Mobile and internet technology have transformed the way the world lived and functioned. It has revolutionized communication, socialization and work! Every industry, including hospitality, is influenced and have started incorporating mobile technology and is completely getting redefined, raising the bar higher and higher for customer service & experience. The way hotels and resorts operated a couple of years ago and the way they deliver services today, there is an amazing difference and of course for the better. The best part is, it is affordable, easy and productive for hoteliers as well as people.
Let us go through the transformation that has happened with the help of mobility
If we start from the most initial stage, today, we have various websites as well as apps from where it becomes extremely easy to book a room anywhere in the world. Gone are the days when we were able to see the location and types of rooms only after reaching the hotel. Nowadays, we get to see all – the room images, videos, location and its proximity to airports and other tourist destination right from the website or the app itself. We even get to know the tariffs and any discount package offered any time during the year for various hotels.
Simplified Check-in
When we reach a hotel or a resort, they completely take over for our stay to be as comfortable and memorable, it should be. Check-in is easily done without standing in a queue at a concierge desk, with mobile POS. You get to know everything about the facilities of the resort from the information kiosks placed in the reception area and not wait for the concierge to give you all the details and number of leaflets.
The traditional keys, as well as the card keys, are replaced by the mobile devices which are given to the guests after they check-in. They can lock-unlock the door with the mobile device which is blue-tooth or IoT enabled and pre-set the temperature of the room even before entering.
Exceptional Room Service
Inside rooms, many hotels provide smartphones and tablets with the necessary App(s) for concierge requests for room service and in-room controls. For e.g., if the guests need an extra bed, it can place the order from the tablet and the housekeeping person on duty will get the request on their tablet or smartphone. Guests can also view the menu on the in-room device and place the order on it. The same device can also be used to control the temperature inside the room, switch on-off the lights and lock-unlock the doors as these devices have IoT apps on them. These IoT enabled mobile devices automates many things inside the room and makes your stay comfortable.
Some of the resorts have Android TVs which has various apps for movies, games, music, hotel’s own information apps etc. for the guest’s entertainment. As these TVs have respective apps on it and not subscribed to any other cables, it provides uninterrupted entertainment.
Restaurants
Guests can select their choices from the digital menu from the in-room device itself in advance, so waiting time decreases inside the restaurant. For dine-in too, digital menus are provided to the guests, there are kiosks displaying the specialities for that particular day, easy payment process by tablet POS, kids are also given tablets with some games on it which can keep them engaged while the food is served.
Personalised Customer Engagement & Service
Once you have stayed at a particular resort or hotel, it saves all your preferences as data and stays in contact with you through emails or messages to notify you about all the deals & offers best for you, throughout the year. So, next time when you go to the same resort they have the whole history of your preferences likes & dislikes and provides service accordingly.
Enhanced Employees’ Productivity
Employees of the hotels and resorts are given mobile devices for streamlining internal tasks and inventory. Whatever service and the maintenance requests are placed by the guests from the in-room device, it goes directly as an alert to the concerned customer service rep’s device. In this way, requests are streamlined and overall the process becomes efficient and faster. All the inventory and the repairs details can be entered on the tablet and complete inventory management and the maintenance can be carried out efficiently by the housekeeping staffs through the hotel’s own app on the tablets. This results in an overall increase in employees’ productivity.
Hospitality is all about providing the best services to guests which will make their stay memorable. So, hoteliers should never leave any stone unturned to make that happen. In the current scenario, hoteliers can leverage the technology by integrating mobile devices into the day to day operations and impress their guest by their world-class hospitality.
With several advantages, implementing mobility has some concerns to take care of too. For e.g.
Do we need a huge infrastructure to implement mobility?
Do we need a number of IT specialist to manage everything?
How can we control the misuse of mobile devices by employees or guests?
I wish to improve services at my hotel but will it be costly?
These questions can be answered by equipping all your company-owned devices with the appropriate EMM solution and to turn them into purposed devices. Scalefusion is one such Cloud-based kiosk lockdown software solution, which helps you implement secured mobility management for your hospitality business.
Scalefusion helps you Manage, Control & Communicate with Android Devices in Real-Time from central Scalefusion Dashboard. It also enables the distribution of apps & content to the devices over the Cloud.
It locks down Android devices into Kiosk Mode, provided to your hotel staff in various departments, in-room devices (including IOT enabled devices) given to the guests, in-room Android TVs, Information kiosks, mPOS and even digital menu. Kiosk Mode restricts user’s access to only selected applications & websites and they cannot even access Android device settings. In this way, hoteliers can be assured of the security of the devices as well as of its proper usage for the required purpose only.
