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This article focuses on attendees using a modern day technology- mobile phones, tables and laptops at events and how event planners should engage more in incorporating them in to events and NiceMeeting, has done just that for event coordinators. NiceMeeting has introduced a presentation tool developed to enhance event engagements and maximize the value of knowledge exchange through live events.  Some cool features NiceMeeting also offers even planners is an AV application that turns attendees mobile device, such as iPad, iPhone, Tablet, laptop into a full-featured personal conference display.  

This article suggests that the use of handheld technology, such as mobile phones, tablets, and laptops at events has become so widespread, that event planners need to incorporate them into daily use if they want an edge on business. Nicemeeting is just one of many new hospitality applications that enhances the event managing process for event planners. According to the article, it has the capability to turn technology, such as an Ipad or mobile device, into "a full-featured personal conference display." It creates an entirely interactive space. I think that this idea was brilliant, because regardless of whether people like it or not, cell phones are going to be present in the meeting space. This application makes the most of that occurrence and turns it into a positive thing.

For travelers on the go, one frequently encountered frustration is the poor quality of WiFi signal in international destinations. This is especially true for business travelers.This frustration can be remedied however. by providing travelers with WiFi range extenders such as the TP-Link N300 Wifi Antenna. They can plug right into a laptops Ethernet port to extend its WiFi range by 200 yards or more! This represents an easy fix to a common problem for travelers and one that hotels should be looking into providing to guests. (It should be noted however, that more powerful AC technology is now available, replacing older N version network tech.) Providing this to guests would greatly enhance their quality of stay. Nicholas Reynolds- Hospitality Enterprise Technology Online

I agree that a good wireless connection is vital to reaching customers and can really effect their stay. Connectivity has become such a big issue that it is in most hotel's customer satisfaction surveys as a metric for how the hotel is doing.

This would definitely be beneficial for those whose job requires them to travel and to be constantly connected to the internet. Unfortunately in the world we live in not only is this important to business travelers but can also be important to families that are traveling on vacation where parents can not fully disconnect from their jobs. We all know the importance of receiving emails and txts from work that can be vital to your career.

1. IT The hot-button issue within the realm of hotel-information technology is mobile and cloud technology.A company could have tens of thousands of smartphones or laptops in the field at any given point-each a potential gateway to hackers and other criminals. To the problem the core principle is to provide end-to-end data protection with looking at cost and benefit and how it's supports the business. 2. Terrorism Ironically, one of the main reasons terrorism tops the list is because it has become less of an issue in recent years.Hoteliers need to keep their staffs and travelers mindful of possible threats, but they don't want to scare them. 3. Skimmers A related threat is that of "skimmers," or devices that catch credit card numbers when consumers use them for payment.The best prevention measure is to have an investigative team or third party on hand and making that known to employees. 4. Liability and insurance fraud These two related issues can double, triple, quadruple and quintuple corporate insurance premiums in the blink of an eye. The advisement is hoteliers to educate themselves on the issue, consulting with an attorney, if necessary. 5. Security as taboo "Security" still is something of a taboo in the global hotel industry.Hoteliers need to do a better job of "turning on the light" by talking about security openly and regularly at staff and association meetings, and hotel executives should insist their GMs make security a priority

1. ITAccording to the article, most mobile devices that are used for business are unprotected. Meaning that the devices if the device even have a password and if it does the password is not very complex. There could be thousands of employees accessing company information via the cloud through unprotected smart phones or other mobile devices. This could organizations at risk to hackers and other criminals  2.  TerrorismAlthough terrorist threats are less of a concern nowadays, that does not mean hotel managers should discontinue stressing the importance of security within their establishments. Keeping employees aware and diligent can prove to be a delicate assignment but it is a necessary of part of maintaining a safe work environment in the twenty-first century. 3.  SkimmersSkimmers are devices that steal credit card numbers when consumers use them for payment. Unfortunately, it is most commonly an employee on the inside who is committing the crime.  A third party investigation team will be needed to prove who is stealing from the establishment.  4. Liability and Insurance FraudCombined, these two issues could sky rocket a company's insurance costs through the roof. It is crucial that hoteliers be aware of the legal system and educates themselves on issues concerning liability. Both patrons and employees alike could potentially file claims against an establishment and entitlements can quickly get out of hand.    5.  SecurityDespite the best security measures, there is always the possibility of unforeseen danger. This fear of the unknown is a concern for hotel workers. To confront this fear of the unknown managers must regularly and openly discuss security with employees.  Security should be held as a top priority. 

