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This article focuses on how Mobile technology is changing the way the hospitality industry is utilizing POS systems. Ever since the rise of tablet  computer usage, open system POS solutions that integrate multiple transaction methods have become increasingly more popular. Entrepreneurs in the hospitality industry are opting to go with systems that follow clients and offer better table-side service. Instead of using the traditional POS system terminals, business owners are going with a POS system that can be run on mobile computers through an internet connection.  Mobile POS solutions are becoming more and more popular in the restaurant and hospitality business. Retailers are delivering different mobile applications, such as personal shopping solutions as well as encouraging customers to use their mobile devices to receive promotions and other marketing incentives. In january 2012 it was reported that almost half of all tablet computers are being used for some kind of shopping transactions. 

Hotels compete with others by providing excellent service which has been defined as giving outstanding technology. It means technology innovation has become one of the most important strategies to attract customers. WiFi has become one critical success factor in hospitality industry. Besides, people tend to interact and shop more through social media. Research shows that Facebook usage is up 40% since last year. 2.5 billion photos are uploaded to @Facebook each month. It's estimated that there will be 76.9 billion apps to download in 2014. And customers are predicted to spend $35 billion on apps in 2014. According to high demand of iPhone and iPad, some hotels set up iPad in concierge to assist guest with further information and iPad in rooms to help guests to control room temperature, light and TV. As going green has shaping a big trend for hotels, LED light and PlugOut Gym attract hotelier's attention to catch up with. Thus, technology is not only a way to give convenience to guests but also a way to ease management team.

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.

The number of customers making reservation on the webpage of the hotel become more and more in nowadays. And the reservations flowing to hotels through the channels of the global distribution systems and the Internet. The electronic outlets become the biggest challenge for the director of sales and marketing. They should face the challenge of understanding and managing the system and using it to make profit for the property. The hotel electronic distribution network association plays an important role in the hotel operation. It contains ads, mails, public relations and sales calls which can help the ptoperty increase profit. So understanding and maximizing a hotel's electronic dutribution is very important.

Most future trends for Customer Relationship Management are predicted to be online marketing and competition. However, companies realized they are losing touch with customers, which brings up attention on customer service. So more and more companies are trying to mix technology with customer service. For example, mobility is still coming on strong and a long way to go with Microsoft announcing strong mobile options in the last month. The customization of IT and the "Bring my own device" movement add new pressure to mobilize CRM. Social CRM is a long way to go here with increased investment in linking Social analysis into CRM via customer sentiment as well as networking and key decision matrices through connectors to LinkedIn becoming popular. However, all the apps or software designed for CRM solely emphasizes from management perspective, such as marketing, pricing and reading reviews, which lost reaction with consumers. Instead of only reading customer reviews, we should arrange more agents to respond to build two-way communication.

Internet marketing is an essential part of the overall marketing portfolio of hotels. These top ten ecommerce promotion ideas, channels, and strategies can drive maximum Return on Investment. 1. Search friendly website design has new meaning - fast and integrated. Hoteliers should consider which channels their target customers are utilizing, and develop integrated promotion plans across all channels. 2. Hoteliers should focus on improve conversion and usability when they provide an increasing volume of information. 3. Search is becoming more local in nature. 4. Expand paid search beyond traditional channel. 5. Real time search - Natural Ranking (SEO) becomes more real, local and social. 6. Image and Video search is an effective way to capitalize on different search traffic. 7. Mobile search continues to be local in nature. 8. Embracing social media - it's here to stay! 9. Hyperlocal is really an extension of your local social search marketing. 10. Utilizing Blogs to connect and promote time sensitive information.

