Hotels Using VoIP
The days of expensive hotel phone bills are over, with the rise of more and more hotels offering broadband Internet services. With the broadband connection, users can use Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP to stay connected with their family.
This is especially good news to oversea travelers. Some hotels do have a charge to access the Internet.
The Residence Inn in New Haven Conneticutt has become one of the first hotels to offer free VoIP service to their customers. Adam Dubroff of TravelGlue, the company that wired the Residence Inn for VoIP, told CNN. "Until now, hotel guests have paid a premium for the convenience of the long distance service, which was appropriate when there were no cell phones and it really was a convenience."
Dubroff continued, “But as technology has developed, it has become an old business model and the prices charged have been rendered exorbitant. Now, because of VoIP, there is an opportunity to provide guests with a phone service for free and I think this will be the norm in the future."
The Wynn in Las Vegas has taken the VoIP technology to the fullest extreme offering reservations, hotel information and more right from a touch screen VoIP phone. Plus when a user accesses the broadband Internet the Wynn offers, they can use their personal VoIP service for only the cost of the Internet access.
Many VoIP providers allow users to take their service with them, wherever they travel. Skype offers a free VoIP that can be used directly with a users computer and broadband Internet connection, therefore allowing it to be accessed virtually anywhere and anytime. No additional equipment is needed, however Skype users can only call Skype customers for free. Calling regular phone numbers result in a charge.
Vonage allows customers to travel with their phone adapter that plugs into their computer and broadband Internet, giving them the same Internet phone service that they receive at home. Additional charges may incur from Vonage based on the monthly plan the user currently is enrolled in.
"Communication was always an issue with expats working overseas. Satellite telephones have helped me to keep in touch with my family but the per minute cost prohibited long or chatty calls," says Thomas Drown, a geologist working in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. “Now, I can talk to anyone in the world who has either a phone or an Internet connection. Now I can call my mom in Canada from my western Mongolia ger field office any time of the day or night for just eight cents a minute.”
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Attract Guests to Your Hotel by Producing Video Content Related to Travel
O'Rourke Interview with Tubemogul Co-Founder Brett Wilson
Hotels and other brands can reach their target audience by providing them with helpful information or interesting content they are looking for, whether it be through videos or articles. The content you create doesn't always have to be directly about your hotel, but could also be about anything relevant to travel or the city you are located in. For example, if you have a hotel in Chicago you could consider creating short video clips of great restaurants in the city. Someone planning on traveling to Chicago may very well conduct a search in Google on 'restaurants in Chicago,' and find your video.
Even though you are not directly promoting your hotel in the video, your brand will still be associated with the content, and you could have a link back to your hotel website. Once you discover and create the content your target audience is searching for, you must also take steps to promote your video online, and optimize it with keywords so it will appear in the search engine results pages.
Why should brands create online videos?
Video plays a significant part in internet marketing, and brands can use video to increase their online presence, engage viewers, and direct more traffic to their websites. Internet users enjoy watching videos, which is proven by the statistics that YouTube receives over a billion views a day, and that 20 hours of videos are uploaded to YouTube every minute.
Corporations are starting to see the importance of using online videos and the great opportunities it provides them. Online video is considered 'lean forward' content because it is something the viewer has searched for, and elected to watch. The traditional T.V. ad is more 'lean back' content because the viewer didn't choose to watch it, and often considers it to be an interruption of their television program.
It is also less expensive to create internet videos than T.V. spots. There are many sites where a corporation could place their video, and many of them are free. There is also a chance that a video could go 'viral' which means other sites may pick it up, and people may forward it to each other.
How are brands using video?
Brands should create content specifically for the internet, and not just re-purpose television ads. Online videos are different than T.V. ads, and they should contain more authentic content with real people and real situations. One brand that works well with online video is Victoria's Secret. Yes, perhaps this is no surprise, and they may have an upper hand here. However, they have created a fantastic Facebook page for Victoria's Secret PINK line and have posted 16 videos. They have more than 1 million fans.
Sears was not as successful, and simply re-purposed their television ads and placed them on their facebook page. It is obvious to the viewer that they are watching an ad, and most people instinctively loose interest when they feel they are being sold to.
Brands shouldn't rely on just one video, but should create a whole portfolio of videos. Red Bull has a video section on their website with videos that were produced years ago but are still getting views.
The Home Depot publishes educational how-to videos which indirectly promote their products without pitching them. The content of the video is focused on providing the viewer with information on how to make small repairs. Therefore, if someone is searching on 'how to fix a toilet,' a Home Depot video may come up. If the viewer watches that video they will see some of the Home Depot tools that they may then want to purchase.
InterContinental Hotels produced over 700 online videos about the cities where their hotels are located and posted them on their 'In The Know' website. These videos are narrated by the concierge of the hotel who takes the viewer on a tour of the city and points out the monuments, restaurants, and points of interest. The videos were produced for relatively the same amount of money it would have cost to produce one T.V. ad. The videos were also picked up by numerous sites and were shown on an in-flight program. InterContinental Hotels thought about what the consumer would want to know and created content around it. To read more about the InterContinental videos see our blog.
