HITEC Traffic Up 10%
By Karyn Strauss, Associate Editor -- Hotels, 7/31/2004 11:00:00 PM
The mood was decidedly brighter with a reported 10% increase in attendance at this year’s HITEC conference. “Rethinking, redefining and reinventing” was the message shared by guest speakers and exhibitors throughout the three-day confab and exhibition held at the Dallas Convention Center in late June. For such are the attributes of successful, “change ready” companies, according to opening keynote speaker and best-selling author Robert Kriegel, who kicked off the conference with a rousing session in which he emphasized the increasingly important role IT personnel will have in shaping the future of hotel companies. Kriegel, who has authored such titles as If It Ain’t Broke...BREAK IT! and Sacred Cows, challenged the audience to not only think outside the box—but also to get outside the box and look to other industries for inspiration as he encouraged attendees to fight against the status quo. “Great ideas come from unpredictable places,” Kriegel says. “Try easier—giving a passionate 90% is more effective than a panicked 110%.”
Wrapping up the education conference was a panel session that brought together CIOs and COOs from Interstate Hotels & Resorts and Carlson Hotels Worldwide to discuss the struggle between “dreaming” of a technology solution and implementing that solution. This lively session, moderated by. Lalia Rach, associate dean New York University Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management, addressed such issues as the struggle between high-tech and high-touch, and the challenges of making technology user-friendly and consistent across brands and systems.
In between the educational seminars, more than 600 exhibitor booths showcased the latest product offerings and services from leading technology companies. Here’s a highlight of news from the show floor.
Pegasus Solutions Inc., Dallas, continued the introduction of its new PegsTour automated hotel booking service for wholesale and tour operators. PegsTour automates key booking processes by providing an electronic interface, which connects operators to multiple hotel central reservation systems. The service normalizes system functionality, booking data and transaction formats through one interface environment, thereby achieving connectivity between different hotel and operator technologies in real-time. Pegasus also announced plans to release a significant update to its NetBooker booking engine, which enables Web sites to connect directly to hotel reservation systems for online reservations.
Guest-Tek Interactive Entertainment Ltd., Calgary, Canada, provider of broadband technology solutions, introduced GO, a wireless high-speed Internet solution catering to smaller hotels. GO provides a simple, turnkey solution, which includes Guest-Tek’s plug-and-play server combined with directional WiFi antennae technology, prepackaged and ready to work right out of the box.
Lexington Services, Calgary, Canada, a subsidiary of VIP Investment Corp., announced it is expanding its reservation booking services with the introduction of Package Select, a new Internet package-booking engine for hotel Web sites.
Elsafe International, Leksvik, Norway, introduces the Xtra Series, an affordable line of electronic guestroom safe solutions. Available in two models, the Convenient four-digit, PIN-code operation is a low maintenance solution with sleek styling, a proprietary, quick-change battery system and anti-tamper labyrinths, while the Xtra Advanced model adds an extensive audit trail capability.
Bartech, BWI Corridor, Maryland, unveiled its new Dual-Door Combo Bar that combines a fully automated minibar system with a refrigerator and is designed for families/leisure travelers or extended-stay travelers.
Dometic, Elkhart, Indiana, introduced the Grapevine Water Coaster, a device that holds a bottle of water and uses a magnetic sensor that is activated when a guest removes the water from the coaster, sending a signal to the hotel’s central computer, which generates a computerized report of usage and alerts attendants to restocking needs. Because those are the only rooms that need restocking, labor costs are reduced.
SAFLOK, Troy, Michigan, debuted Ädese (pronounced Odyssey), its new locking system for the luxury hotel segment. With a sleek design, Ädese is compatible with existing access management systems that use magnetic stripe, smart card or memory card technology. It is available in eight finishes, including brass, nickel, stainless steel and bronze, with a wide spectrum of matching lever designs. SAFLOK also announced a new partnership with Samsung SI and Creative Vision Electronics to introduce a new, wireless, biometric, fingerprint locking system.
MICROS, Columbia, Maryland, continues to expand functionality of its OPERA Enterprise Solution. OPERA POS is a new, fully integrated point-of-sale module that runs on the same server and database as your OPERA PMS; OPERA Dashboard allows operators to initiate reservations, work with guest profiles, perform cashiering duties and manage housekeeping activities all from one screen; OPERA Vision provides fast, adaptable ways to extract data from MICROS-Fidelio Hotel Systems and enhances the functionality of Excel and more; OPERA Gaming allows OPERA and a casino system to exchange intelligence in real time; and OPERA Activities Scheduler manages all facilities and activities at a hotel, health spa, golf courses and other leisure venues.
