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rnobl005

The damage from Atlanta's huge cyberattack is even worse than the city first thought | ... - 0 views

  • The damage from Atlanta’s huge cyberattack is even worse than the city first thought | TechCrunch
    • rnobl005
       
      After reading the discussion prompt for this week, the recent cyberattack on Atlanta immediately came to mind. This scenario is a prime example as to why cities need to invest in cybersecurity. The city paid the ransom demand of $50,000, but the damage of the attack itself was much more costly - they estimate having to spend $9.5 million to rebuild many programs that are not salvageable. It's hard to say if this was preventable had Atlanta invested in some form of cybersecurity but I think this is a new trend that major cities should be aware of and start taking preventative measures on.
  • The damage from Atlanta’s huge cyberattack is even worse than the city first thought | TechCrunch
  • More than two months after a cyberattack hobbled many of its critical municipal systems, the city of Atlanta is still sorting through the wreckage of what is likely the worst cyberattack targeting a U.S. city to date.
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  • On March 22, Atlanta’s connected systems city-wide were hit with a ransomware message locking their respective files and demanding an approximately $50,000 payment in bitcoin
  • Atlanta residents were unable to do simple city system-dependent tasks like paying parking tickets or utility bills. City employees didn’t get the all-clear to turn on their computers until five days later and many city systems still have not recovered.
    • rnobl005
       
      The cybersecurity article focused on global issues and potential military conflict, but this article proves that cybersecurity can impact the more mundane aspects of our life.
  • at least one third of the 424 software programs that the city runs remain offline or partially inoperable. Almost 30 percent of those programs are deemed “mission critical” by the city meaning that they control crucial city services like the court system and law enforcement.
    • rnobl005
       
      Again, on a global scale the Atlanta court system doesn't sound super threatening. But for the city it's obviously a huge blow and will take years to bring everything up to speed.
  • While reporting the updated numbers, Rackley estimated that $9.5 million would need to be added to the department’s $35 million budget to address the remaining damage
  • That amount is on top of the more than two million dollars in emergency procurements sought by Atlanta Information Management following the attack.
  • Earlier this week, Atlanta’s Police Chief disclosed that the cyberattack destroyed “years” worth of police dash cam video footage.
    • rnobl005
       
      Another terrible loss due to the cyberattack.
  • Atlanta has been regarded as a frontrunner for Amazon’s second headquarters in some analyses, though it’s not immediately clear how the cyberattack will affect the city’s odds.
Nicole Stevens

After Starbucks Deal, Square Now Powers Point Of Sale And Mobile Payments For Boutique ... - 0 views

  • According to a release, customers will initially be able to pay with Square Wallet at Blue Bottle’s Oakland, Brooklyn, and San Francisco Mint Plaza locations, with the company rolling out Square to its remaining stores in the coming months.
  • Blue Bottle will use Square Register as its full point-of-sale system (Starbucks does not use Square Register) to accept cash and credit card payments, track inventory, and monitor daily reports. Customers will also be able to use Square Wallet to make purchases just by saying their names.
  • While Blue Bottle is certainly not at the same scale as Starbucks, small to mid size chains still represent a huge opportunity for Square. A number of small, regional chains are using Square Register and payments including, Pitango Gelato in DC and Baltimore (5 locations), Cafe Grumpy in NYC (4 locations) Amy’s Ice Cream (13 locations) and Cartel Coffee Lab in Phoenix and Tucson (5 locations).
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  • As part of the Starbucks deal, 7,000 Starbucks stores in the U.S. accept Square Wallet, and Square readers are also sold at company-owned Starbucks stores. Square also began selling its readers at Verizon stores a few weeks ago, bringing its total number of retail locations where the payments dongle is sold to 30,000.
  • Starting with a free credit card reader for the iPhone, iPad, and Android devices, Square Reader allows anyone to accept credit cards anywhere, anytime, for a low transaction rate of 2.75 percent per swipe, with no hidden fees. Square Register serves as a full point-of-sale system for businesses to accept payments, manage items, and share menu and location information.
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    I myself have a Square and swear by it. I use it to sell homemade goods and trinkets and fairs, as well as sell baked goods at fundraising events. The Square app and unit are free (after registry refund) and are simple to use. Just connect it to a bank account and you are off. You can take and keep track of both cash and credit card payments. Plus inventory tracking is easy. The Square turns any iPad, iPhone, iPod or android device into a traveling POS system. Plus there is no paper involved so it's a great first step to running a Green business. Square is the POS solution for small businesses. 
Marla Baldomero