How will your video be found?
Once you have discovered what travelers may be searching for, and have created video content around that, it is time to 'seed' your videos so they will be found by your target audience. Do some keyword research to find out what terms your target audience may be searching on. For example if you created a video about restaurants in Chicago brainstorm the various ways a person may search for that term such as; restaurants in Chicago, places to eat in Chicago, or Best Restaurants Chicago.
You should strive to have your video appear on the first few pages of Google for your selected keywords. Videos can appear organically in the search engine results pages and they can also appear in the videos tab on the navigation bar at the top left of a results page.
There is no cut and dry formula to ensure your video will appear in organic search, but there are some steps you can take that will increase its position in the search engine results pages. When you upload your video to a site such as YouTube, make sure to put your main keywords in the title of the video. You must also place your keywords in the 'tag' box and include them in the description of your video. Your video ranking is also affected by the number of views and votes your video has received.
Google has also just announced two YouTube features this month that could help your videos appear in organic search. The first is a preliminary roll-out of automatic captioning or auto-caps. YouTube will be able to create captions for videos using the current automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology. Auto-caps was developed mostly to allow videos to be accessible to the hearing-impaired, and to enable people around the world to access the content in 51 languages. However, the captions will also help your video appear in the search engine results pages for relevant keyword searches. Auto-caps is a work in progress, and sometimes the captions are correct, and other times they are not so good, but as Google says, it is better than nothing.
The second feature Google is launching is called automatic caption timing, or auto-timing, which will make it easier for people uploading video to create captions manually. In the past it was a bit difficult and time-consuming to add captions so most people avoided it. With auto-timing you just need to create a text file of your transcript and Google will use ASR technology to match up the captions to your video. For more information, see the Google blog post on Automatic captions.
Other video hosting services are looking for ways to incorporate Search Engine Optimization tactics as a feature of their site. One such company is Fliqz.com which just released SearchSuccess this month, which is a set of tools and applications for video search engine optimization. One of their clients, Design World Online, has submitted 1,000 videos and 700 of them are already on the first page of the search engine results.
Apart from having your video appear in the search engine results pages, you should also promote your video on other sites. Place your video on your website and facebook account. Send tweets on Twitter that link to your video. Find similar videos on the same topic and post a video response with your video. Join discussion groups and post your video with your thoughts. You can also tag your video on social bookmarking sites such as delicious and StumbleUpon. Submit articles to travel-related magazines and embed your video.
Upload your video to video-sharing sites. There are hundreds of video sites available but some of the most popular ones are YouTube, Yahoo video, Vimeo, DailyMotion, MetaCafe, Veoh, and Blip.tv.
A good free tool to help you upload your videos is called Tubemogul. All you have to do is upload your video once, and Tubemogul can distribute it to over 20 different sites. You have to spend some initial time setting up accounts in the various video-sharing sites, but after that it can save you a lot of time. You will also be able to see the analytics of your video and learn what keywords viewers used to find your video.
We recently met up with Brett Wilson, CEO and co-founder of TubeMogul, at Ad Tech New York and conducted a brief interview. Tom O'Rourke CEO/Founder of O'Rourke Hospitality Marketing asked Brett what his advice would be to hotels in terms of creating content and then optimizing the content to appear in the search engine results pages.
Brett responded that hotels need to be thinking about what their target audience is searching for, and create content around that. He believes that video is the best medium to engage guests with your hotel. Although Brett stated he wasn't an SEO expert, he stressed that Google looks for relevancy so your keywords must be relevant to the content. He also suggested that hotels post a video and then observe what happens. Look at the keyword reports to see which terms viewers used to find your video and then go back and iterate the keywords that are most effective.
Even though you are not directly promoting your hotel in the video, your brand will still be associated with the content, and you could have a link back to your hotel website. Once you discover and create the content your target audience is searching for, you must also take steps to promote your video online, and optimize it with keywords so it will appear in the search engine results pages.
Why should brands create online videos?
Video plays a significant part in internet marketing, and brands can use video to increase their online presence, engage viewers, and direct more traffic to their websites. Internet users enjoy watching videos, which is proven by the statistics that YouTube receives over a billion views a day, and that 20 hours of videos are uploaded to YouTube every minute.
Corporations are starting to see the importance of using online videos and the great opportunities it provides them. Online video is considered 'lean forward' content because it is something the viewer has searched for, and elected to watch. The traditional T.V. ad is more 'lean back' content because the viewer didn't choose to watch it, and often considers it to be an interruption of their television program.
It is also less expensive to create internet videos than T.V. spots. There are many sites where a corporation could place their video, and many of them are free. There is also a chance that a video could go 'viral' which means other sites may pick it up, and people may forward it to each other.
How are brands using video?
