotels can engage with guests on their mobile devices without them being required to download a mobile app. Instead, instead of needing to download an app, guests can use location-intelligent QR codes to access a variety of services by simply pointing their camera at any code.

That is the promise of AppLess Mobile, a new solution launched that week by hotel guest experience platforms provider Crave Interactive . Based in London, Crave is the first major hotel tech company to deploy a guest service solution in this manner. The new solution allows hotel guests to gain frictionless access to digital guest services on their own devices, without the need to download a mobile app.

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Also noteworthy is the fact that the hotel becomes the first property in the Middle East to feature Amazon Alexa voice assistants powered by Volara in every guestroom. The solution, powered by Volara’s conversation management software and integrated with Amadeus Service Optimization and VDA Group, ensures guests of JA Lake View Hotel Dubai can receive personalized service and adjust the comforts of their guestroom by speaking simple commands.

Volara is the only provider of voice-based solutions to the hospitality industry with the Alexa for Business Service Delivery Designation from Amazon and is a launch partner of Alexa for Hospitality. Volara’s proprietary software creates a hotel business tool atop the leading smart speakers and natural language processing platforms.

“JA Lake View Hotel is designed to create, curate and deliver services and experience that exceed the expectations of all generations,” said Andy Headon-Smith, Group Head of IT for Dutco Group, which owns and manages the JA Lake View Hotel. “With travelers’ requirements and demands changing rapidly, we believe that voice-based guest engagement is the future. By enabling guests to ask for, and immediately receive, the information, items, services, and concierge recommendations they seek, Volara’s technology is helping us achieve our vision.”

Kristofer Quadros, Hotel Manager of JA Lake View Hotel, said: “Guests can ask Alexa for information core to their stay like how to get on the WiFi or the hours of operations for our Calm Spa & Salon. They can learn about boating and sea plane excursions at the Marina, watersport equipment, and our mini golf course. Or if guests would prefer a quiet night in their room, they can ask Alexa to turn down the lights, turn on their TVs, send up champagne, and even schedule an alarm for the morning so they don’t miss their tee time. This is truly the next level in service excellence and guest engagement, and we are thrilled to be the first hotel in the region to leverage this technology to drive satisfaction, loyalty and revenues.”

Volara’s software is enabling the hotel to manage conversations with its guests in real-time. It’s secure integrations hub, which now includes over 40 hotel technologies, is enabling guests’ requests to prompt specific actions – whether routing a task to hotel staff, turning off the lights, or putting on the air conditioning.

The architecture of Volara’s software enables additional layers of security to ensure that guests’ personal information and conversations are protected, and JA Lake View Hotel’s proprietary data is secure. Volara’s patent pending Accuracy Engine ensures guest requests are properly handled, taking into consideration the many colloquialisms and accents used by global travelers.

“We are thrilled to play a part in the elevated guest experience at the JA Lake View Hotel with our hotel-grade voice assistant solution atop Amazon’s Alexa,” said David Berger, CEO of Volara. “Volara is proud to bring contextually relevant, totally awesome, conversational experiences at scale to the JA Lake View Hotel Dubai.”

JA Lake View Hotel joins the award-winning JA Beach Hotel and the Mediterranean style villa-suites of JA Palm Tree Court to become the only true all-inclusive resort in Dubai. And now, for the first time in the Middle East, voice-activated Volera-Alexa will provide instant virtual assistance to guests in their rooms.

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