Recent years, in China, hotel industry has a fast growth. Especially the Olympic Games and The World Expo were hold in China. For lots of high standard hotel, the WIFI internet access becomes necessary. China has been one of the fastest developing markets for many Wi-Fi firms, Ruckus is one of them. The Asia-Pacific region is the fastest growth region and China business is the fastest-growing part in the region. Globally, Wi-Fi technology is one of the few industries that could maintain a 20 percent increase over the years when the world economy is encountering a downturn. The global market scale for Wi-Fi networking providers is about $3 billion this year and it could reach $5 billion by 2015, the CEO of Ruckus estimated. For the China market and the problems of hotel, Ruckus published the high-speed Wi-Fi wall switch technology. This new technology redefines the deployment model and cost structure for hotels looking to converge their wired and wireless networks into a single infrastructure capable of reliably connecting a new world of in-room IP-based devices and services. Meanwhile, the rapid-growing hospitality industry in China is likely to become another gold mine for Wi-Fi providers. Ruckus wants to grasp this opportunity.

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.

Choice hotels have deployed their cloud based hotel property management system choiceADVANTAGE, to its 5000th hotel, which is the Comfort Hotel De L'Europe of Saint -Nazaire, France, and is one of the lodging industry's most widely distributed web-based proprietary systems. This is a very user-friendly system and according to the chief technology officer of the Choice Hotels, the software also has an integrated solution to manage guest interaction at every stage. some of its features are efficient guest servicing, sophisticated revenue management, groups functionality, remote access and integration with company's programs. one of their main reasons to do this was to reduce their cost of purchasing, storing, and maintaining the costly infrastructure and hardware associated with the previous management systems. The hotel group also installed the Rate Center management tool, which will allow them to manage their pricing and inventory.

Good to see a strong working example of mass implementation like this. Proves that the web based model can work, so it will be interesting to see if more properties, and large chains in particular will adopt this model.

Choice made a wise choice! The cloud-based hotel property management system, choiceAdvantage, allows Choice Hotel to become more competitive in the hospitality industry by mastering efficient guest service, sophisticated revenue management, remote access, and so on. Since it is cloud-based, the system can be accessible to any computer that have Internet connection. The reason why Choice has made a wise choice is that It benefits a lot from this system by using less money. Usually hotel needs to spend more for installing and maintaing infrastructure and hardware. Since ChoiceAdvantage system is web based solution, it needs a minimal initial investment and save hotel a large sum of money. Choice hotel now starts to combine other management tools with its choiceAdvantage system to become more powerful in management level, which taught us that high-technology can help hotels improve and develop faster if it is applied in the right way.    

This article introduces some strategies that hotels can use to enhance e-business. Evolving from selling to engaging the customers and engaging customers through social computing is recommended. Also, hotels should pay more attention to the mobile technology. I think it is really necessary for hotels to focus on e-buiness today, because it may help to identify problems and get more information, then get more profit. Besides, it is a must-do thing under this competitive and globalized environment.

I guess not everything has to do with the bottom line. Best Western Hotel chain is trying to become the cleanest hotel on the market. I say " good for them and better for the customer who stays at Best Western Hotels". This attention to detail is where the energy should be focused in the housekeeping department and not just how many rooms a room attendant can clean in a 8 hour shift.Hopefully this attitude towards cleanness becomes a standard in the industry. Technology sometimes is a blessing.

As most customers are supporting the green movement hoteliers had the need of applying green practices in their properties to attract potential clients. That is the case of Hilton Hotels such as the Strater and The Double Tree. "The Doubletree has been listed at the silver level by Green Seal, a nonprofit, third-party certifier in Washington, D.C. The Strater has been designated as meeting Energy Star standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency." Nielsen the Director of Marketing and Sales and green team leader at the Double Tree explains how the hotel had worked rigorously to become Green Seal certificated. Among the green practices that take place in the Double Tree as well as in The Strater are " recycling, energy efficiency, elimination of chemicals and the hotel had word volatile organic compounds, low-flow showers, toilets and sinks, and contracting with suppliers whose business practices are shades of green." The hotel also takes left over food and amenities to different organizations. With the implementation of the green practices the hotel has saved 26 percent on its energy costs by having lights with timers in low occupancy areas, low energy bulbs in offices and halls, and energy efficient lighting in guest rooms and restaurants.