Brands should create content specifically for the internet, and not just re-purpose television ads. Online videos are different than T.V. ads, and they should contain more authentic content with real people and real situations. One brand that works well with online video is Victoria's Secret. Yes, perhaps this is no surprise, and they may have an upper hand here. However, they have created a fantastic Facebook page for Victoria's Secret PINK line and have posted 16 videos. They have more than 1 million fans.
Sears was not as successful, and simply re-purposed their television ads and placed them on their facebook page. It is obvious to the viewer that they are watching an ad, and most people instinctively loose interest when they feel they are being sold to.
Brands shouldn't rely on just one video, but should create a whole portfolio of videos. Red Bull has a video section on their website with videos that were produced years ago but are still getting views.
The Home Depot publishes educational how-to videos which indirectly promote their products without pitching them. The content of the video is focused on providing the viewer with information on how to make small repairs. Therefore, if someone is searching on 'how to fix a toilet,' a Home Depot video may come up. If the viewer watches that video they will see some of the Home Depot tools that they may then want to purchase.
InterContinental Hotels produced over 700 online videos about the cities where their hotels are located and posted them on their 'In The Know' website. These videos are narrated by the concierge of the hotel who takes the viewer on a tour of the city and points out the monuments, restaurants, and points of interest. The videos were produced for relatively the same amount of money it would have cost to produce one T.V. ad. The videos were also picked up by numerous sites and were shown on an in-flight program. InterContinental Hotels thought about what the consumer would want to know and created content around it. To read more about the InterContinental videos see our blog.
How will your video be found?
Once you have discovered what travelers may be searching for, and have created video content around that, it is time to 'seed' your videos so they will be found by your target audience. Do some keyword research to find out what terms your target audience may be searching on. For example if you created a video about restaurants in Chicago brainstorm the various ways a person may search for that term such as; restaurants in Chicago, places to eat in Chicago, or Best Restaurants Chicago.
You should strive to have your video appear on the first few pages of Google for your selected keywords. Videos can appear organically in the search engine results pages and they can also appear in the videos tab on the navigation bar at the top left of a results page.
There is no cut and dry formula to ensure your video will appear in organic search, but there are some steps you can take that will increase its position in the search engine results pages. When you upload your video to a site such as YouTube, make sure to put your main keywords in the title of the video. You must also place your keywords in the 'tag' box and include them in the description of your video. Your video ranking is also affected by the number of views and votes your video has received.
Google has also just announced two YouTube features this month that could help your videos appear in organic search. The first is a preliminary roll-out of automatic captioning or auto-caps. YouTube will be able to create captions for videos using the current automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology. Auto-caps was developed mostly to allow videos to be accessible to the hearing-impaired, and to enable people around the world to access the content in 51 languages. However, the captions will also help your video appear in the search engine results pages for relevant keyword searches. Auto-caps is a work in progress, and sometimes the captions are correct, and other times they are not so good, but as Google says, it is better than nothing.
The second feature Google is launching is called automatic caption timing, or auto-timing, which will make it easier for people uploading video to create captions manually. In the past it was a bit difficult and time-consuming to add captions so most people avoided it. With auto-timing you just need to create a text file of your transcript and Google will use ASR technology to match up the captions to your video. For more information, see the Google blog post on Automatic captions.
Other video hosting services are looking for ways to incorporate Search Engine Optimization tactics as a feature of their site. One such company is Fliqz.com which just released SearchSuccess this month, which is a set of tools and applications for video search engine optimization. One of their clients, Design World Online, has submitted 1,000 videos and 700 of them are already on the first page of the search engine results.
Apart from having your video appear in the search engine results pages, you should also promote your video on other sites. Place your video on your website and facebook account. Send tweets on Twitter that link to your video. Find similar videos on the same topic and post a video response with your video. Join discussion groups and post your video with your thoughts. You can also tag your video on social bookmarking sites such as delicious and StumbleUpon. Submit articles to travel-related magazines and embed your video.
Upload your video to video-sharing sites. There are hundreds of video sites available but some of the most popular ones are YouTube, Yahoo video, Vimeo, DailyMotion, MetaCafe, Veoh, and Blip.tv.
A good free tool to help you upload your videos is called Tubemogul. All you have to do is upload your video once, and Tubemogul can distribute it to over 20 different sites. You have to spend some initial time setting up accounts in the various video-sharing sites, but after that it can save you a lot of time. You will also be able to see the analytics of your video and learn what keywords viewers used to find your video.
We recently met up with Brett Wilson, CEO and co-founder of TubeMogul, at Ad Tech New York and conducted a brief interview. Tom O'Rourke CEO/Founder of O'Rourke Hospitality Marketing asked Brett what his advice would be to hotels in terms of creating content and then optimizing the content to appear in the search engine results pages.
