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To ensure customer satisfaction and repeat business, it is very important that the hospitality industry determine what type of telecommunication equipment is going to optimize their guest experience. Our guests want to stay connected, either they are on vacation or in a business trip. Before installing telecommunication equipments in a hotel room, it is a good idea to know what type of customers your business handles. They could be a family on vacation or professionals on a business trip. There are a lot of companies that offer telecomunications equipments for this industry, and base on customer satisfaccion , the hotel industry needs to fit customer needs....

This article definitely explains all of the uses that will benefit the guests in hotels. The first thing that it mentions is choosing a telecommunications equipment that meets all of the needs of the organization and is easy to use. This to me is the most important aspect because if you choose equipment that does not suit all of your companies needs it is not efficient at all to the company because you may then have to end up purchasing other equipment and spending more money in the long run. Choosing telecommunications equipment that is secure and has a reliable messaging system is also important because guests may need to relay messages to someone as well as employees may need to relay messages to one another. If the system is not reliable there is always a chance that messages will not be delivered to the proper person or in the proper time frame causing problems. If you can find a system that has all of these features in one it is definitely the best option for your organization. This is a great article because it talks about all of these issues which we may not realize exist.

Optimize your guests' experience with hotel telecommunications equipment In an ever more global society, many businesses are becoming progressively more dependent on telecommunications equipment. For the hospitality industry, this is an increasingly vital priority. Whether your main focus is family vacations or business trips, your guests want to stay connected.

This article talks about how hotels are trying to upgrade the in room phones to better serve the guest they receive. They have started to think of ways to integrate the phones to have USB ports for charging smart phones or thinking of ways to actually have a tablet available on the night stand. Some companies have even decided to downgrade their phones to save on maintaince cost since most people have smart phones or tablets with all their information on it.

I think this is a great article that you found. It is true that people do not really use the in-room telephones anymore unless it is to call down to the front desk and then still the hotel is not making money on it. If they had an all-in-one phone, alarm, USB port, mp3 people would get a lot more use and be happier with it. These devices should start to come to major hotels and see how they work and then go from there to be everywhere

What is the impact of Cloud Computing in bussiness?

This article particularly caught my attention because it points out the major advantages of web-based PMS, but it does not mention the risk of transfering such sensitive guest information over the unsecure and unregulated Internet. Surely there are great cost-related and operational advantages to web-based PMS and that alone often motivates hotels to upgrade in that general direction. Afterall, the reason why the hotel is operated is to generate revenues. However, is risking the identity of thousands of your guests worth the money you will save? That is what this article does not cover. As the title points out, web-based PMS is the future of the industry, but securing the identity of the biggest drivers behind all revenue for your hotel is arguably more important. Is the risk worth the reward? I believe the Internet needs to become a more secure highway of information before the industry can fully embrace this new technological advancement. My thoughts on considering an upgrade to web based PMS: Research and proceed with caution.

This article indicated the importance of Internet for hotel industry and also assumed that web based property management systems will widely used in future. The author listed some advantages of web based property management system:1) Central Reservation System: One of the greatest advantages of using an online hotel software is that you do not have any more headaches about reservations.2)   Numerous Point of Sale: Keeping a check on the add-on services your hotel provides can easily be done with the help of the numerous points of sales.3) Sales and Marketing Console. With the help of this console, you can access the database of your customers get in touch with them notifying them of special offers and discounts. 4)Travel Agents and Corporate Clients:It is important that you properly deal with travel agents and corporate clients as they play a very important role in bringing in more guests to the hotel.5)   Connected to 1000s of Travel Portals: Web based PMS help you get connected to many travel portals like Travelocity, Tripadvisor and Expedia helping you reach more people. 

t is the age of the Internet, the age when many businesses solely run on the Internet. From marketing to reaching new people, there is a lot that can be done with the help of this medium. The hotel industry too is not insulated from its effect. Almost all kinds of hotels, from inns to bed and breakfasts to resorts, everyone is trying to tap the energies of the Internet and make optimum use of the medium. The Internet plays a major role in improving the sales and customer relationship.