TECH BRIEFS
Supply Line
IDeaS Revenue Optimization Solution V5 has been rolled out to Travelodge UKLG Electronics Inc. and LodgeNet Entertainment Corp. have partnered to bring satellite-sourced programming in high-definition television (HDTV) to hotel guestsComcast is rolling out HospitalityOne, which enables hotels to deliver cable, HSIA to guests on one network at one flat-rateSingapore InterContinental and Le Méridien Hotel Eden, Rome, choose General Dynamics Interactive’s Intrigue Multi-media SystemAccuvia and Hong Kong Exhibition Services Ltd. are teaming-up to bring HOSTEC-ASIA to next year’s HOFEX in Hong KongWyndham International renews Wayport’s HSIA contractHotel Information Systems will provide epitome Enterprise and Property Management System to all Kimpton hotelsWith the Scala Business Solutions acquisition completed, Epicor Software Corp. announces expanded solutions for the mid-marketNXTV Inc. reaches 10,000th hotel room contractedInterContinental Hotels Group selects Newmarket’s DelphiTM Multi Property Edition v9.1.2 Automated Sales & Catering software, Delphi Global SalesTM Edition and Delphi BITM for the UK and IrelandSiemens debuts its HiPath Hospitality communications solution for the U.S. marketPrime Hospitality chooses Multi Systems Inc. (MSI) to provide data warehousingNorthwind rolls out POS, online table reservations. in MaestroSceptre debuts channel management tool, Maxi-Rev.
Radisson Debuts Online Check-in
To expedite check-in and eliminate long lines at the front-desk, Radisson Hotels & Resorts will introduce online check-in to its guests staying at U.S. properties beginning in September.
“With rampant changes in technology occurring every six months or less, the conventional, costly self-serve kiosk ‘lobby furniture’ we see being used by some hotel companies today may evolve to become a cell phone or other wireless identity card in the near future,” says Scott Heintzeman, vice president-CIO, Carlson Hospitality Worldwide.
The “Express Yourself” program features a three-step process. First, guests reserve a room via any Radisson booking process, and then three days prior to their visit, they will receive a pre-arrival e-mail inviting them to “express” themselves by checking in at the Radisson Web site. Guests also can request preferences, including room and bed type, room location and proximity to elevators. Upon arrival, guests can go to the front desk to obtain a key and information packet.
To achieve this program, Heintzeman and his team created a new software program that bypasses the property management systems and notifies hotel operators when a guest has checked in via the Web.
HOTELS Asks...
Q: What are you doing to provide ongoing IT training throughout your hotel(s)?
Kirby D. Payne, CHA, American Hospitality Management Company, Tiverton, Rhode Island:
A: For technology, you really have two issues that you need to train on: One is the conceptual experience. Where does the technology fit in the overall operation and why? We are getting some of the training for this from the Educational Institute of American Hotel and Lodging Association (AH&LA).
The other part of the training is how do you use the specific tools that we have bought to do the jobs. For our properties that are affiliated with hotel chains such as Holiday Inn, they are the ones that specify which PMS to use, and we leave the training up to them.
For independent properties, we can select whatever system we want. If we go with a less sophisticated or lower cost system where they don’t have training other than the initial installation, we will supplement the vendor training by putting a training manual on our own internal Web site. The reason we do that is so we only load the manual once and updates are easy to distribute. Generally, the vendors for higher-end systems have excellent sites for training. Fortunately, this saves us time and money.
In addition, all of our manuals and procedures are online and staff can look it up at home if they want. We also provide the entire AH&LA Educational Institute courses free to all of our employees using the CourseLine product. We are working on putting our employee orientation online. There will be a video speech from me introducing employees to the company—available in English or Spanish. We think the Internet really leverages what you can do as far as training, and it saves money.
Lynda Edsall, director of distance learning, Hilton Hotels Corp.:
A: Hilton’s OnQ technology includes both an intuitive Microsoft Windows® design and an online training program. In a typical scenario, new front desk employees are able to learn up to 80% of what they need to know to perform their job after just a couple of days of training. The built-in online training tutorials are customized for each type of hotel job position. The tutorials—along with the hands-on practice—and knowledge support tools ensures a comprehensive interactive experience every time, resulting in a better-trained employee.