The Ecommerce Revolution Is All About You | TechCrunch - 0 views

  • there is a whole world of social data, and even more-in-depth purchase data that can be mined by retailers to help increase sales.
  • Personalization will be the differentiating factor in e-commerce and digital commerce going forward, especially for multichannel retailers and new entrants online.”
  • the goal is to be able to deliver personalization without being predictable
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  • the toughest hurdle is to have enough data on an individual to actually help personalize the experience
  • There is tremendous potential in developers and retailers being able to mine this data from ‘boughts’ and wants’ as opposed to the open-ended ‘like.’
  •  
    This article discusses the importance of ecommerce becoming a more personalized experience for customers. It talks about how Amazon and Netflix do a great job in finding items their customers may be interested on based on their past purchases and recent searches. I found it interesting how social networks such as Facebook are being targeted to assist with ecommerce. Companies want to take what Facebook members put on their page and use it as data for when they visit their website. That way they already have some information on the customer before they even visit. Companies are being challenged in the way they maintain this data. Many companies are having issues figuring out how to store the data they receive from their customers. I think it's a great idea and absolutely love when online shopping sites show me items similar to what I was looking at. A majority of the time I click on what was suggested and purchase it or at least like it. I agree that ecommerce needs to become more personalized because it is the future of shopping. Many people are lazy and find it easier to just purchase items via the Internet than actually visit a store. The internet needs to find a way to provide that customer service feeling that customers are provided when they visit a physical store.
Marcos Oliveira

Debuts An iPad Point-Of-Sale In A Box | TechCrunch - 0 views

  • Revel Systems, an iPad point-of-sale company backed by $3.7 million in funding
  • Revel Router,” as the device is being called, is an Apple-certified “made for iPad” technology that allows shops to run their POS through an Apple iPad.
  • the system forgoes the need for an ISP-provided Internet connection in order to work – the whole thing can run off the iPad’s 3G or 4G
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  • company is selling the device as a package deal including an iPad, the router, peripherals, and POS software
  • a restaurant owner or retail owner doesn’t even know when the Internet goes out,” she says.”This is the biggest problem in these establishments, and it’s our biggest support headache
  • around 300 locations have the system installed
  • The way the system works involves proprietary hardware and a patent-pending wireless protocol
  • system isn’t really designed for mobility, but rather aims to replace the existing, stationary set-ups at the point-of-sale
  • starting package is $3,330 and includes an iPad, cash box, printer, credit card swiper, the router, and the software license
  • two support packages – email and online ticketing support for $100/month or per terminal fee that’s available 24/7.
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    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..
Diamond Williams