The new trend of ecommerce in 2012 is to move to mobile. Based on the research, customers who are doing online mobile businesses have increased fast during recent years, and it is anticipated that the number of customers doing mobile ecommerce will continue to increase in the future, therefore, many online retailors turn to move their businesses to mobiles. There are some reasons why online retailers need to move to mobile. First, there is a growing usage of mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets. 30 percent of tablet owners have used their devices to shop online, and 25 of smart phone owners have used their phones to do the same. Second: Mobile is convenience. Mobile-users can do online shopping at anywhere without a heavy laptop or a computer. However, there are some challenges. Smartphone has a reduced screen size and the limited capability of mobile device browsers. Online retailers need to supply their websites in a smartphone-friendly version. And for the tablets, a technology called Flash is not supported by all tablets. These changes can arise some costs for the retailer. In a word, it is a time to go mobile, online retailors need to realize this"cultural shift" and take action or they will get left behind. In my own opinion, I still prefer to use computer to do online shopping, because it is more secure and reliable. However, if the mobile ecommerce become mature, I will not reject to try to use it to do online shopping.

This article talks about how more and more people in the hospitality industry are using a POS based-cloud instead of hardwire systems. According to some experts in some years most of the hospitality industry would have change into using the cloud. For now most of the users of the cloud are single unit restaurants as it is an easy system to adopt and cost efficient. On the other side for chain restaurants to make this change can be costly; therefore it is believed that it will take some time for them to change. Still some people believe that this can be an unreliable and unsecured system. Some of the reasons for this are: -The lack of privacy; as the data will be in the hands of somebody else. -This system relies on the internet so when a connection problem occurs a downtime would take place creating complications for the restaurant operator. According to experts and users both of these ideas can be debated. Leaving the data handling in the hand of experts can bring advantages and lower the costs. On the other hand when the internet fails if the correct backup measures are taken it has no difference with the hardware system.

This article talks about the benefits of POS in cloud, and eliminates some misunderstanding about its downtime and security concerns. The author start selling POS in cloud by pointing out the trend that it is becoming more accepted. CEO and president of the Retail Solutions Providers Association (RSPA) says it will be mainstream in the next two to five years. Though POS in cloud would be a easy set up and cost saving solution for a starting up single-unit,"Large chains are more likely to turn to cloud applications for business intelligence solutions first because there is not as much investment or change in infrastructure compared to the POS" says Dave Matthews. But since multi-unit chains have already invested lots of money in the old POS, they are going to wait for those POS pay back before they switch to POS in cloud. Then author switched to what concern people most about cloud computing, downtime and security. A cloud based POS can have as reliable backup plan as a hardwired system. Although POS in cloud does not have backup servers in the location which should be provided by vendor, it can have several connection backups, like wireless, 3G or 4G, phone line. And about the security concern, just ask yourself is you have the security system than a technology vendor.

Generally, digital bill folder provides solution to two kinds of problem : simplifying the checking procedure and reducing skimming.

In the late eighteen-century, customers use postal service to reserve lodging. After that telegraph became effective way to book and reserve. Until 1940s, airlines build a relationship with travel agents and their hotels, an original network was formed. In the end of the 1970s, the airlines provide electronic system for travel agencies to checking availability and reserving airline seats which we called GDS. It offers efficient and costless booking channel. On the other hand, the hotel suffer three commission costs for a single booking which are travel agent, switching company and GDS proprietor. In 1994, Hyatt developed internet distribution system (IDS) which reduce some costs but add intermediary cost. In the last century, the OTAs became a new channel. Customers booking is variables and each channel have its own attendant costs. The hotel should flexible when dealing with the rate, meanwhile carefully monitored the cost of each channel. Therefore the automated channel management system become a trend. Softeware systems now can analyze real-time market data and adjust rate across all the channels 24 hours a day.

This article is starting from an agreement made between Travelclick which is a leading provider of profitable revenue generating solutions for hoteliers and Castle Resorts & Hotels on GDS connectivity and IDS distribution. The Castle Resorts will use Travelclick's central reservation system (CRS) to distribute inventory to thousands of travel agents on the Global Distribution System (GDS). Because of the alliance between the two organizations, Castle Resorts has become the largest iHotelier customer in Hawaii. The president of Castle Resorts believes that Teavelclick's GDS connectivity solutions will help them achieve a higher level of performance and allow them to connect with travel agents instantaneously and seamlessly to further potential guests. From this article, I fully realize how important the GDS system is and what it could do for hospitality industry. It is just like providing a closer link between hotels and potential guests by connecting with travel agents.

The GlobRes support team is very helpful and efficient. GlobRes gives us easy and efficient access to the GDS and IDS worlds. GlobRes works to ensure your hotel gets the best from GDS connections guaranteeing you receive the maximum number of hotel reservations. GlobRes provide an advanced training session available for hoteliers in 5 languages, full consultation when you sign up for GlobRes GDS, controlling your hotel rates and room availability from one simple web-based control centre. Each hotel is assigned a dedicated account manager to lead the hotel through implementation and is available at all times should there be any questions or concerns.