Brett responded that hotels need to be thinking about what their target audience is searching for, and create content around that. He believes that video is the best medium to engage guests with your hotel. Although Brett stated he wasn't an SEO expert, he stressed that Google looks for relevancy so your keywords must be relevant to the content. He also suggested that hotels post a video and then observe what happens. Look at the keyword reports to see which terms viewers used to find your video and then go back and iterate the keywords that are most effective.
hotel SystemsPro Taps Industry Experts to Sharpen Customers' Competitive Advantage
New team members help clients maximize effective enterprise solutions hotel SystemsPro, a pioneer of Web-based enterprise solutions that enable hotel companies to increase market share, announced it added two industry professionals to its staff to ensure its customers make maximum use of the company's technology products to boost property performance in the recovering economic climate.
Senior Director Bill Mitchell will be based in hotel SystemsPro's Atlanta corporate offices and responsible for customer service. Bill will maintain the company's consistently high level of personalized client support that enables operators to optimize use of their hotel SalesPro sales and catering software and hotel ServicePro asset management systems.
Account Manager Katie Stewart assumed nationwide responsibility for ensuring customers gain maximum value from their hotel SystemsPro solutions. She will work directly with the company's professional training programs at both the executive and hotel levels. Katie will be based in hotel SystemsPro's Florida offices.
hotel SystemsPro provides operators with tools that increase sales
'Bill's frontline management experience gives him the ideal perspective for guiding support for our clients' hotel sales teams,' said hotel SystemsPro President Chip Carroll. 'Bill will provide customers with ways to more effectively employ our systems tools to increase sales and drive loyalty. Katie's technical savvy, particularly in expanding online marketing and sales, serves her well in ensuring customers take full advantage of our affordable solutions to gain the edge that puts them ahead of the competition.'
Bill Mitchell comes to hotel SystemsPro from Hilton Worldwide where he served as West Coast regional manager for the140+ Hampton brand hotels. He also served as general manager at two New Orleans properties operated by Expotel Hospitality and Highpointe Hotels, respectively. Both properties are part of the Flagstone Hospitality family (formerly RFS Inc.). Bill is an American Hotel and Lodging Association Certified Hotel Administrator (CHA) and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Troy University.
Katie most recently applied her Internet prospecting expertise as an independent consultant in off-site sales for hotel SystemsPro and for the Crossroads division of Interstate Hotels and Resorts. 'I was impressed with hotel SystemsPro's solutions from the start,' Katie said. 'The company's systems are easy to learn and use for hotel staff in all departments at any technology skill level.'
Before her work as an independent consultant, Katie was with Crossroads Hospitality Company providing internet marketing and off-site sales support. She also served as general manager of the Fairfield Inn by Marriott in Mattoon, Illinois and as business manager for Hale Grove, the largest direct marketing citrus company in Florida. Katie co-founded Stukmoms LLC (www.stukmoms.com) in November 2008, creating a network of women professionals who support one another by sharing solutions for growing their businesses. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Quincy University.
About hotel SystemsPro
Founded in 1996, hotel SystemsPro is a technology company operated by hospitality professionals who provide high performance, ASP-based enterprise and property solutions that enable hotel companies grow market share through better management of assets, increased sales, reduced operating expenses, and a higher quality guest experience. hotel SystemsPro partners with clients to provide solutions that scale across a broad range of properties in North America and around the world. Whatever the size of the property operator or its challenges, hotel SystemsPro solutions do the heavy lifting for operators to streamline operations and boost staff productivity and profitability. Our solutions include hotel SalesPro, hotel CateringPro, hotel ServicePro and hotel WebSpace. For more information, visit www.hotelsystemspro.com.
hotel SalesPro is a multi-property ASP sales and catering system with scalable functionality that increases sales efficiency for hotel chains and independent properties. hotel ServicePro is an economical hotel maintenance solution that preserves property asset value and improves guest service by automating the communication, scheduling, tracking and reporting of tasks surrounding best practices, guest requests, safety requirements and preventive and equipment management. hotel WebSpace, is an effective new online marketing solution that drives market share for hotel companies.
Senior Director Bill Mitchell will be based in hotel SystemsPro's Atlanta corporate offices and responsible for customer service. Bill will maintain the company's consistently high level of personalized client support that enables operators to optimize use of their hotel SalesPro sales and catering software and hotel ServicePro asset management systems.
Account Manager Katie Stewart assumed nationwide responsibility for ensuring customers gain maximum value from their hotel SystemsPro solutions. She will work directly with the company's professional training programs at both the executive and hotel levels. Katie will be based in hotel SystemsPro's Florida offices.
hotel SystemsPro provides operators with tools that increase sales
'Bill's frontline management experience gives him the ideal perspective for guiding support for our clients' hotel sales teams,' said hotel SystemsPro President Chip Carroll. 'Bill will provide customers with ways to more effectively employ our systems tools to increase sales and drive loyalty. Katie's technical savvy, particularly in expanding online marketing and sales, serves her well in ensuring customers take full advantage of our affordable solutions to gain the edge that puts them ahead of the competition.'
Bill Mitchell comes to hotel SystemsPro from Hilton Worldwide where he served as West Coast regional manager for the140+ Hampton brand hotels. He also served as general manager at two New Orleans properties operated by Expotel Hospitality and Highpointe Hotels, respectively. Both properties are part of the Flagstone Hospitality family (formerly RFS Inc.). Bill is an American Hotel and Lodging Association Certified Hotel Administrator (CHA) and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Troy University.
