Group items tagged

Revel Systems is an iPad point of sale company that is backed by $3.7 million in funding. The Revel Router is an Apple certified made for iPad technology that allows shops to run their POS through an Apple iPad. The company is selling the device as a package deal which includes an iPad, the routerm peripherals and the POS software. Currently there are 300 locations installed. Revel CEO Lisa Falzone says that a restaurant owner or retail owner doesnt even know when the internet goes out and with the iPad being on either 3G or 4G connectivity this problem will not exist. Also the need for intenret is eliminated due to the iPad. The system isnt really designed for mobility but rather it aims to replace the existing, stationary setups at the point of sale. The starting package is $3,330 and includes an iPad, cash box, printer, credit card swiper, the router, and the software license. The company offers two support pacakges and meail and online ticketing support for $100/month or per terminal fee thats available 24/7. The use of the iPad will make it easier for an establishment that is just starting out. Rather than running wires and installing internet, the use of the iPad will give the same functionality that a regualr touchscreen POS can bring. The amount of downtime due to internet failure is virtually non existent and the cost is at a very affordable price for any restaurant..

Securing Your Return on Investment, with the conference sessions focused on how tourism and meeting industry professionals can apply sound safety and security practices to protect, and even improve, their business ventures' bottom line in the current economic landscape.

In an effort to cut expenses the Renaissance Club Sport Hotel installed the Pelican Wireless HVAC Thermostat. This saved them $41,160 a year on energy related costs giving them an ROI of 8.5 months. Through research presented by Pelican Wireless it was discovered that HVAC energy consumption drives over 60% of most hotel energy bills each month. The Renaissance Hotel discovered that by implementing the Pelican Wireless technology they could save substantially each month on energy costs. The previous room configuration had basic thermostats installed in the rooms which were left running even when the rooms had no checked in guests. They also had no way to monitor the health of their existing HVAC units and their facilities department was being called upon by the front desk to regularly check the AC. Installation took only 3 days with 2 installers in a sold out hotel consisting of 175 hotel rooms, conference center, spa and workout facility. Pelican's technology interfaces with the Hotel's PMS and to the internet to access the Pelican Site Manager. Initial setup is done via an easy to understand graphical user interface accessible on any Web Browser. Cloud based servers allow access to resources and have control of information from anywhere there is an internet connection.

POS is quite widely used in the field, at least in some restaurant chains. But this article points it out that although many restaurants are using POS, they still underestimate how useful this system can be. So this article introduces five features that POS can have if managers integrate these into POS. All of these features introduced in this article can be summarized into one word, that is tracking！POS can help to keep a track customer information and their preference to build a customer loyalty; POS can track inventory without counting every item in storage; POS can track employee's working hours and give managers alarm; POS can even track the menu information to help managers to make judgements if the menu item are profitable.  It is an investment to have a POS and it is also a waste of using only part of POS features. 

This article give a good perspective of the Ipad as a menu in restaurants, Ipad, will make your restaurant trendy, because nowadays many restaurants are implementing this advise. Also says how the Ipad will make your business save time and money, since you don't have to print menus again this will contribute to the environment is paperless and you will be able to change the menu as many times as you want even during a day depending on your inventory or other reasons. Basically this article agree that having the Ipad as menu will give more positives aspects and in the end will improve profits to the business. 

The article I read was called, "Restaurants, Beware: Hackers Want Your Customer Data." In the article it talked about how cyber criminals want credit card information from people so that they can make money off of them. Criminals find new ways everyday to breach systems and steal information from guests staying at hotels or eating in restaurants. It states that many restaurants and franchise businesses use unsecure and public WiFi networks are connected to the point of sale system. "Franchise businesses are particularly at risk primarily because franchises tend to have the same POS system duplicated at all locations." A lot of times businesses don't have trained security on staff, they just assume that their IT person will be talking care of the security. According to the article the best detection systems are neither the technology nor the security but it's the employees who work there. The employees can tell when something has changed in the system and as soon as they realize that, they need to report it to their manager. I never even considered people breaking into the systems and stealing credit card information but it does happen and it's important to know what to do in these kinds of situations.

In this article, the author pays attention to the balance between security technology and customers' privacy. Even though we all know that security becomes a big issue nowadays and technology is updating so fast, does it mean too much of them will also be  a good thing for hotels. In today's hotel, you can find monitors everywhere, which makes me feel bad because I feel like being in a jail. Obviously, with the growing treats and terrorism, it is necessary to put those monitors in hotels or even any other public places in order to make people safe. However, compared to being 100% safe, guests in hotels today much prefer privacy. They don't want to be monitored and feel inconvenient. 

