ITs all about Service

Walk into any Ginger Hotel, one of Indias leading budget

hotel chains, and you will be greeted by a self check-in kiosk, wherein simply

by entering in your reservation details, a card will be issued, which will act

as your room key. While room key cards is not exactly a new concept, self

check-in without a front office is something that this hotel chain claims to be

a first in India. Not to forget, self check-in kiosks are still in their nascent

stage in the far more technologically advanced aviation sector.

The fact that a budget chain has pioneered the application of a

customer-facing technology shows in what direction technology application in

this industry is headed. On the first look, the replacement of a front office

with a check-in by an automated kiosk looks like a desperate cost-cutting

technology. But looking at it from a realistic customer experience point of

view, especially in a budget hotel, the biggest problem in these hotelsspread

in many places in Indiais to find, train and then retain good front-office

staff. As a result, the customer experience varies significantly from time to

time, and from hotel to hotel, even if they are from the same chain. Kiosks,

though a little cold initially, is a much better way to efficiently achieve what

takes between fifteen to thirty minutes in small hotels.

Tech is not New, Apps are



Traditionally, the hospitality sector focused on IT deployments simply for
accounting systems and back office software for improving operations and

processes. With competition and new demands, it has graduated to become a key

tool for fortifying customer relationship and enhancing loyalty.

"Automation with IT has reduced monetary losses through pilferage, and IT

investments today show a very fast RoI," says Khushru D Siganporia,

director, IT, Indian Hotels Company, Taj Group of Hotels.

The mainstay applications such as the Property Management System

(PMS), POS, and back office (BO) have been used by hotel chains for some time

now and it is by the usage of these systems that the hotels can service their

guests better. But today some of the best hotel chains also use advanced CRM

systems to enable check in system on each floor depending on the guests

profile. The PMS system primarily used for check-in and checkout, also allows

the guest profiles to be viewed from an integrated database.

One of the primary requirements in the hospitality industry is

seamless and uninterrupted connectivity. Hence, a robust network is a primary

requirement and networking technology is rapidly revolutionizing the value added

services offered to guests by hotels. Wi-Fi services, the buzzword in the

hospitality sector is not just restricted to big players, many 3-4 star hotels

are also deploying Wi-Fi services. The Hyderabad-based Hotel Golkonda, a

three-star hotel, has deployed full-fledged wireless LAN, powered by Cisco

Aironet 1100 series access points across five floors. The hotel offers seamless

wireless Internet connectivity to its guests. Similarly, Hotel Green Park, a

four-star hotel in Hyderabad, Vishakapatnam, and Chennai has implemented a Wi-Fi

Internet system across its properties, and provides broadband connections to

business travelers.

"Hotels are investing in the latest networking technology

that further improves operational efficiency, and offers solutions for managing

their network thereby allowing hotels to focus on their core business of serving

customers. Network management tools help automate, simplify and integrate the

network across an enterprise to reduce operational costs and improve

productivity," says Anil Bhasin, vice president, Enterprise Cisco India and

SAARC.

	"The more widespread acceptance of emerging and existing security standards, and technologies such as encryption and online payment processing, will encourage the use of technology"
	Vishnu Murali Konduru, founder-CEO, Saastra Software

In order to cater to the business class travelers, hotels now

offer instant Internet connectivity, widely used by business travelers. From

offering Wi-Fi to select areas in the hotel like the business center, and

conference rooms, most hotels have migrated to wireless Internet services

throughout the hotel, on the payment of a small amount, of course. Advanced

technologies such as wireless LAN, Wi-Fi, and IP telephony have become critical

components of the hospitality industry. And the availability of wireless

services in hotels is beginning to be looked upon as an expected feature by

guests.

The Delhi-based Janpath hotel was beginning to lose its guests

as there was no Internet connectivity. The management has recently introduced

hotspots in select areas of the hotel. Another case in point is the Taj Exotica

in South Goa, which not only provides its guests with Wi-Fi broadband access for

surfing the Internet and checking email, but has gone a step ahead by allowing

guests to send print jobs wirelessly to the hotels business center.

