Group items tagged

Breadcrumb, the iPad POS system, and its impact on daily operations are discussed in this article. This POS system has sped up daily operations and made them less difficult for restaurant staff. An upgrade has been released and it was formed by "conversations with hundreds of merchants and insights from millions of restaurant, bar, and cafe transactions". The new version offers some very helpful features such as smart swipe, less keystrokes for PIN-based access to terminals, single touch order modifications, and splitting checks has been simplified. Breadcrumb 1.2 is really helping restaurants to make the dining experience seamless and hassle-free for customers and employees.

IHG is a key user of PASSKEY, a cloud based platform as one of the travel industry's de-facto standard hotel booking technologies for meetings and events. And the GroupMAX hosted entirely on line and provided a seamless way for MICE to book their hotel rooms more efficient and convenient process. The 23 IHG properties in Asian-pacific deploying GourpMAX will be equipped with a suite of tools that insure peace-of-mind and higher levels of service for clients, like online booking, live event tracking, automated room lists, etc.  In my opinion, the Group customers playing an important role day by day, as a trend, hotels cann't have the great advantage by only provide a meeting space but more software combined. 

This article discusses the accounting application needs for restaurants. Restaurant accounting systems need to "address two categories: kitchen operations and POS. These programs can map the costs of "kitchen operations, inventory control, recipe and menu costing". The accounting software is usually integrated with POS for a seamless solution. There seem to be many options for businesses to have detailed, comprehensive, and complete accounting overview of their operations. Utilizing integrated accounting software would allow managers to quickly analyze ways to save money, what needs improvement, and to understand their basic financial reports.

This article showcases the benefits Uncle Oogie's Pizzeria chain has seen since the installation of Ingenico's Pay-at-the-Table stations. Along with Datacap Systems technology, the new stations are very effective in the restaurants and have shown positive results in various areas. These terminals have increased profitability as a result of high table turnover, reduced wait times, increased customer service, and improved business efficiency. All of Uncle Oogie's payment transactions are encrypted via a multi-layered security approach.

Cisco systems, one of the worlds leading multinational technology companies, partnered with Apple to provide users a seamless experience when it comes to work related applications. The Cisco-Apple partnership occurred in 2015, however Cisco recently released that they originally tried to partner with Android. Why did the collaboration go sour? Well Android has multiple manufactures and an open source OS, meaning that the Cisco had to approach each in order to solidify the use of there network. The company didn't have enough resources to do so, so they ventured to Apple, who fully controls its systems and new releases. The integration and use of Cisco network allows Apple users to do things like "shift voice calls from carriers to wireless LAN without losing things like call logging for compliance".

There are several advantages to utilizing Apple systems and partnering with the, As you mentioned, they control their systems and new releases. They are also have more users than other systems for their mobile devices. This was a very smart decision by Cisco to drive their business.

This article talks about technology can significantly reduce the amount of time and sweat you invest in delivering a seamless, successful event. Definitely . the planners will always be perfectionists and no matter what tools they have at their disposal, they will always suffer from a last minute panic attack about the seating plan. There are many benefits from effectively using technology to events By using software to help you manage your event, you can ensure that it runs smoothly and that nothing is forgotten.Taking advantage of event planning technology will save you both time and money in the long run. Staying below budget is an important concept to keep in mind when planning any event. You can save a lot of money by managing your budget with software programs that allow you to keep track of all your expenses in one central location. By using technology to manage attendee registration, you can track variables such as fees, food orders and send marketing emails to your list of attendees.Staying organized is probably the single most important aspect of planning a successful event, and the use of technology can alleviate a lot of stress from an organizational standpoint. The events your company puts on are a direct reflection its value, so you will want it to be the best that it can be

I totally agree with you that with the assistance of technology, event planning has become easier than ever before. It can help people stay organized, keep track of details, and make sure no stone is left unturned. Technology can also help people plan, analyze and budget for an event accurately and effectively.

Choosing the most appropriate Accounting Software for a restaurant can be a tough decision. As this article states, the Accounting Software is extremely important in the restaurant business because you can intelligently control expenses by tracking costs and sales for each menu item and managing food inventory. It also helps to determine each day what your profits are and you can analyze this information comparing it weekly or monthly for marketing purposes.

This article basically emphasizes the importance of having an accounting system. All the questions that needs to be asked for the success of one's business can be answered with the implementation of an accounting system. For instance, "Are vendor prices up, down or sideways? Where do you make your most profit?" Im not saying that an accounting system will resolve all issues but it will make managing one's business easier and seamless.

This article talks about the acquisition of Restaurant POS system company, Breadcrumb, by Groupon. This will provide seamless service to all Breadcrumb and Groupon  customers. This will also allow Goupon to observe customer spending patterns which it was not be able to see before. 