Katie most recently applied her Internet prospecting expertise as an independent consultant in off-site sales for hotel SystemsPro and for the Crossroads division of Interstate Hotels and Resorts. 'I was impressed with hotel SystemsPro's solutions from the start,' Katie said. 'The company's systems are easy to learn and use for hotel staff in all departments at any technology skill level.'
Before her work as an independent consultant, Katie was with Crossroads Hospitality Company providing internet marketing and off-site sales support. She also served as general manager of the Fairfield Inn by Marriott in Mattoon, Illinois and as business manager for Hale Grove, the largest direct marketing citrus company in Florida. Katie co-founded Stukmoms LLC (www.stukmoms.com) in November 2008, creating a network of women professionals who support one another by sharing solutions for growing their businesses. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Quincy University.
About hotel SystemsPro
Founded in 1996, hotel SystemsPro is a technology company operated by hospitality professionals who provide high performance, ASP-based enterprise and property solutions that enable hotel companies grow market share through better management of assets, increased sales, reduced operating expenses, and a higher quality guest experience. hotel SystemsPro partners with clients to provide solutions that scale across a broad range of properties in North America and around the world. Whatever the size of the property operator or its challenges, hotel SystemsPro solutions do the heavy lifting for operators to streamline operations and boost staff productivity and profitability. Our solutions include hotel SalesPro, hotel CateringPro, hotel ServicePro and hotel WebSpace. For more information, visit www.hotelsystemspro.com.
hotel SalesPro is a multi-property ASP sales and catering system with scalable functionality that increases sales efficiency for hotel chains and independent properties. hotel ServicePro is an economical hotel maintenance solution that preserves property asset value and improves guest service by automating the communication, scheduling, tracking and reporting of tasks surrounding best practices, guest requests, safety requirements and preventive and equipment management. hotel WebSpace, is an effective new online marketing solution that drives market share for hotel companies.
What the new wave of direct connections could mean for airline-GDS relationships
Since American Airlines told delegates to the Computerized Airline Sales and Marketing Association conference in October that it plans to move all indirect volume to direct connections, industry observers have wondered what such a world would look like and how it would change relationships among airlines, travel agencies, GDSs and customers. Jim Davidson, chief executive officer of Farelogix, shed some light on the issue during the recent PhoCusWright conference in Orlando. "It's not about eliminating the GDS channel," he said. "It's not about either/or." Rather, he said, it's about satisfying airlines' desires to take control of their pricing and how their offers to consumers are presented.
And depending on how far airlines want to take their retailing independence, direct connections could be a game-changer for airline distribution.
Farelogix is involved in the building of XML connections between American Airlines and other entities, which include large corporate travel agencies -- those that have the means to build their own front ends -- and GDSs. In theory, that would enable airlines to cut the Edifact cord to the GDSs.
Davidson stressed that Farelogix' role is strictly that of a technology provider; it is not involved in the reshaping of the various relationships. Davidson did not address the project in his keynote address at the conference. Rather, he spoke of "lethargic technology" and an industry that is "unmotivated to embrace change."
He noted that corporate travel managers fear airline merchandising, in part because "we are focusing too much time on the bits and bytes of it rather than the meat of it." The industry has two challenges, he said: The airlines need to figure out how to present a solid value proposition, and they need technical processes to all the transactions to take place.
And depending on how far airlines want to take their retailing independence, direct connections could be a game-changer for airline distribution.
Farelogix is involved in the building of XML connections between American Airlines and other entities, which include large corporate travel agencies -- those that have the means to build their own front ends -- and GDSs. In theory, that would enable airlines to cut the Edifact cord to the GDSs.
Davidson stressed that Farelogix' role is strictly that of a technology provider; it is not involved in the reshaping of the various relationships. Davidson did not address the project in his keynote address at the conference. Rather, he spoke of "lethargic technology" and an industry that is "unmotivated to embrace change."
He noted that corporate travel managers fear airline merchandising, in part because "we are focusing too much time on the bits and bytes of it rather than the meat of it." The industry has two challenges, he said: The airlines need to figure out how to present a solid value proposition, and they need technical processes to all the transactions to take place.
Mandarin Oriental at CityCenter in Las Vegas features innovative technology solutions by Axxess Industries Inc. interfaced to Control4 and HotSOS
The Mandarin Oriental hotel, part of MGM Mirage's massive and beautiful CityCenter project, features Axxess' advanced Guest Room Management systems. TrayTrackerTM informs staff about the location of used in-room-dining carts and trays cluttering the hallway, so that swift retrieval is assured. ValetCallTM allows guests to prompt the valet service for their car with one button press as they leave their room. Axxess' system also includes electronic Do-Not-Disturb indicators and doorbell for each room. Soooo much nicer than the crude knock on the door. Hotel staff can monitor all guest rooms status information on all their workstations and improve guest service and hotel efficiency substantially.