Google and The Future of Event Tech - 0 views

  • During I/O, the annual developer conference, Google made several announcements that are set to have an impact on how we use technology at events.
  • Google Glass is the gadget of the moment
  • Event staff could immediately scan event tickets by wearing Glass or attendees could scan an intelligent code to get clearance. The technology is so event friendly that I anticipate lots of cool apps in this space.
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  • Google announced that YouTube Live will be available to all Partners in good standing. This is quite massive. If you’ve been a regular YouTube user and gained the Partner status you will be able to stream events live.
  • Secondly livestreaming is, as Sam Sheffer of The Verge explains, the most logic use of Glass thanks to hangout integration.
  • Google planted 525 powered sensors around the halls of San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center, and began collecting data
  • Crowd management and control is one of the most delicate issues in the industry. It looks like this technology could provide real time data to understand how the crowd is moving during the event.
  • While some of the discussed tech probably won’t make an event near you anytime soon, some other announcements will have an immediate impact on how you execute your event.
  •  
    Google made several announcements at a developer conference that could bring drastic changes to event technology, both in the immediate future and further down the line. One of Google's latest gadgets is Google Glass. There has been much talk about both it's functionality and its detractors. However, it is highly functional for events. It allows you to scan tickets upon entry and it also allows you the ability to send a live feed of the event. This is advantageous for those who want to go to events but are not able to attend in person, for whatever reason and is ideal for Google Plus hangout integration. Google also announced that Youtube Live (live streaming on Youtube) would be available to all partners in good standing. Before, live-streaming on Youtube was only available to certain partners. So Glass now has greater potential to be used by more partners to live stream to Youtube. Lastly, Google planted sensors all around the convention center where the conference took place, and collected data (temperature, humidity, light, pressure (including nearby footfalls), motion, air quality and both RF and ambient noise) to study the crowd and how they moved around the conference. Crowd management and control is a delicate issue and this technology could give real time data into what the crowd is doing.
Janive Santini

TechCrunch | DLD 2012 - Andrew Mason: Groupon Now Boasts 10,000 Employees, 70% Outside ... - 0 views

  •  
    "Groupon has evolved quite bit since we launched three years ago. We started off with a single 'deal of the day' in each city, and today we often offer dozens of deals in numerous cities, across many categories (travel, goods, etc.). We think of it more as a curated deal marketplace then a daily deal site now." With all the deals being presented to the American public on a daily basis, it is interesting to see how many people are employed by Groupon outside the US. While outsourcing may seem like a good idea for businesses since people don't need to be paid as much, this is ruining the job market within. The founder of Groupon, however, is very smart, considering his age. I like to call Groupon "Food Stamps for the middle class", and Andrew Mason really hit the nail on the head.
yan xie

Event Management Giant Cvent Scoops Up Seed Labs To Help It Go Mobile | TechCrunch - 0 views

  • Cvent, which offers web-based software for meeting selection, online event registration, sourcing, management, email marketing and web surveys to corporate and government clients, has been looking to expand beyond B2B.
    • yan xie
       
      Event B2B e-commercial in event field. It like the eved that discussed on blackboard, it also do the online event registration, sourcing management, email marketing and so on, but the different is Cevnt is web-based software, the Eved is cloud based.
  • In 2012 alone, Seed Labs created 82 apps for 38 events, all of which include interactive schedules, maps, calendars, bios, image galleries, videos, and notifications — features that aim to enhance the consumer experience of events. Cvent wants to take these features and Seed Labs’ mobile infrastructure and carry it into new markets.
    • yan xie
       
      In the current e-commercial business, the technique development is the dynamic for business developing. Seed labs created 82 apps for 38 event, this will increase the customers using experience than others. I used the Cvent, and I also checked the Eved, I think the Cvent is better than Eved.
Carolina Villa

Revel Wants To Bring iPad-Powered Point Of Sale Systems To The Hospitality And Retail I... - 1 views