Shift4 develops payment technology for various types of business. The hotel I work in uses it to process gift cards. This article describes the company's newest endeavor with emerging technologies, in this case Google Wallet. Companies using Shift4 will now have the functionality of letting customers use Google Wallet, paying for a purchase by tapping or swiping your cell phone on a special screen, in a seamless integration with their current POS. Google Wallet or the iPhone Square Card Reader are technologies that businesses need to take into consideration when developing or enhancing their POS. Shift4 seems to be the front runner in offering this add-on. I imagine other payment developers will follow suit.

Energy management systems clearly speak for themselves on what its purpose is. An EMS aims to use as minimum of energy possible while maintaining production rates. This article breaks down and explains how an energy management system "can decrease a guestroom's energy consumption while simultaneously…optimizing their settings to suit the taste of each client." (J. Peterson) Energy consumption is something that drives up a hotel's expenses but can be monitored and controlled to efficiently carry out normal business and please guests at the same time. As the article states, "lighting alone approximately takes up 23 percent of a hotel's electric bill," proving that an energy management system is highly favored in the industry when it comes to saving money. The EMS will act as a monitor, controlling lights when guest are present or not, room temperature and things of that nature. Although it's primary purpose is saving energy, this type of software observes activity in the guest's room to personalize the guest's experience while controlling energy. Not only does this keep the guest's preferences standardize but it can also notify room keeping personnel when the room is vacant for them to clean. This allows the guest to be greeted by a tidy room every time they return to their living quarters. When viewing the hospitality industry, the complete experience is what guest favor. As the article mentions, "attention to detail can go a long way for businesses in the hospitality industry." This article goes without saying that an EMS is beneficiary for the producer of the service.

The best of both worlds is described in this article using a cloud computing system, PMS and POS are integrated to a user friendly system that helps manage retail, food and beverage and rooms in one. The system maintains pricing structure thru out a group of hotels in real time.

Hotel technology vendors release functionality previously unseen in hotels - enabling better guest service and tighter control hetras, the developer of cloud-based hotel management software, and Vectron, a leading provider of point of sale systems for hospitality and retail, announced today the certified integration of their products. hetras, the developer of cloud-based hotel management software, and Vectron, a leading provider of point of sale systems for hospitality and retail, announced today the certified integration of their products. The new seamless interface between the hetras hotel management system and Vectron's POS provides, in addition to the standard features one has come to expect, a host of highly advanced capabilities long desired, but before today never achieved, in a hotel environment. Some unique features of the interface include: Automatic discounts for loyalty club members at the article level. Front office credit limit detection at the POS with multiple resolution options (e.g. allow charge to room, allow partial charge to room, deny charge to room) Full guest check detail can be sent to PMS enabling detailed folios and statistics in the PMS. POS discounts can be sent to PMS in detail for full tracking of discounts in the PMS or accounting system Extensive handling of house bons (e.g. for hotels staff) between PMS and POS Both charges and payments (e.g. cash or credit card) can be sent from POS to PMS.

This news tells us that the hotel management corporation upgrades online booking system. Oriens Travel & Hotel Management Corp., is an International Boutique Hotel Brand Operator operating hotels world-wide. On September 6th, it announced they had completed to upgrade its Online Booking System. As all we know, online booking system is an easy to use, web-based internet reservation system used internationally by a diverse range of accommodation providers. The upgrades included payment gateways for processing credit cards, PayPal payment solutions, Google Payment Solution, 128bit security encryption, and a more user-friendly backend platform being used by hotel revenue managers on a daily basis. What's more, the mobile App is being integrated into the system. These upgrades will make the booking progress more seamless and easier.

As the title indicates, this article discusses the partnership between Guestline (Europe's leader in software solutions for the hospitality industry) and City and Country Hotels. This collaboration will consist of equipping The Wellesley London and Number Ten Manchester Street (both properties of C&C Hotels) with Guestline Web-based PMS. This system will provide C&C Hotels with a set of features including cross-selling functionalities. In other words, booking sales will be transferred to another property if the requested hotel is full. Thus, City and Country Hotels will be able to maximize productivity (no more calling from property to property to inquire if there are any rooms available, etc) and increase revenue thanks to the seamless integration of both properties into a centralized web-based PMS. The best thing about this partnership is that City and Country Hotels will also cut down hardware and software costs thanks in part to the use of a cloud-based system. Having Guestline has their provider of all technical solutions, City and Country Hotels will be able to place their focus on their revenue makers - their guests.