OnQ technology is deployed across more than 2,100 hotels regardless of brand. The platform enables the introduction of new features and enhancements without compromising the flexibility required of the individual hotel—from the smallest Hampton Inn to the largest Hilton. This flexibility and standardization allows us to (quickly) support new brand programs and initiatives. The training program is updated automatically as new versions of software programs are introduced.
The focus of our Distance Learning Team is to develop training and support tools primarily for the end users (rather than IT managers) that will help ensure the technology is being used to its greatest potential.
Sara Kearney, director of rooms, Hyatt International Corp.:
A: This is a challenge due to various systems and telecom/ network access used in different countries. We maintain a group of systems trainers that travel the world keeping the employees current and well trained. Additional training is provided for regional and divisional specialists so there is information easily available to hotels as needed. For some systems, we use interactive training tools via CD Rom or the Internet, such as the central reservations system since it is standard globally. The property management systems, revenue management, and sales and catering systems are standard to the extent they can be, and then local issues must be taken into consideration. All of these tools are vastly improved in their ease of use and adaptability of the staff, so while there are now more systems to manage, they are easier to learn. We do our best to retain regional and divisional expertise in these tools so we can maximize the investment at the property level.
Q: How have you ensured that your wireless and wired high-speed Internet network is secure?
Fraser Hickox, general manager of research and technology, The Peninsula Hotels, Hong Kong:
A: We have to be vigilant with the upkeep of our system as the hacking activity is a dynamic one. Within our network, we have the ability to detect if a guest’s machine is carrying unknowingly any spamming software and the network will automatically disconnect.
Essentially, the first line of security depends upon the individual PC. As can be imagined, we have no control over the issues of [the guests’] firewalls, the possibility that the guest may have been already affected prior to his or her arrival by a hacker that has created a backdoor entry to their computer.
What is provided is a means for our guest to connect to the Internet as an extension of the existing Internet provider, and as with the Internet provider we have little control over what our guest downloads, although we have a means of constantly looking out for unusual transactions.
The same situation prevails with wireless. As with the earlier cellular phones it is possible for a determined hacker to intercept a wireless transmission, which could be overcome by an encryption system requiring the guest to set a new parameter on their PCs every time they check in at our hotel, however, some guests may find it fairly inconvenient.
Every level of security limits the guest’s use of our facility. We have to maintain a fair balance between guest security and freedom for them. We recommend our guest to undertake the following three steps: Keep anti-virus software up-to-date and check to ensure the latest patches are in place in the software being used and ensure that there is no potential for a backdoor hacker. Check the firewall, and hide the connected PC’s identity.
Vineet Gupta, vice-president of Technology, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, Toronto:
A: At Fairmont, each of our hotels leverages Cisco networking products to ensure a secure and reliable connection for all of our guests. From a security perspective, all of our Internet gateway servers and switches are software secured, and continually upgraded to ensure our guests are protected with the latest in networking technologies. Fairmont also has deployed real-time traffic monitoring across all HSIA entry points and enforces stringent access controls to lock-down known virus ports. As a result, Fairmont has the ability to find and shut down hosts posing security or virus threats across all of our guestrooms, meeting rooms and wireless hotspots. These capabilities provide our guests with peace of mind as well as an unparalleled online experience.
We also recognize that some of our guests may be uncomfortable with working online while traveling. We have taken steps to set their minds at ease. The Fairmont Virtual Assistant, a 24/7 technical support hotline manned by Fairmont’s IT department, is a service intended to serve anyone who has questions about our service, from generic connectivity issues to detailed analysis of supported protocols. Adding to this, the majority of our hotels have on-site staff equipped to answer questions or provide technical assistance.
Carlos Baruki, area director of sales and marketing, Latin America, Inter-Continental Hotels Group:
A: In order to ensure our HSIA network is secured, we provide the hotel owners with requirement documents detailing the factors to be considered when evaluating HSIA suppliers. For example, key questions will enable them to evaluate if the supplier can provide future scalability, commitment to HSI product, knowledge of hotel industry and brand standards. We equip guests with port-to-port security—such that no guest can access or view the computer data or network of any other guests using the high speed network. An Ethernet VLAN switch is typically required. Port-to-port security is ensured for all combinations such as: room-to-room security; user-to-user security; public areas and V-LAN access; private network capability; network intrusion; and wireless intrusion.
Although these basic security requirements are highly encouraged, we are aware that some wireless applications might open the airwaves to hackers who are not on the hotel’s HSIA network; therefore, our hotels have an obligation to notify our guests of the risks associated with accessing the HSIA network by disclosing the user risk through ‘terms and conditions’ notifications.
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