Good article about the Doubletree receiving the silver level. They don't use chemical on their pools anymore and they also collect the leftovers from the restaurant and take it to a local ranch. Indeed, this shows that investing a great amount of money at first to become more and more green will lead them to save a lot of money in the long run!

As good an example as you will ever find about the benefits of the implementation of green technologies from top to bottom. I think this will begin to become common practice in the industry as more states adopt green certified practices in the lodging and hospitality industry in general.

This article was about online marketing trends that will prevail in 2014. More and more companies are resorting to using online marketing finding success in its branding and audience growth. The trends that I think will make the biggest impact are that of content marketing being bigger than ever, image-centric content ruling, and mobile-friendly content being necessary. Out of the 7 mentioned trends I believe that these three will have the biggest impact because they are the most necessary. With content marketing, companies should focus more on inbound marketing that is tailored to a specific audience. Image-centric content should be a big hit because its basically that an ad should be simple to understand in order to convey a message. Like the saying says, "A picture is worth a thousand words." Finally, mobile-friendly content is becoming more popular and with the widespread use of mobile devices and tablets, companies are looking for ways to make their content more accessible to users. 

Technology has taken a huge toll on society and business now a day. If our business is keeping itself updated with technology, could mean we are at the top of our game. This article briefly  demonstrates how Beacons can help improve your business by providing how, when and where are customers behaving. For example, Beacons allow customers to order-ahead of time. It attracts a different clientele and allows us to gain others because of a shorter or no waiting time. Like an express line. But  it may become a challenge if the business doesn't know how to ensure a time-effective preparation before customers arrive. Beacons also allow customers to know exactly how much people are at that exact time at the restaurant or business, and thus waiting time, if any. Another advantage would be "push-customized notifications". I believe this is one of the most challenging for businesses. Customers (as myself) hate when we get attacked by too much notifications.  If it were useful in any way or if it called my attention every now and then, but companies apparently don't pay attention to how customers may feel.  It is very important to use the access wisely and give out information customers really want. Offer what they are looking for, by personalizing. It also helps to attract customers by promoting events or special offers and notifying via beacons. People like a place they can see as happy and fun. Also, who doesn't like discounts? A fifth advantage, and as I believe to be one of the best ways to retain and gain customers, is to reward the customer who passes by every now and then, with personalized dishes, and reward first time customers by attracting them with discounts specifically for them. And finally, another must consider, is that beacons help keep track of everything (all happening at a specific given time) to better improve employee wages and specifics of customers that are out-and-about.

Technology has taken a huge toll on society and business now a day. If our business is keeping itself updated with technology, could mean we are at the top of our game. This article briefly demonstrates how Beacons can help improve your business by providing how, when and where are customers behaving. For example, Beacons allow customers to order-ahead of time. It attracts a different clientele and allows us to gain others because of a shorter or no waiting time. Like an express line. But it may become a challenge if the business doesn't know how to ensure a time-effective preparation before customers arrive. Beacons also allow customers to know exactly how much people are at that exact time at the restaurant or business, and thus waiting time, if any. Another advantage would be "push-customized notifications". I believe this is one of the most challenging for businesses. Customers (as myself) hate when we get attacked by too much notifications. If it were useful in any way or if it called my attention every now and then, but companies apparently don't pay attention to how customers may feel. It is very important to use the access wisely and give out information customers really want. Offer what they are looking for, by personalizing. It also helps to attract customers by promoting events or special offers and notifying via beacons. People like a place they can see as happy and fun. Also, who doesn't like discounts? A fifth advantage, and as I believe to be one of the best ways to retain and gain customers, is to reward the customer who passes by every now and then, with personalized dishes, and reward first time customers by attracting them with discounts specifically for them. And finally, another must consider, is that beacons help keep track of everything (all happening at a specific given time) to better improve employee wages and specifics of customers that are out-and-about.