  • Many small businesses are swapping out traditional cash registers for iPads and credit card processors like Square.
  • Revel Systems hopes to be the go-to iPad-powered, comprehensive POS platform for restaurants.
  • Along with the iPad-friendly cash register, Revel Systems can be completely customized for payroll, inventory tracking, web ordering, email receipts and more.
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  • Lisa Falzone, co-founder and CEO of Revel System, explains that the platform is going after chains and restaurants that have at least $500,000 in yearly revenue.
  • Currently Revel is seeing around $80 million in processing business with major brands. Beautiful Brands International has just tapped the startup to power POS systems at its multiple franchised locations nationwide under the Beautiful Brands International umbrella, including Camille’s Sidewalk Café, Dixie Cream, FreshBerry Frozen Yogurt Cafe and Rex’s Chicken.
  •  
    Focusing on new trends, POS systems are being brought out and introduced in the new addition of IPAD. This new system called Revel hopes to be the go-to Ipad powered comprehensive POS system for restaurants. Revel systems can be used for payroll, inventory tracking, web ordering and email receipts. Lisa Falzone is the co founder and CEO of Revel System expressed how this new system is going after chains and restaurants that obtain at least $500,000 in yearly revenue. Launched in August 2011 Revel is seeing around $80 million in business processing with major brands and franchises ex: Freshberry frozen yogurt café, Rexs chicker, Dixie cream etc. This new trend with IPAD POS system is a great idea and a fantastic way to be more efficient. Usually POS systems are these screens that are not movable it mainly resides on one specific location while these ipads could be more convenient and mobile. This may help to bring out a better and faster customer satisfaction.
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    Cost-wise Revel system, which is a web-based POS system, might be better over a traditional POS system. However, it would be risky to install this new technology in restaurants. Unlike a traditional one, a web-based POS system totally relies on Internet. What if Internet server is down or unstable? There will be great confusion to the restaurants. If there is no problem regarding Internet connection or restaurants have backup plans in case of loss of Internet or power, it would be an efficient and effective tool for the restaurant business.
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    Revel Systems hopes to be the new POS platform for restaurants. This iPad works like a cash register, it can be customized for payroll, inventory tracking, web ordering, email receipts and more.The Revel system is going after chains and restaurants that have at least $500,000 in yearly revenue.
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    I had a doctor visit this past week and the office could barely function because their servers were down. If down systems can cause this much turmoil in a doctor's office where people expect to wait, imagine the trouble in a busy restaurant. The system sounds great, but there would need to be a back-up system or procedure in place. There are risks of a system crash, so why not have a more traditional processing system available if it is needed? The benefits of cyber storage can be considerable and likely down the road more safeguards will be in place to hedge against the negative effects of a system crash. This is definetely a technology worth researching (if your business is big enough to sustain it).
anonymous

Revel Goes Big With Full Stadium Deployment Of iPad Point-Of-Sale System At ASU | TechC... - 1 views

  • Also, the San Francisco-based company says its POS software is about 14 percent faster per transaction than a traditional POS, which means it can process a higher volume of customers more quickly.
  • Revel says it has designed its system to be ideally suited to these kinds of hurry-up periods, increasing the rate of customers served and therefore increasing customer satisfaction and overall sales.
  •  
    The company Revel has outfitted the Alabama State University stadium with and iPad-based point-of-sales system. This system is very functional because it does not require and internet connection and it has a faster processor to complete transactions versus the traditional systems. In the stadium setting it can help to move the line faster leading to happier customers who do not have to wait long in line.
smaka004

SocialTables, A Collaborative Event-Planning Service, Raises $8 Million Series A | Tech... - 0 views