Lawrence Cohen, an Executive Consultant and Hospitality Group Leader recently examined the conflicts of interest that hotel owners face when hiring third party management companies. According to Cohen, owing a hotel requires both strategic and operational decisions to be made in real time. The problem occurs when real estate owners go from owning commercial property to owning hotels and are not used to making decisions on a daily basis. As a result, the most critical daily decisions that determine the success of the hotel do not fall into the hands of ownership but rather to a third party management company. These third party relationships may result in hotel management staff being loyal only to the management company rather than the hotel itself. Hotel owners could benefit by building a team with experience in the hospitality industry and hiring individuals loyal to the owner. 

Hotel owners need to keep up with the pace of changes in technology. Not only costumers expect to have access to the latest technology related facilities  in their hotel room but also hoteliers can make fundamental changes in their property management with help of technology. since the hospitality market is very competitive, the hotel property owners needs to invest in technology related amenities. Three basic reason to invest in hotel technology are mentioned here which are revenue, operation and costumer service related issues.

Peppered throughout this article on Groupon's CEO Andrew Mason are snippets of knowledge or understanding of the importance of efficient accounting systems to run a successful business. While working as a host in a restaurant, Mason learns first-hand the inefficiency of its RMS, stating that there are 2 separate systems for the front and back of house. His experience working in a small business is a stint to help develop more relevant and seamless applications and software with merchants to help them manage payment and inventory, rather than inundating them with coupons, customers, or no business at all. The major takeaway related to this class is that finance and accounting are so unappealing to businesses that even the CEO of a major public company was surprised by how disorganized, even non-existent, an efficient POS was within a small restaurant in Chicago. And perhaps that is also a reflection of his own business model, as Groupon has been reported to have lost money, and even passed up a billion-dollar deal with Google. To survive, any business, large or small, must approach their finances intelligently.

Many hotels and restaurant have embraced the green movement, but many are still trying to sort it all out. Too often being good steward of the environment is perceived as a bleeding heart issue and the cost conflicts with the financial goals of the hotel property owner and operators. As author mentions that, he was former hotel operator over 14 years ago, he was looking for opportunities to increase GOP and cash flow. It only made sense to sort through innovative energy solution and operational changes to find the right solution that improved profitability as well as protect the environment. He came to the conclusion very early on the owner and operators could indeed build a viable business case for integrating sustainability into the operation of individual hotels. However, with countless options from energy management technology to green hotel certification, the process has become confusing more than ever.

Microsoft announced that they have partnered with Yelp to enhance their search results.  Google being the number 1 search engine, others are always looking for new ways to compete and possibly take over the number 1 spot.  Yelp is a website that provides users with reviews on businesses such as restaurants, hotels, bars, etc., like most free search engines, Yelp makes their money based off of advertising on their page. Aside from the addition to Yelp, Bing also added a Facebook connection to their search results.  If someone looks up a certain company that has a Facebook page, that page and user reviews will also come up in their search.  Recently Google added a feature called "The Knowledge Graph".  This feature can help distinguish the difference amongst your search if the topic you are researching has various meanings.  Bing came up with doing a "Snapshot" of the pages you search for to help you see more information about what you are searching for.    

This article, although posted in March of 2011, focuses on the misleading ads posted online by hotels. "Photo fakeouts" present "breathtaking views that sometimes owe a lot to the marketer's imagination or reflect additional luxuries not found in the real hotel rooms." Oyster.com has undercover researchers book into these hotels and take photos of the what the rooms and views really look like and then they post them on the website. Although what the hotels are doing is technically not illegal, this is a prime example of invalid information and why what you see on the Internet is not all valid.

It is a very short essay. It introduces how Front Desk Staff, Housekeepers, Restaurant Staff and Lodging Manager in a hotel perform their roles better with help of computer.

This will become a big trend for hospitality industry. Since the front desk department or room service is always busy during peek hours, and to be able to get a hold of them is extremely difficult; this technology will cut a lot of tasks for the hotel and make the guests feel much more convenience.

This is a great example of success by implementing new technology in business. It is important to recognize the right tools to use to grow. I also think using the "big name" as Sabre Hospitality Solutions can help make decisions easier as the company is famous for it's kind of business.