This article discusses what travel agents think about the enhanced ability of both corporate and leisure based travel agencies to sell airline ancillaries because of improved Global Distribution Systems' technologies. Ancillaries are products and services that airlines sell to gain additional revenue on top of your ticket price. Ancillaries have become increasingly popular in the airline industry because of the sky rocketing price of jet fuel. To keep ticket prices down airlines are "unbundling" items from the overall experience. This presents them with an opportunity to turn a profit by charging fees for bags (carry on, checked, additional), on board food and drink, credit card purchases, headphones. It seems like everything you encounter from when you arrive at the airport to when you disembark the plane has a fee. This phenomenon is especially present in Low cost carriers such as Spirit, Air Tran, Jet Blue, etc. However there are consumers who disagree with this additional costs as is apparent in Southwest's continuous marketing campaign. I'm sure everyone has seen the commercials with Southwest representatives 'flagging' down unnecessary fees in order to promote their 'bags fly free' campaign. Anyhow the reason I am explaining ancillary revenue is because travel agents are now starting to sell more ancillary products such as hotel accommodations, travel insurance, rental cars because of GDS technologies. They can track the sale of fees through EMD (Electronic miscellaneous Documents) which is the current industry standard. In the article some agents state that the EMDs are hard to understand and use. I believe until the EMDs become "seamless and easy to use" there will exist some hesitation to sell airline ancillaries. However on the other hand the article states that Travelport is working towards a simple and uniform platform called Travelport Universal API/Desktop. Once this comeplete perhaps more agents will feel comfortable selling ancillaries. This is a goo

I still remember when most airlines used to include breakfast or dinner for their passengers including alcoholic beverages well that doesn't happen any more. I believe when Travelport Universal Desktop becomes available it would become more clear to travel agencies the transaction process and for the consumers what products and services they are ofering.

I too miss the days of free sodas and peanuts. "Sigh-" sometimes its the little things in life that bring the most joy. I agree I think the new Travelport Universal Desktop will be a valuable tool if utilized correctly.

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.

""Mobile," "social" and "cloud" are terms everyone is familiar with, not just IT folks. Event attendees are becoming savvier every day. So when they attend meetings and events, the technology transition must be seamless."

This article talks about how technology has become expected when it comes to event planning and attending events. I did my research paper on this topic and used this article as a source. It has some great information!

Essentially this article breaks down the evolution of a mobile concierge that is to come in the future of the hotel industry. It is noted that Starwood Hotels has been implementing a system in two of their boutique brands that will allow guests to check-in to a room using a keyless entry system through their smartphones. This type of technology would provide a seamless check-in process and open the door to eliminating a "front desk" all together. The article goes on to explain that Marriott has already implemented a system similar to this in some their properties that allows certain guests to check-in through their mobile app and collect their keys from a designated mobile check-in desk. The use technology and applications has become the "new norm" and as technology continues to evolve the hospitality industry will be on the forefront of its utilization.

Atrio® is an app based PMS system that is completely hosted on the cloud. The program is built for the way most of us approach new technology. Many of us, especially those entering the hospitality business as young professionals, learn technology by simply looking at it. By this I mean that we expect technology and applications to be self-explanatory. It is an "I want to do X so I will click on X" mindset. Atrio® is set up so that a new user can use this approach to learn the basic functions of the system. Par Springer-Miller, the parent company, states that an individual will be able to check a guest in to a hotel room with zero training and should be able to make a reservation after only being shown one time! This significantly reduces training costs and time. In addition, the completely cloud based system minimizes on-site technology and therefore reducing implementation costs and hardware/software investments as well as allowing for seamless updates. After reading the article, I viewed a YouTube video posted by Par Springer-Miller here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtqtxN2SBJY. I must say, I wish my property would look into Atrio®!

Chad Kaydo in his article '7 Things Event Planners Want From Technology Now," highlights the results of a recent survey where industry officials noted what tech changes and adaptations they would like to see as it relates to the Event Planning and Management area of the Hospitality Industry. He noted the following items as the urgent needs of event planners: **Lower Prices - many planners steer clear of the technology due to costs and thus would like to see adjustments in costs relating to new technology. **Integration of Planning Tools - Planners want to be able to connect the different tech offerings used instead of using them in isolation. **Next Generation Apps - Event Apps should be of the same sophistication and simple to use as those of popular consumer apps such as Instagram. **Seamless Social Media Integration - Social Media has become and important tool for event planners. Rene Mark stated that they would like to see "any form of technology that creates a more engaging experience for our clients so that they can interact from the audience, share their experiences online and engage actively with other participants." ** Improved Internet Access - one of the major complaints of planners and something they would like to see improvements on is WiFi access at event venues. Mr. Kaydo noted that planners and tech developers said that the lack of robust, reliable, reasonably priced bandwidth and network services at hotels is slowing the pace of technological advancements across meetings and events. ** Attendee Data Tracking -Improved Technology to keep track of attendee participation. **Help to figure it all out - Planners find it difficult to keep up with technology and to constantly learn how a new device or program works. However this attitude is affecting the results gained from the adoption or lack of as it relates to technological advancements in the Event planning field.

This article is describing how technology is redefining E commerce. E commerce has been playing a really big part into everyone's everyday lives, but with technology expanding so is E commerce. For example, technology has been helping with online stores since they are able to show exactly what they are selling with detailed descriptions. Paying methods have also been made a lot easier, and are more reliable. Since technology is not done growing that means E commerce will also be expanding!