Now, many security devices and technologies are widely used in the hospitality industry. Perimeter security is a set of physical security and programmatic security policies that provide levels of protection against remote malicious activity. It can be both noticeable and seemingly invisible and is utilized to keep employees and guests safe. Larger properties like casino, have security system and command center that monitor guests' actions in every corner. However, in the situation of economic depression, hotels have to consider the cost of security measures.

In today's world, larger properties have command centers where all video and audio is often under constant watch and review. In an instant, video can be pulled, reviewed and sent to the appropriate authorities. All of this might bring back memories of your most recent visit to a casino, where the "eye in the sky" is watching your every move. While initially you may be conscious of your every move being monitored, eventually you forget there is a camera right above you. With terrorism seemingly a real and growing threat, hotels must find a balance between allowing guests their privacy and having the ability to monitor who is on the property and what actions they may be taking. Today,

In the article "Investing in Hotel Technology- Guest Needs Versus Franchise Demands" it talks about how hotel owners follow brand standards while managing potential conflict with guests and are making sure they are getting their moneys worth on this investment. Technology is a huge part of hotels today, everything is done from the Internet and it even helps employees organize all of their information in an easy, user friendly way. Over the past years many hotel owners have opted to become franchisees of big name industries. "By joining a major hotel chain, these individual owners benefit from the brand association they get from being under such a well-known corporate umbrella, broader consumer recognition, plus access to well-established centralized reservation and booking systems." When hotel owners opt to become franchises of these bigger hotels they also give up their right to make certain decisions for their own hotel. Although this could be a downfall for the owner, "these investments have a negligible impact on the ability of the hotelier to bring in additional revenue," which is something that the hotel needs help with. Overall, when small hotels opt out and decide to become franchisees of big name hotels like the Hilton, it has both its advantages and disadvantages.

With security now becoming an issue in the hotel industry, especially western hotels that operate in different parts of the world, "NFC (Near Field Communications) now has an even more secure network that assists the utilization of total hotel security." This will be monitored by the guest and management. The smart device has to be registered with the hotel and when the guest walks in and presses the hotel the guest is checked in. An arrival confimation is then sent to the device along with the room number, this app is then used to open the door. The arrival time is registered and the utilities in the room are set based on the guest's profile. "Housekeeping and the concierge are notified."

This article expounds how Monscierge, a hospitality technology company, continues to exceed expectations for new mobile-based services in the hospitality industry.The article also highlights the fact that this company has achieved this by specializing in mobile and wearables, computer software and lobby devices throughout the world. Monscierge has received the award of its' second patent for mobile services provided to hospitality customers. This allows hotels to receive a request for additional towels from guests using mobile devices, the request reaches a staff member who would then acknowledge the request, provide an estimated time of delivery and complete this delivery. Whereas in the past such requests via mobile devices were only made for services such as food & beverage, maintenance issues, additional room items, valet return and even customized guest requirements. All in all, this company's ultimate goal is to make technology "easy to use, easy to scale, and affordable for hospitality".

Overall this article speaks on the upcoming services and software offered to meeting and events planners. The article outlines some new programs such as VIP organizer, EnnectEvent, and others as well and even talks about the purpose for each one. The point of the article is to inform readers on the new services that are being used in order to simplify the event planners and the consumers experiences.

I know of very few aphorisms that tend to be repeated as smugly as this one, particularly by scared people. The implication is that action is generally to be avoided, that the status quo is probably just fine, and that one should wait for a true crisis before intervening. And, of course, that it's your fault if you've ignored this sage advice and intervened anyway. It's ironic, then, how IT departments themselves end up complaining endlessly about how they're always in fire-fighting mode. This prevailing attitude evolves among (and is a telling symptom of) burned-out sysadmins and developers, especially those who are stuck maintaining systems they didn't themselves write or engineer. It can be equally summed up as a "don't touch it, don't breathe on it" kind of superstition. Or, perhaps, it's akin to the proud but defensive statement that "we've always done it that way."

According the article $290 million will be invested into hotels in the Middle East in 2011. This means that hotel investors need to really pay attention and invest in the right technology for their hotels to keep them competitive. It also goes into the way to create the new guest-centric environment is to have the right new technology.

"Today's guests arrive at a hotel with a high level of expectations - a hotel room needs to be their home away from home, and offer new services, experiences and conveniences."

The article is a good one that simply shows the benefits of technology even though the economies around the world are down. The article is about the spending on IT even though their is an economic downturn. It starts by saying that even though their is a downturn, businesses are still investing in technology. Technology has become the way to give hotels a competitive advantage. The article states that guests expect the best and they look for new services that they would like. They feel that they best way to serve the guest is having the best technology that also works at making the business more efficient and able to work with guest services and hotel operations. So the improvements in technology has definitely helped the industry and businesses must keep up with the latest in order to keep up business.