This article discusses five main concerns brought on by the current state of hotel security. I must say that some of this information surprised me. Something that especially surprised me was learning that mobile devices that are used for business hardly use passwords. The article states, "Amplifying the problem is the sheer number of devices, he added. A company could have tens of thousands of smartphones or laptops in the field at any given point-each a potential gateway to hackers and other criminals." This piece of information is very unsettling to me. How could such valuable information not be protected? The article suggests the solution to this problem is PCI DSS. Terrorism as number two on this list also surprised me because that is not something that would first come to mind for me. The article states that it is ironically on the list for becoming less of an issue. I suppose this reminds hoteliers to never let their guard down when it comes to issues of safety and security within the hotel. However, "skimmers" and liability on this list does not really surprise me. The article suggests that hoteliers be educated about these issues to protect the hotel against them.

In the fast paced and often stressful world of event planning, a new innovative planning tool has been released that allows customers, vendors and anyone else the opportunity to see event layouts, menus, specifications and make notes on the event from either a desktop, laptop or even an android device. The event planning tool is called AllSeated.com and is completely cloud based which eliminates the use of the much antiquated way of writing everything down or showing a photocopy of a layout. Allseated.com also utilizes social media and to sync guest lists making it even faster for the client. With AllSeated.com, the hassle of having to book an event is eliminated and the customer can feel more at ease with their event on hand and the event manager can also have a much less stressful experience.

An unssuspecting person check into a hotel like any normal person would. The ever so common exchange, credit card for room key took place. The only difference was that the person that checked had done so with other intentions. The "guest" utilized an IP Telephone that was in this hotel room to hack into the hotel credit card database and steal credit cards, transmit them to a foreign country and then have money transferred to his offshore bank account. This happened but at the hands of Jason Ostrom, aa Vigilar senior security consultant. Ostrom was able to unplug teh telephone in his room, plug in the phone's ethernet canle into his laptop and hack away. Of course, he did this as part of his job in testing a company's security agaisnt viral hackers. His company offers free security testing using a downloadable software called VolP Hopper This article was extremely interesting because as a frequrnt traveler as well as a perosn in the hospitlaity industry I was very shocked at the ease that the credit card information could be stolen. When it comes to credit card security it is of the utmost importance for companies to be PCI compliant and spend whatever it is necessary to safeguard the information of their customers. The detrimental damage that a security breach can have on a person can be debilitating as leaders in the hospitality industry we must do everything possible to prevent attacks like this from happening. made me become extra cautious about using my credit cards.

Since 2009 Homeland Security has been searching and seizing electronics without suspicion or cause anywhere along the United States border. The business community has figured out how to get around the government searches by providing their employees with blank laptops and putting important information in the cloud. It has now been 25 years since Ronald Reagan signed the digital privacy protection laws which in today's rapidly advancing technology era these protections are inadequate.

Technology absolutely plays important role to facilitate meetings and conference running smoothly. The Audience-response systems (ARS) ease the communication between attendees and speaker, which encourages the engagement from participants. As one big goal of meeting and convention is to bring people together and let them know each other, technology like ARS is essential for a successful meeting. According to most planners' experience, it's really annoying to pass around the microphone when somebody wants to ask question. The new microphone function is also added into ARS so that attendees can ask question without waiting for passing the microphone. In addition, ARS can track attendance for crediting purpose. As long as WiFi is available, surveys can be sent by laptops, iPads and iPod touches.

Online marketing consultant and social media strategist Ravish Kumar shares five necessities for hospitality industry succcess when marketing in the digital age on LinkedIn. Of particular note is that this article was created in 2015, and likewise mentions the very critical transition from the popularity of desktops/laptops to the rise mobile phones as a crucial element to current emarketing.