  • SocialTables now has 2,500 customers and 30,000 users. Two-thirds of those are venue owners including the Hyatt Hotel Corporation and Caesar’s Entertainment, and one-third are party planners.
  • “SocialTables is a hospitality SaaS company,”
  •  
    SocialTables is one of the latest and most successful hospitality start-ups. It is essentially a hospitality SaaS. It was founded by Dan Berger, an event-planner turned programmer. Founded in 2012 and based in Washington D.C., one of the premier corporate hospitality locations in the US, the start-up has recently raised $8 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, and followed by Thayer Ventures. This funding adds to the previous $1.6 million the company raised, which helped them streamline their event planning tools. According to its website, SocialTables is a cloud-based solution that offers event diagramming, seating, and check-in tools for event planners. The software can make room layouts that event planners can use to show clients, compose detailed seating charts and arrangements, and it offers a fast check-in app. All of this is done on a colorful, intuitive, cloud-based site with mobile integration. In two years, SocialTables has grown considerably. It has over 2,500 customers and 30,000 users. Additionally, two-thirds of its customer base is actually composed of venue-owners, including major corporations like Hyatt Hotels and Caesar's Entertainment. Academic institutions like Harvard Business School and The Ohio State University also subscribe to SocialTables. Additionally, one-third of its customers are private party planners. SocialTables is becoming an affordable, customizable, tech-progressive solution for event planners of all levels. Industry leaders like Hyatt and Caesar's already subscribe to its services. In the future, I think that the start-up should focus on increasing its ability to provide affordable and capable solutions for private event planners, particularly in the wedding category. While that is an extremely competitive and saturated market, SocialTables could provide an industry-leading software solution and use its credibility to entice private planners into its cloud-based ecosystem.
mannypinto

Booksy, the mobile-first booking app for appointment-based businesses, raises $4.2M | T... - 0 views

  •  
    This article talks about booksy, and how it will be using its new capital to add more features. Booksy is the first mobile booking app for appointment-based businesses. It is a great app for barbers, hair dressers, masseurs, etc. This app makes it easier for both customers and business owner to schedule an appointment. In facilitating the appointment process this helps business owners to have returning customers. It is said that most appointments are made after business hours, so booksy helps with this because the business owner does not have to answer the phone. Booksy does not only book appointments but also has other features such as CRM, marketing automation, inventory, management, point-of-sales, reports, the management of commission for the employees, and now with their new capital they will have in-app payments.
Gaby Belardo

Twitter Expands Ad Program With Interest Targeting And 1 Cent Minimum Bids - 0 views

  •  
    In this article posted on August 30th, 2012, twitter announced a new feature for promoting tweets on their website. Now, like Facebook, they will be able to target a specific audience with specific interests, as well as a particular username and people with similar interests to them. The promoted feature is a great marketing strategy because it shows up along the users twitter feed usually with some eye-catching words, and a link to take you to their website. As well as enacting a new way to promote to the audience, they are also making the minimum bid for these tweets a lot cheaper, allowing smaller businesses to get involved and be able to get their brand out to millions of people.
leonfai

Robotic Hotel Butler is a Game Changer in the Industry - 2 views

Usually when one is staying in a hotel and needs assistance or service brought up to their guestroom the hotel is happy to send an employee to deliver any assistance, extra towels, pillows blankets...

damanigoode

Technology in Hotels: 8 Trends to Watch in 2020 - 0 views

  • Despite all the innovation that has taken place in the sector over the last decade, there remains massive, untapped opportunity and potential in many categories within the hospitality arena.
  • Life House, a tech-first hotel experience, shows proof-of-concept: that hotels that invest in technology drive higher revenue, better guest reviews, and a higher star-rating
  • Most revenue management systems focus on reporting and data visualization; the addition of white label software to the backend of an RMS can improve price optimization, letting hoteliers spend their time on higher value tasks and strategic revenue management.
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  • Hilton is taking a different approach, partnering with Netflix to allow guests to control their streaming straight from the Hilton Honors mobile app.
  • 2nd Kitchen is a godsend for hotels without a kitchen on-site: guests can order room service from restaurants near your hotel, taking care of care of orders, menus, payment, fulfillment, and customer support for your property.
  • There are two factors outside Coronavirus that are impacting OTAs. First, hotels are getting better at capturing direct bookings. Hotel tech like direct booking platforms, metasearch ad managers, and messaging integrations help properties draw more visitors to their site and convert more direct bookings, circumventing the high OTA commissions in the process.
  • With WiFi 6, your property can leverage in-room technology to provide better service, driving positive guest reviews and repeat business.
  • The sooner you start to mine guest data for better customer insights, the better positioned your property will be against your competition.
  • Data can fuel smarter marketing campaigns, inform your pricing, and help you capture a higher market share than your competitors by knowing your guests on a deeper level.
  • The companies that win will be the ones who stop acting like tech companies – using buzzwords like AI and virtual concierge – and focus on being more innovative and agile real estate businesses than traditional market players today. Those that succeed will be tech-enabled businesses; not tech businesses.
  •  
    This article from HotelTechReport.com focuses on 8 software and tech related trends in the hospitality industry. Software as a Service (SaaS), Application Programmable Interfaces (API), Online Travel Agencies (OTA), and WiFi6 are some of the featured technologies whose impact on competition, innovation, security, and revenue growth are explored. The article begins by acknowledging that despite a great deal of technological innovation in the past decade, there is a great deal of unrealized potential when it comes to more effectively leveraging technology and data to improve efficiency, increase revenue, and remain competitive in the industry.
jordanfernandez