Commentary - Corporate meetings and events are on the rebound after the recession, but many organizations are also rethinking how technology can help them plan a more budget-friendly and productive business meeting.

Since corporate meetings and events have been suffered recession for quit a while, new they are facing a revolution of high-tech event planing to be more cost saving and more productive. This article mainly introduces those tochnology tools like database tools, attendee registration tools, video/web conferencing tools and even room diagramming tools for event and meeting planing oever the Internet.

This article deals with the theft that happens on a daily basis in the hospitality field. It happens when credit cards are used to pay for something, like a reservation, and thieves want the information, so they can use your credit card number for whatever intentions they may have. As the article states, "our data is under attack". I can relate to those people that have had credit card numbers stolen, because it has happened to my husband and me, and it is a horrible feeling trying to get your life back on track and recover your money.  I think it would be a great idea, with some research, to get the point to point encryption technology in a field where credit cards are used so often, not only to cover the business (hotel), but also to protect the guest, so they feel at easy when they travel on vacation or business.  The overall point of this technology is to encrypt the information as close to the point of entry, i.e. the swiping of the credit card, as possible. This would in turn "significantly reduce a merchant's card data environment", as the program would encrypt the information so that hackers cannot access the customer's information. As I mentioned earlier, questions should be asked before buying this technology, as there is always something new on the market that may be better. Credit cards are not always swiped, but can also be manually placed in the system, so you want to make sure, that both transactions are protected. Overall, the establishment should always be concerned about the customer and their safety, whether physical or mental and always be prepared for the worse.

Great article! Personally after being a victim of credit card fraud, I'm very apprehensive of where I shop, who handles my card and how long it takes them to return it. I recently cancelled a large purchased after the cashier insisted on rubbing my card number on the reciept after the transactions had be approved. In my mind, I was thinking "If I let you do that, then I've open the door for anyone to charge thousand of dollars. I don't think so." As a manager, who hands credit card numbers for manual input, I'm very cautious of them and want to insure that they don't get into the wrong hand. Aftern each transactions is approved, that number is shredded and the credit card machine is batched out. Companies don't realize how important it is to PCI compliant. The risk in exposing sensitive information of our clients and customers can cost thousand of dolllars in fines and fee, in addition to the lost of that customer/client.

Marilyn, Great Article...as a Front Desk Manager, it is my responsibility to randomly check our computers to ensure employees are not placing USB driver to collect data from our system. Our company has taking this a step further by putting metal locked case around the PC to avoid possible fraudulent activity. If we have to open a PC, we must log it to show proof why a PC became unlock. Companies should adopt similar procedures to protect the consumers/guests. Nelson

This article introduce a very nice, brand new 3D application that can help many tourists when they arrive, in Baltimore. As useful as the app may be to tourists, it's pretty sad that they have all these lovely features for one city and nowhere else.We can see that from google map to this 3D map, seems like it is a trend that the companies are developing theapplication of navigating tourists. However, I'm glad that they haven't revealed this app to the App Store or Play Store yet for the public because they need to expand their horizons before they even think to release it to the market. But as long as they improve this app and release to the public, it will be great convenience for the tourists.

I highlighted the two passages I found to be most interesting in blue. I read that the system will update it's self every 24 hours but I'm wondering if that would include the forecast and traffic conditions. Does this also offer some type of naviagation device weather it be by car or foot? Baltimore, can be a rather rough city at time. I know that it will high light tourist attractions, convention centers, etc. But will it highlight street names and areas that travelers should stay away from?

Another interesting article that we all can relate to. A study recently had results disclosed where 500 people were surveyed into how they decide on where to eat out and how internet sites are influencing decisions. To start off, about 50% of people who go out to eat refer to a friend before making a decision on where to eat. As it relates to our class, before choosing a place to eat, 27.7% of consumers use a user generated review site and 27% use the actual restaurant's website. Consumers preferred to use user friendly websites the most and sometimes even referred to blogs for opinions. Google was actually cited as the third most utilized website for those seeking a second opinion with 16.5%. I thought the most interesting fact was that Food Network actually ranked on the list to getting some more insight on where to eat, with 1.7% of consumers using that website. Next time you are going out to eat somewhere, think about if you use websites or apps to assist you in making the decision. I guess you can make a review site about anything.