Creative and a bit scary application of existing technologies. Much like Facebook Messenger, when do we cross the line between convenience and forfeiture of privacy? As part of the industry, the responsibility falls to us to manage the line in favor of our guests. They will know when it has become too much, and we will know very soon after when business evaporates. Provide friendly, targeted service without being too invasive. Remembering orders and having them ready on time is fine. Sending a pop-up message every time the guest passes by in a cab may be a bit much. Consider how many Starbucks messages you could receive in any major metropolitan area. Without proper care, we could be giving a whole new meaning to the word Spam.

There are many difficulties with technology implementation in the hospitality industry. Often, as a result of these difficulties hotels, in particular, are left behind the curve. According to the article, "many companies have made it a philosophy not to be the leader on the tech side" and "large hotel chains tend to conduct major [technology overhauls] just once every seven years." The hope is that by adopting technology later, companies will avoid having to deal with the bugs and flaws that come along with brand new technology. However, as it turns out, due to the constant evolving state of technology bumps and flaws in design become apparent at all stages of the life of various technologies. For example, when the room keycard was introduced, it quickly replaced the traditional key-and-lock set of traditional homes. However, after some time hotels figured out that these keycards can become demagnetized-something the industry still faces today. The quick evolution of the television is another example. Consumers typically have a better TV at home than they experience within a hotel room. This is due to the fact that hotel televisions are still largely the same as the ones implemented in 2007. In conclusion, technology can be part of the getaway experience guests have at hotels, but due to the widely accepted "wait and see" approach the industry is currently pursuing, consumers are often left feeling as if they have to bring their own technology and put up with the minimal technology provided in hotel rooms and suites.

The article talking maining about the issues that companies have in investing into technology without having a set plan. Mr. Estis-Green, among others, stated that they see an industry that is very innovative but lacking direction in its approach to investing in the correct technology. The main issue is seems to follow throughout the article is that these companies are following trends instead of figuring out if said technology would mix well with the brand vision. A first, the implementation of technology within a business was used more as a tactic but it has become more popular that is has changed the way the guest experiences service at a hotel, from POS systems to a front desk check in. It's driving the way hotels run their business. I think that the biggest issue with investing in technology is controlling the way its used within a hotel. With technology becoming bigger and being implemented within larger hotel brands, it is changing the service experience which affects the loyalty of a guests. Taking that into consideration, I think that it causes internal competition within the vision that a hotel original sets out to provide and what other hoteliers are doing to gain that loyalty. As mentioned in the article, i think that the best way to have a vision and trend coincide is to find a way to personalize it to its convenience and effectiveness.

This article was very interesting and it was about how safety security is very important to the hospitality industry. This article also explained how a study shows the safety and security systems work in the hospitality industry. They also said that it is very important to update the emergency plan because you never know when something going to happen in the hotel and you always have to be ready for anything. This study just showed how an effective information system could prevent and being well prepared can definitely help prevent any emergency.

The article is a study that was conducted in regards to the security management within a hotel and how an effective security system can help in preventing accidents or emergencies from occuring. The main priority of a hotel or any establishment, besides the service provided, is having an effective emergency plan set in place to be able to respond and overcome a crisis. International hospitality being a focus over the recent years, has suffered crises, risks, and disasters causing negative impacts on tourism and the community. Hotels should "issue a check-list concerning a hotel's vulnerability to emergencies caused by natural disasters (hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis) or man-made crises (terrorist attacks, explosions, fires, spill, food poisoning)." Another part of the plan is to focus on the loss prevention aspect of a hotel by implementing information technology to secure or improve security. On technology mentioned was biometric to increase the hotel information system and also to help reduce cost and improve the way we recognize criminal activities. With the hospitality industry being one of the most vulnerable industries to crimes and disasters, it is important to recognize, improve and update the plans set into place to ensure accurate information. While it's impossible to say that these preventions are going to stop these problems from happening, it can help other learn about the proper steps to handling these situations. I personally think that as much as employers suggest different way, it's the job of the loss prevention team in every industry to construct a plan that address as many issues and conduct trainings that would help to prepare us for these occasions. Trainings are going to be the best way to properly analyze a problem and improve on the emergency plan set.