In the article Mr. Lassana Tunkara talks about the positive impacts information technology has on the travel agencies, tourism industries and individuals that uses the internet. Everybody is becoming computer literate since it's the number one means of communication through the internet. Information technology has taken over the world. In the past if you want to book a vacation, you would have to find the closest travel agencies to you. You would spend a couple days in the travel agent office looking through brochures. With the advance in information technology, you can do so from the comfort of your home with just your laptop and an internet connection and logging to your desire website. The tourism and travel industry depends a whole lot on the internet as a means of communication, through emails and other forms of communications. With the advance in information technology cost is reduced, the speed at which information is transferred and retrieved has increased. Information technology has transformed the tourism industry, it changes the way the services are delivered and customers' expectations are much higher. With the internet all these industries are able to communicate with each other, such as travel agencies, airline, hotel and car rental companies. Doing reservation is much easier for everyone involve, it can be done anytime and anywhere without having to sit in a travel agencies office going through tons of brochures.

This article is about why hotels should use atleast two internest browsers. Simple yet very informative article about how two browsers can not only ease operations but also prevent problems that sometimes occur in browsers. The article is filled with lot of day to-day problems of browers which can be so easily be prevented. Having a hospitality business with so much online activity in todays world , this article shows how simple it is to manage online activities. A must read.

Most of the time, two browsers work perfectly fine on the laptop. I think it's necessary to install to browsers just in case one of them doesn't work fine sometimes. However, the two browsers on my laptop would conflict with each other. There was a period that I could not open them at the same time otherwise my laptop will completely shut down. For the hospitality industry, installing two browsers may benefit the guests. It saves guests time and money when they use the computer devices with two browsers because it provide them two ways to browse the internet.

I totally understand that there are lots of benefits to have at least two browsers. Actually I used to have more than two. And I was happy at that time that I have more than one browser because my Internet Explorer was infected by a virus and my computer would shut down by itself with no reason each time I opened the explorer. I didn't have time to fix my computer and remove the virus because I was preparing a final paper and I had to turn it in next day. So I just easily searched for information through other website browsers. For a hotel, that would be more important to keep the daily operation smooth with more than one browser in case that one of them was not working.

Microsoft is releasing in October 2012 the new version of the most popular computer operating system Windows 8. This new feature is not only for laptops or desktops, it is mainly focusing on touch screen devices. Lenovo also unveiled their Lenovo Yoga hybrid. This computer allows you to tuck the keyboard flat behind the screen and transform the device into a tablet shape, it can rotate 360 degrees. Windows 8 allows you to put your favorite app such as Facebook or Twitter into the start screen, you can add more apps, customize them and it refreshes constantly so the information stays current.

"Hoteliers face many obstacles when attempting to offer guests blazing Internet speeds, not the least of which is the fact that guests tend to all want to use it at the same time, putting pressure on the bandwidth coming into the property along with the wireless networks that support laptops, tablets and smartphones. "

I love this article because the hotel that I used to work at we upped our internet speed over 20 times while I worked there. It just goes to show that so many people are starting to use more streaming services such as netflix and more people are doing more work and also, if a family of 5 comes to stay in your hotel think of how many different devices that ONE family is using. I bet they each have their own cell phone, tablet, computer, etc. It also doesn't help if you have a conference where there are hundreds of people using laptops and tablets. What is the hotel industry going to do about this issue?

This article discusses the importance of a hotel being up to date with their PMS system and all the features a PMS system could have. The article states that cloud-based PMSs accessible to hotel staff via Internet through a phone, table or laptop is essential for the future of PMS and will enable the staff to stay up to date in real time. Additionally, a PMS system that is PCI compliant is necessary to protect guest personal information and will allow the hotel to provide better guest services and satisfaction. Another feature listed was to ensure the PMS is integrated with third-party systems such as two-way OTA interfaces and credit card processing platforms. This will help eliminate human error and lessen workload so employees can concentrate on delivering the best guest experience. Also mentioned was the fact that a cloud-based PMS offers security updates that will always be compliant to the latest standards of cyber security. With staff scheduling and revenue management capabilities, PMSs are a much more integral and important part of hotels success than ever before. It is imperative for a hotel to be up to date with their PMS so they don't fall behind their competition.