Axxess' systems are seamlessly integrated into Control4's Suite System Controller, which controls everything from lights to TV to drapes. Axxess' TrayTrackerTM and ValetCall messages are dispatched to the recipient via MTech's HotSOS system. The guest will feel the improved service, even if they don't know how it's done.
Axxess Industries Inc creates innovative electronic solutions for the hospitality market that focus on improving guest experience by optimizing housekeeping efficiency. In addition to the electronic Do-Not-Disturb indicator system, rooms can now be serviced without that annoying knock on the door. Axxess products inform housekeeping whether someone is actually in the room or not. Similarly, Axxess supplies a food tray alerting system called TrayTracker that informs staff in real time when and where a used food tray is ready for pick up. No more dirty dishes cluttering up the hallways.
When it comes to innovative guest room technology solutions Axxess is increasingly seen as an established go-to supplier for the prestigious Las Vegas hotel market. The new City Center based Mandarin Oriental and Aria guestrooms are serviced with Axxess doorbells and LED indicators for Privacy and Service. This is a collaborative effort between Axxess and primary technology interface partner, Control4. Secondary technology interface partner is MTech HotSOS. 'By collaborating with other technology providers (Control4 & MTech) Axxess has achieved some best-in-breed hospitality technology solutions at City Center'(Joerg Wagner, President, Axxess Industries Inc).
As a member of HTNG (Hospitality Technology Next Generation - the hotelier driven industry association that creates standards allowing different hotel technology vendors' systems to cooperate in the field.) Axxess is committed to the desire of hoteliers to purchase best-of-breed solutions from different vendors and yet enjoy the benefits of compatibility and interoperability. Axxess customers are assured of technological interoperability with different hospitality systems without additional charge.
Axxess products are borne out of a genuine and demonstrated passion to help hoteliers serve their guest better and more efficiently. Research and development efforts center on finding the best solutions to the most irritating problems encountered by guests and the hotelier alike. Axxess has a well earned reputation for being a leader in providing creative solutions that have a demonstrated ROI, not only in financial terms, but also in operational efficiency, time saving, stress and workload reducing terms. In addition Axxess blends functionally superior products with aesthetically pleasing designs to enhance the theme and curb-appeal of the hotel and guest-room. From this vision, Axxess has grown into a company conducting research and development of electronic guest-room management systems, manufacturing such systems, developing integrated software solutions both for PC workstations and PDAs, as well as interfaces to other hotel systems. Axxess manufactures intelligent electronic room number signs, custom designed for each brand and/or project, which incorporate many of the electronic functions and solutions.
Axxess' systems are seamlessly integrated into Control4's Suite System Controller, which controls everything from lights to TV to drapes. Axxess' TrayTrackerTM and ValetCall messages are dispatched to the recipient via MTech's HotSOS system. The guest will feel the improved service, even if they don't know how it's done.
Axxess Industries Inc creates innovative electronic solutions for the hospitality market that focus on improving guest experience by optimizing housekeeping efficiency. In addition to the electronic Do-Not-Disturb indicator system, rooms can now be serviced without that annoying knock on the door. Axxess products inform housekeeping whether someone is actually in the room or not. Similarly, Axxess supplies a food tray alerting system called TrayTracker that informs staff in real time when and where a used food tray is ready for pick up. No more dirty dishes cluttering up the hallways.
When it comes to innovative guest room technology solutions Axxess is increasingly seen as an established go-to supplier for the prestigious Las Vegas hotel market. The new City Center based Mandarin Oriental and Aria guestrooms are serviced with Axxess doorbells and LED indicators for Privacy and Service. This is a collaborative effort between Axxess and primary technology interface partner, Control4. Secondary technology interface partner is MTech HotSOS. 'By collaborating with other technology providers (Control4 & MTech) Axxess has achieved some best-in-breed hospitality technology solutions at City Center'(Joerg Wagner, President, Axxess Industries Inc).
As a member of HTNG (Hospitality Technology Next Generation - the hotelier driven industry association that creates standards allowing different hotel technology vendors' systems to cooperate in the field.) Axxess is committed to the desire of hoteliers to purchase best-of-breed solutions from different vendors and yet enjoy the benefits of compatibility and interoperability. Axxess customers are assured of technological interoperability with different hospitality systems without additional charge.
Axxess products are borne out of a genuine and demonstrated passion to help hoteliers serve their guest better and more efficiently. Research and development efforts center on finding the best solutions to the most irritating problems encountered by guests and the hotelier alike. Axxess has a well earned reputation for being a leader in providing creative solutions that have a demonstrated ROI, not only in financial terms, but also in operational efficiency, time saving, stress and workload reducing terms. In addition Axxess blends functionally superior products with aesthetically pleasing designs to enhance the theme and curb-appeal of the hotel and guest-room. From this vision, Axxess has grown into a company conducting research and development of electronic guest-room management systems, manufacturing such systems, developing integrated software solutions both for PC workstations and PDAs, as well as interfaces to other hotel systems. Axxess manufactures intelligent electronic room number signs, custom designed for each brand and/or project, which incorporate many of the electronic functions and solutions.