While most of the hotels and fast food chains have been active

adopters of technology, there is still some apprehension. One needs to

understand that for a people-centric industry like hospitality, any slip in

serving guests could result in damaging consequences. Therefore, even while the

hotels are embracing new technologies, they are also wary of discarding the

time-tested systems. "For instance, even though the PMS package is

available through many vendors, each implementation is customized as per the

requirements of a particular hotel. And, therefore, hotels are cautious in

implementing any new application as it might result in diminished guest

satisfaction," says Siganporia.

On the other hand, using technology is increasingly playing an

active role in providing a feel-good experience to customers. While electronic

signage and check in kiosks add to the wow factor in a hotel lobby,

on-demand entertainment and Internet access is a must for any hotel today.

	"Automation with IT has reduced monetary losses through pilferage, and IT investments today show very fast RoI"
	Khushru D Siganporia, director, IT, Indian Hotels Company, Taj Group of Hotels

The Trends



A growing number of hotels and fast food chains are embracing technology for
automating their existing manual processes, and are looking to automate as many

touch points with customers as possible using a multi-device access tacticPC,

mobile, voice (IVRS) or kiosks. "The more widespread acceptance of emerging

and existing security standards, and technologies such as encryption and online

payment processing, will encourage users to use technology," says Vishnu

Murali Konduru, founder-CEO, Saastra Software.

With the growth in technology, the hospitality industry is

trying its best to be at the forefront of adopting. But not always is a new

technology put into operation. Some trends include centralization of critical

systems and consolidation of business data. Centralized reservation systems,

CIS, CRM and DR strategies are also being adopted on a corporate level.

At the hotels, guest-facing systems are undergoing gradual

changes as the globetrotter demands much more than just a comfortable bed and

good dining. A lot of technology deployed is based on convergence of voice, data

and video. A new trend is towards a single point service, in which a hot

key on the guest telephone is used to call a service center through which the

guest can post any request pertaining to any of the hotel service center agent.

The agent, through the service center systems, informs the relevant department

of the guests requests. The system has necessary triggers to escalate

unattended calls and, therefore, the guest has to only call a single number for

all needs. Such a system results in higher efficiency and consistency in service

levels.

	"Hotels are investing in the latest networking technology that further improves operational efficiency, and offers solutions for managing their network allowing hotels to focus on their core business of serving customers"
	Anil Bhasin, VP, Enterprise Cisco India & SAARC

Even the in-room entertainment is now gradually morphing into a

full-fledged multimedia, interactive system. Stress relieving massage chairs in

the rooms allow relaxation to the corporate travelers, and fully automated check

in kiosks allows self-service for guests who have traveled far and have no

patience to wait at the reception desk.

Applications like access control systems, CCTVs, integrated fire

and burglary alarm systems, and smart rooms are actively being deployed in order

to improve the customer experience in a people-centric industry like

hospitality. The new trends within smart rooms include functions such as

key-less entry, rooms that can map customer preferences for room temperature,

preferred room lighting, food, and TV/video preferences.

Peeping into the Future



For chains like the Taj, centralizing of business applications and
consolidation of business data would be the business standards. Business

continuity and disaster recovery, although not in many hotels priority lists,

would emerge a strong contender. From the hotels point of view, emerging

technologies like IP telephony (with specific hotel applications), digital

entertainment, IPTV, pre-emptive guest recognition, and e-concierge would be the

guest facing systems.

"Technology is evolving and has the power to transform the

Indian hospitality being driven by aggressive competition, demanding customers

and thin profit margins. And the future use of technology will be focused on

generating customized and easy to use technology," says Bhasin. High

bandwidth services such as hi-definition video conferencing, corporate VPNs,

VoIP services will soon be a part of standard package for customers.

Stuti Das



stutid@cybermedia.co.in