This fellow has an interesting argument for switching the hotel's PMS to a cloud-based version. He is specifically referring to Opera Cloud PMS. He believes that if you don't switch from a license to a subscription model, your hotel will be left behind and unable to take advantage of new features that are likely to become the norm in hospitality. And without those capabilities, the hotel becomes disadvantaged competitively which leads to waning revenues, which leads to cost cutting measures, which leads to more lost revenue and so on; the death spiral. Is my hotel PMS ready for the future? Is it easily adaptable to meet the unexpected wishes of the traveler? The author is calling it "future proof technology". It's a gamble if your business isn't ready for it and I suspect when owners review their P&L's, they are willing to take the risk of waiting to see what happens. The author also makes reference to the sustainability benefits of transitioning to a cloud-based PMS. However, if moving to a cloud-based PMS is more expensive than the hotels current PMS solution, spending more money to be environmentally responsible, while noble, is a tough sell to most owners.

Traveling is becoming a popular trend. People love to visit new locations around the world and are expecting a high quality level of technology. The more people travel, the higher their expectations become. The new technology trends being offered in the hospitality industry include wearable technology and sensors. Guests are able to check in and have a key-less room entry with an apple watch or something similar. Rooms are equipped with sensors for lights, an app to adjust room temperature as desired, TV voice recognition, digital news papers, and much more. Another important aspect of technology in the hospitality industry is providing rich travel related multimedia content. People like to use apps or websites such as Yelp, Youtube, or trip advisor to offer travelers suggestions and real life user experiences and reviews. Thus, providing such brands a way to create significant relationships with their current and future customers. Hotels encourage their guests to use social media to share their experiences. Yelp and swarm allows people to check-in and be rewarded for visiting the locations, by offering a complimentary cocktail, appetizer, and so on. In addition, Hotels encourage their guests to hashtag their stay. Robots are entering the hospitality industry, from serving foods, carrying luggage, and acting as hotel receptionists. You will be able to find this in the Henn-na Hotel in Japan.

Brands can now differentiate themselves from their competitors through the effectiveness of digital technologies such as sensors, robotics and mobile which provide a unique experience for customers. Sandals for example, uses key card sensors to door guest doors and customers are able to control the smart TV programs with an app on their phone. In addition, we uses a predictive system to monitor our rooms forecast as it relates to travel booking per month / year. The article focuses on five common trends: 1. Personalization by using predictive analytics: One example is Kayak, a travel booking site that uses the predictive analytics for their price forecast. 2. Integrating wearable technology and sensors: Hilton Worldwide and Starwood Hotels integrated Apple Watch in their business operation to enable mobile check-in, keyless room entry and special request. 3. Providing rich travel related multimedia content: Customers are able to review valuable information about their destination through various social channels such as YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, blogs and other websites. 4. Leveraging social media: Social media channels are allowing customers to share their stay experience at a resort and plus give rewards points and discount offers. Marriott Hotels for example, has a PlusPoint reward system. (https://sourceable.net/hotel-design-trends-for-millennial-guests/) 5. Artificial Intelligence: Businesses are using Anybots and Roboceptionist to replace receptionists. (http://www.otrams.com/blog/innovations/artificial-intelligence-in-hospitality-industry/).

This article written by Sharma, is providing a brief explanation of how new technology is taking over the hotel industry. From Apple watch room entry, to robots now taking over luggage and receptionist duties, technology is quickly becoming the essence of the hotel industry. Having a successful hotel is now measured by the level of technology associated with that hotel.