From this article,I think it is amazing to have such revolution of POS system. First of all, POS system itself is wonderful for the hoteliers all these years. The latest i-trends and NFC put it much further step to not only free the employees,but also bring efficiency to the customers. It is said that "the point of sale on the move" which free the employee to use the mobile device to control everything it matters of the business. It makes hoteliers more flexiable and at the meanwhile, it provides quantity information. The other innovation here is that there is one IPAD POS kiosk which allows self-service card swiping system so the customers can complete their own transaction. Though this technology is the only IPad enclosure, it help eliminate theft and tampering. Then ,when the growing trend of Near Field Communication comes, it free the customers another further step to eliminate the necessity to carry money/credit cards to pay their bills. This technology is also come with the smartphone by just swiping the mobile device across a special kiosk at the counter, and the payment is done quickly. This technology also developed another growing technology "RFID" card readers. Another name for the NFC is the digital wallet means that a customer's device can store all their bank account details and credit card information with no need for a real wallet. That's amazing for the people who are not good at financing. This technology can really impact the hotel market and bring the competitive advantages for the hotels. It's a new trend for the hotel to update themselves to level-up. This trend is also fit the market nowadays, the consumer is more and more younger, they curious about the high-tech things, the success of Apple proves this trend. In order to meet with the customer needs in current hotel industry, this technology is worth to have a try.

This article talks about the importance of POS systems in the hospitality industry and the new technological trends that are affecting it. POS systems are extremely important to hoteliers primarily to keep track of sales and bookings. With recent technological developments though, POS systems have revolutionized that hospitality industry by increase efficiency and production. The newest trend in these accounting and POS systems are cloud-based technologies. I believe this type of technology will allow for busy hotel managers to track all accounting information through either a smart phone, PC, or even tablet. This type of technology, as stated in the article, would allow for managers to keep track of sales data and profits even when they are away from the office. All in all, I believe this is a very helpful technology for hotel operations and will benefit the industry in the long run.

Allow the customers to to use smartphone across a special kiosk at the counter to pay may benefit restaurants a lot. It may reduce the stress of the servers in the peak time. Customers no longer waiting a long time for the servers to get their bill, they can pay by themselves through mobile devices. Moreover, the customers do not need to bring their wallets to the restaurants which may improve the security of the restaurant environment.

Surface interactive table is very popular in recently years. It is a technology that through glass capacitive touch screen. The technology is used to capture guests touch on acrylic surface. This kind of interactive table could be included games, internet and communication to offer a complete interactive experience. Guests can pass by, touch or approach the screen to activate the system and the content will start immediately when guests use finger to point the device. The technology has a lot of methods to use. The screen not only can click, double-click but also rollover, multi-touch. Because some users are use the same screen for meeting, playing game and organizing, the interactive table has a lot of ways to use even to perform activities which use two hands in parallel. If the hotel has this technology, it is really a surprise. The businessmen will use it for meeting and communication. The children use it to play games together and the travelers are likely to design maps, mark destination and organize their tourism.

In the hotel that I used to work in Down Town Miami they have two surface interactive tables. Guests love them! As you mentioned before they play games such as chess, Chinese checkers, and you can play the piano too. You can also check for directions, listen music, and look for information. I know there is a restaurant in Orlando that have Surface interactive tables too, it would be nice to check it out.

That is a great idea that Paris is putting into practice. For only 199 Euros which is around $256 dollars you can get a room like that, I will totally do it! Comparing rooms here in South Beach that are much more expensive and do not have The Eiffel Tower as the view, that is a great deal. And, they are just testing this concept for 3 months and if they see that the demand is high enough they will keep it for longer. This, at the end will result with higher profit and product differentiation. Customers will love it!

Great article on the rise of mobile payment systems and how businesses who in the past may have been cash only or otherwise are seeing increased sales as the ability to take credit card payments with little hardware and software infrastructure costs. Down the street from me is probably my favorite Rib joint in town, Uncle Rodney's House of Ribs is the name. I love that place, but rarely go because they are a cash only business due in large part to the fact that the owner does not wish to pay for wireless or otherwise internet related services to make his business able to accept credit cards. What are everyone's thought to the increased use of mobile payment systems for restaurants and other businesses?

This is an interesting article, and it is quite amazing to see how the way of payment is drastically shifting with new technological devices such as smartphones, card readers. Just a couple of years ago, if I wanted to buy something online, I had to start my computer then go on whatever website I bought something from which took some time. Now, however, I don't even have to turn on my computer to purchase something on the web because I can buy many things through my smartphone whenever and wherever I want. It is a lot easier and faster than what it used to be.

Spasibo bolshoe za interesting article! Ona mne ochen pomozhet v moem research!