Social Media For Hotels - What Helps, What Doesn't - By Neil Salerno
The unique quality of Web 2.0 social media is that it consists of user-generated content. Social media users post comments directly on the Internet and all they need is access to a computer. At the same time, users have the ability to read and absorb comments made by other users...sounds like a marketer's dream. But, how well does social media serve individual hotels? Twitter and Facebook are heavily promoted to hoteliers as opportunities to market their hotels to millions of social media users. I get a real kick when I hear the phrase "Find out what people think of your hotel". Ironically, the vast majority of comments, made about hotels on Twitter and Facebook, are posted by the hotels themselves and many fewer by hotel consumers.
I guess social media could be considered as a form of advertising, but just how effective is it for hotels? Advertising is only effective if consumers have an interest and take notice. Since I am a hotelier at heart, I am always concerned about the amount of time hoteliers spend "working" social media instead of concentrating on more productive sales areas.
Hoteliers should take note that the 80/20 rule still applies; it is always better to concentrate on the 20% of marketing tasks which produce 80% of the business. Marketing hotels today is much more complex than just a few years ago; it is easy be distracted by seemingly "miracle" solutions.
This is a time to strengthen and solidify relationships with current business sources and that usually means lots of face-to-face contact. The Internet is wonderful, but let's not forget that it's hard to develop relationships through Internet postings and email, alone.
It's a Matter of Relativity and Interest
My contention is that the vast majority of consumers have little interest in hotels unless they are planning travel; and then only those hotels in the location of their interest. I see no evidence in the marketplace for general consumer interest in or curiosity for hotels, especially in this economy. In the vast Twitter and Facebook communities, it seems inconceivable to me that any one hotel could draw enough curiosity to make the effort worthwhile.
I do see some opportunity for hotel franchises to build brand awareness through general social media. With the explosion of new franchise products during the past fifteen years, there is a lot of confusion in the marketplace, even among hoteliers themselves. Multi-brand franchises have an opportunity to use general social media to clarify the differences for each product in their inventory.
Most Twitter and Facebook users would have to admit that social media is fun to use, but it is a real chore to sift through hundreds of posts to find a message of interest. As an active Twitter user, I follow many hotel members because I have a strong interest in what they have to say; after all, I am a hotelier too. The question is how much interest does the average user have in any individual hotel, unless they are planning a trip to that area? The answer is very little.
Now, let me be clear, I think that social media has been a virtual boon for retail products and services. Products and services, of general interest to the public at large, which can be purchased by anyone at any time, have really benefitted from general social media. Hotels, on the other hand, are limited in their appeal to the general public because hotel use is highly destination and location focused.
Travel Social Media is Relevant
One area of social media is quite different; travel-oriented social media sites like TripAdvisor. TripAdvisor and other travel oriented social media are beneficial to hotels due to their very nature. If you really want to know what people think of your hotel, it is best to turn to TripAdvisor or other sites like it.
It is vitally important for hotels to monitor and react to consumer comments posted to TripAdvisor. Most consumers use TripAdvisor in one of two ways; to read comments from past guests of the hotel, either before or after making their own reservation, and to post comments about a hotel, in which they have stayed. In either event, all the information on the site is relevant to travel.
Many traveling consumers have learned to rely on travel social media to validate their choice of hotel; just like they used to rely on their favorite travel agent to provide advice on travel. It just doesn't make sense to ignore your hotel's postings on these sites.
I first wrote about this almost two years ago. If one reads many of the reviews on TripAdvisor, it quickly becomes evident that many hoteliers are not reacting to comments made about their hotel. TripAdvisor provides hotels with the opportunity to respond to postings made by former guests; yet it seems like too few hotels actually do that.
I guess social media could be considered as a form of advertising, but just how effective is it for hotels? Advertising is only effective if consumers have an interest and take notice. Since I am a hotelier at heart, I am always concerned about the amount of time hoteliers spend "working" social media instead of concentrating on more productive sales areas.
Hoteliers should take note that the 80/20 rule still applies; it is always better to concentrate on the 20% of marketing tasks which produce 80% of the business. Marketing hotels today is much more complex than just a few years ago; it is easy be distracted by seemingly "miracle" solutions.
This is a time to strengthen and solidify relationships with current business sources and that usually means lots of face-to-face contact. The Internet is wonderful, but let's not forget that it's hard to develop relationships through Internet postings and email, alone.
It's a Matter of Relativity and Interest
My contention is that the vast majority of consumers have little interest in hotels unless they are planning travel; and then only those hotels in the location of their interest. I see no evidence in the marketplace for general consumer interest in or curiosity for hotels, especially in this economy. In the vast Twitter and Facebook communities, it seems inconceivable to me that any one hotel could draw enough curiosity to make the effort worthwhile.