Proximity Marketing: Often Creepy, but It Doesn't Have to Be. | Center for Digital Ethi... - 0 views

  • Imagine you’re out shopping one Saturday afternoon. You walk into a department store and see a big sign that reads, “Get our app and save!” You love a good deal so you scan the QR code and select “download.” You scroll through a user agreement with about 10,000 words of legalese and click “agree.”
  • As you walk down the street later, your phone is abuzz with notifications you’ve never received before: a constant stream of ads from each store you pass. You wonder how they’re reaching you, until you realize the department store app is still running — it must connect to other stores.
  • Target merged its “Cartwheel” coupon app — used by 27 million shoppers, saving them more than $1 billion — with the main Target app and incorporated new features.
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  • This beats traditional advertising, which connects to consumers before they’re in a store — while they’re sitting on the couch at home watching television, for instance — and relies on them to remember the message later.
  • By using proximity marketing technology, stores can catch up by providing some of the perks of online shopping in person, like easy access to discounts, saved shopping lists and personalized recommendations.
  • Lastly, proximity marketing tools allow companies to gather behavioral data about their customers, including how often they visit a store and when, how long they stay and what areas of the store they gravitate toward.
  • Proximity marketing — location-based direct marketing in which a business or other organization sends offers, promotions, alerts or other messages to a person's smartphone based on the device’s location — is annoying, creepy and downright invasive in this story. But it doesn’t have to be. When implemented ethically, proximity marketing can provide worthwhile benefits to marketers and consumers alike.
  • But completely opting-out of proximity marketing — agreeing to all or nothing — should not be the only way consumers can protect themselves.
  • Their recommendations include displaying in-store signage notifying shoppers that their location data is being collected, letting consumers opt-out of analytics services, limiting how data is used and never selling personally identifiable data to a third party.
  • If retailers want their customers to shed the “malicious” connotation that comes with data tracking, they need to be upfront about how they are using that data, including location.
  • Target’s privacy notice is currently 4,359 words and the top of the page reads, “We may change or add to this privacy policy, so we encourage you to review it periodically.” How many customers read the whole statement and check back periodically for updates?
  • So let’s reimagine our scene in the department store: Again, you download its app. This time, the user agreement is a few clear bullet points. The app walks you through a quick Q&A to find out if it can access your location to make your shopping experience easier. It asks if it can share your information with its partners — other stores, whose names the user agreement lists out explicitly — and gives you an option to opt out.
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    This article addresses what proximity marketing is and how it can be beneficial to marketers and consumers if done right. It talks about how companies throw hundreds of pages of legalese when downloading new apps that people never read. They recommend to include displaying in store signage notifying shoppers that their location data is being collected, letting consumers opt out of analytic services and limiting how data is used without selling personal identifiable data to third party. I believe if companies make it easier for us to trust them with our data more people will use this style of marketing.
teresastas