Forget about whether there is free wifi in room or not when travelling. Hyatt Hotels Corporation has introduced the internet accessed In-Room television where basically your In-Room TV not only performs the normal functions, but everything you can possibily imagine with your laptop, mobile phone, etc... from browsing websites, ordering room service, dinner reservations to receiving customized messages from meeting and group planners and much more! With this new service, I would simply see it as an electornic bulter where every guest could enjoy whenever they stay with such properties.

FBI issues warning to people traveling abroad that free Wi-Fi systems can pose a threat. Malware and other attacks on hotel wi-fi has become a bigger and bigger threat for hotel internet users.  This artical introduced 9  tips to use wi-fi safely.  1. Update Before Leaving 2. Block Pop-Ups  3. Handle Free Wi-Fi With Caution 4. Read Hotel Wi-Fi Directions 5. VPN Tunneling Secures Free Wi-Fi  6. Download Software Updates Directly From Vendors 7. Beware Wired Hotel Connections 8. Consider Using A "Burner" Laptop  9. Don't Be Afraid To Hibernate  All these tips indicate that to use internet safely, we should be alter to potential risks, be wise and have a good habit when access internet. 

"The way travelers communicate on the road has changed dramatically over the years, and these changes become evident when analyzing the revenue earned by U.S. hotels from their guests for use of telecommunication devices and services. In lodging industry parlance, "telecommunications revenue" includes monies received from the guest use of hotel room phones, fax machines, and internet connections."

This year, travelers are on track to pay U.S. hotels an estimated $1.95 billion in fees and surcharges - an amount that includes unpopular Internet charges. With this in mind, Hotel Check-In asked Robert Mandelbaum, the Atlanta-based director of information services for PKF Hospitality Research, to tell us about the state of the industry's telecommunications revenue stream - a stream that includes Internet fees.

Over the years, with technological and telecommunication advances the way we communication while on the road or on vacation has changed. I remember going on vacation as a child and being able to call my grandma from our hotel room once a day because we didn't want to spend too much money on calling back home or getting a voicemail from family members calling while we weren't in the hotel room. Over the years, this has changed dramatically. Now I can go on vacation and call, text, send emails, pictures, and videos to all my contacts with the use of my cell phone or with the use of my laptop in a WiFi area. This article gives insight on the revenue provided by telecommunications as told by Robert Mandelbaum a director of information services. He tells us that internet fees help with the growth of telecom revenue, as use of in room phones has decreased. This is just one way that the changes in technology have affected the industry. In this case, telecommunication advances have had a negative effect on the revenue in telecommunications but its only a matter of time until something new comes around and attempts to restore profit production. 

This is article speaks to room automation in guest rooms as a means to make hotels more green. Through the INNCOM system, hotels are able to customize the guest's stays by allowing them to adjust the lights and temperature. It also allows hotels to reduce cost as they are able to turn off HVAC units and turn on automatic lights. By allowing hotels to do this, they can save money on their utilities. With the INNCOM system, hotels also can upload their room collateral which reduces the cost of print for the hotels.

"Stop, look and listen before investing in hotel tech"

This article first reviewed the technology revolution in hotels. From the telephone, TVs, to today's mini bars and electronic door locks. Why hotels install more and more technology into guestrooms? Because the hotels believe the guest wants it, needs it, and it's become a way to stay competitive. However, the high technology gives brings them competitive advantages and also provides convenience for the guests, at the same time, it also carries a high cost with it. How to select the best technology and how to make best use of the technology? The author suggested the hotels should Stop, Look and Listen before investing in hotel technology. First, the hotels should justify the reasons to set the expensive devices. How to make sure the devices is useful and worth that much money? The hoteliers need to see whether the guests really want and need the technology. Consider very carefully the kind of tech you are deploying. Is it because you feel threatened by what your competitors are doing? Remember they may be on the wrong track. It is important for hotels to understand what the guests really want and need and before investing the new technology, the hotels need to stop, look and listen.

When it comes to investing in technology in hotels, a better approach might be to simplify. In a day and age when most people carry around all their technology needs in their pockets (Cellphones, Tablets, Laptops, etc.) There may not be a need to invest so heavily in gizmos to attract customers and keep them happy. We may want to consider that all the guest wants is to be connected, so offering a super fast, reliable and suitably priced internet access is all the technology they really need. Investing in every new technology, with short lifespans, can end up making a real dent in your ROI.