I do see some opportunity for hotel franchises to build brand awareness through general social media. With the explosion of new franchise products during the past fifteen years, there is a lot of confusion in the marketplace, even among hoteliers themselves. Multi-brand franchises have an opportunity to use general social media to clarify the differences for each product in their inventory.
Most Twitter and Facebook users would have to admit that social media is fun to use, but it is a real chore to sift through hundreds of posts to find a message of interest. As an active Twitter user, I follow many hotel members because I have a strong interest in what they have to say; after all, I am a hotelier too. The question is how much interest does the average user have in any individual hotel, unless they are planning a trip to that area? The answer is very little.
Now, let me be clear, I think that social media has been a virtual boon for retail products and services. Products and services, of general interest to the public at large, which can be purchased by anyone at any time, have really benefitted from general social media. Hotels, on the other hand, are limited in their appeal to the general public because hotel use is highly destination and location focused.
Travel Social Media is Relevant
One area of social media is quite different; travel-oriented social media sites like TripAdvisor. TripAdvisor and other travel oriented social media are beneficial to hotels due to their very nature. If you really want to know what people think of your hotel, it is best to turn to TripAdvisor or other sites like it.
It is vitally important for hotels to monitor and react to consumer comments posted to TripAdvisor. Most consumers use TripAdvisor in one of two ways; to read comments from past guests of the hotel, either before or after making their own reservation, and to post comments about a hotel, in which they have stayed. In either event, all the information on the site is relevant to travel.
Many traveling consumers have learned to rely on travel social media to validate their choice of hotel; just like they used to rely on their favorite travel agent to provide advice on travel. It just doesn't make sense to ignore your hotel's postings on these sites.
I first wrote about this almost two years ago. If one reads many of the reviews on TripAdvisor, it quickly becomes evident that many hoteliers are not reacting to comments made about their hotel. TripAdvisor provides hotels with the opportunity to respond to postings made by former guests; yet it seems like too few hotels actually do that.
Fast Growing Asia-Pacific Hotel Chain, Park Hotel Group, Switches to Sabre Hospitality Solutions for Distribution Expertise
One of Asia-Pacific's fastest growing hotel chains, Singapore-based Park Hotel Group, has made the switch to Sabre Hospitality Solutions for complete distribution of all properties. With plans to expand by another 10 to 12 properties in the next three to five years, Park Hotel Group will rely on Sabre Hospitality's extensive global distribution and marketing expertise to meet its aggressive goals.
Park Hotel Group is now using the SynXis Central Reservation System (CRS) to connect seamlessly to all channels including the four Global Distribution Systems, thousands of online travel agents and to power its own website bookings coming from www.parkhotelgroup.com, using the Guest Connect booking engine. This industry-leading technology, along with Sabre's proven experience was critical to the Park Hotel Group's decision to select Sabre Hospitality Solutions. The Group's property staff will benefit from the major investments Sabre has made in the product such as unsurpassed system reliability and a back end user-interface in local languages like simplified and traditional Chinese and Japanese and a booking engine available in 28 languages. Investments have also been made in the areas of localized support and training with offices now open in Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Australia.
"In view of our future expansion plans, selecting the right technology partner was critical for our team," said Mohd K Rafin, the senior vice president of Park Hotel Group. "Sabre Hospitality Solutions has proven to have the sophisticated tools along with a seasoned staff that can truly help us establish Park Hotel Group as one of Asia-Pacific's top hospitality brands. We have already been impressed with the quick and seamless migration of our properties to the new platform. Their team was able to implement 8 hotels in 4 countries with training in 3 languages, all in less than 3 weeks, amazing!"
The privately-held Park Hotel Group owns and operates properties in Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Japan. Park branded hotels include the five-star Grand Park and four-star Park Hotel.
"With several key wins recently, Asia-Pacific is now Sabre Hospitality Solutions' fastest growing region and we are very excited to count the Park Hotel Group among our customers," said Patrick Andrès, managing director, SynXis Asia Pacific. "We have been extremely pleased with the adoption rate of our products and services throughout the region and Sabre is committed to continuing its investment in our future growth. This means our customers can count on having incomparable service to support our industry leading technology whose reliability continues to outperform our competitors."
About Sabre Hospitality Solutions
Sabre Hospitality Solutions leverages the strength and breadth of Sabre Holding's technology, marketing and distribution tools to bring hotel suppliers a global end-to-end solution. Sabre's hospitality expertise and portfolio of solutionshas grown significantly over the last several years and now includes SynXis, whichprovides distribution technology and marketing services; E-site Marketing, the leading hospitality Internet marketing solutions provider; Sabre Travel Network Hotels, GDS distribution and media products provider; Sabre Hotel RFP, which develops, delivers and manages hotel requests for proposals into a single; and Sabre Media Solutions for GDS and other creative services in hospitality.
Sabre Holdings connects people with the world's greatest travel possibilities by retailing travel products and providing distribution and technology solutions for the travel industry. More information is available at www.sabre-holdings.com.
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