6 Hotel Brands Leading the Way with Robot Technology - 0 views

  • Robots in Hotels: 6 Hotel Brands Leading the Way
    • teresastas
       
      In this article we learn about 6 different hotels and the way they are using Robots to take on different tasks. In these examples all the Robots are guest facing. They are primarily used to dispense information, do deliveries and act as a bell hop. All of their tasks are some what simple tasks for their human counterparts but their usefulness comes from freeing up valuable staff to do more crucial tasks. I have experienced the robot delivery first hand and it was so much fun to have my food delivered to me by robot. I honestly prefeed it since it relived me of that awkward moment when I'm in my pajamas having food delivered to me by a stranger. The examples here won't be replacing any front line workers anytime soon but they can assist in replacing tasks.
  • To put it simply, hotel robots provide a competitive edge over the competition.Robots can free up the time of human staff and help personalize a guest’s stay.
    • teresastas
       
      Besides the novelty of being served by a robot the main reason for robots in hotels would be to free up hotel staff to take on other tasks.
  • Aloft Hotels became the first hotel brand to use robot technology, introducing A.L.O — robotic butler or Botlr — in its Cupertino location. The robot can travel the entire hotel to make deliveries. Its primary purpose was to surprise guest with room delivery.
    • teresastas
       
      I was surprised to learn that the first hotel to use a robot was Aloft hotels in 2014. This simple delivery robot is the most common used robot in hotels.
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  • When you enter, a robot velociraptor greets you at the front desk. It then asks you to check-in on a touchscreen. When you get to your room, you’ll unlock the door with face recognition. A robot in the room (named Churi San) controls the heating and lighting, tells you the weather, and more.
    • teresastas
       
      I kind of feel like a robot in your room might be asking for trouble! I would be very interested to know how user friendly this "robot" is. Because I really wanted to see how this works I went onto the website for this hotel and there was video showing you how to check in...if you are interested here it is https://www.h-n-h.jp/en/guidance
  • he robot in its New York hotel — fondly called Yobot — automatically collects and elvers guests’ luggage.
    • teresastas
       
      It looks like Henn Na in Japan has the same luggage robot as Yotel in NY.
  • Cleo and Leo fulfill guests’ needs by delivering whatever they need: an extra towel, a snack, a toothbrush. All in all, they’re a stand-in for when their human counterparts are not available
    • teresastas
       
      Again this seems to be the most common use of hotel robots.
ldevaul

8 Disruptive Hotel Technology Trends to Watch in 2021 - 6 views

  • For those of us keeping an eye on technology in hotels, it can be difficult to discern what trends are here to stay and what trends are simply a marketing stunt.
  • Venture capitalists are finally starting to recognize the opportunity to invest in tools and platforms that allow hotels to capture new levels of hotel operations efficiency and revenue growth.
  • Cloudbeds offers an all-in-one suite of tools, including a property management system, channel manager, booking engine, and revenue manager, growing revenue and automating workflows at more than 20,000 properties.
    • ldevaul
       
      This is definitely something to look into. SaaS programs, nowadays, are super robust and offer so much data and opportunity for large and small businesses.
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  • Despite being one of the largest and most dynamic segments of the US and global economy, penetration of cloud-based technologies in the segment remains incredibly low, and the vendor landscape remains tremendously fragmented on a global basis,” says Matt Melymuka, co-founder and partner at PeakSpan Capital.
    • ldevaul
       
      This is very interesting...one of the largest industries and they are the slowest to invest in cloud-based technologies. A lot of companies clearly prefer to print everything and leave an actual paper trail!
  • Life House, a tech-first hotel experience, shows proof-of-concept: that hotels that invest in technology drive higher revenue, better guest reviews, and a higher star-rating.
  • Hotels use Zingle’s messaging tools to deliver five-star service at scale; Medallia’s investment in Zingle gives hotels the opportunity to provide frictionless guest service and streamline time-consuming interactions, such as check-in.
    • ldevaul
       
      I'm sure companies who invested in this program during the height of pandemic were very thankful!
  • Hotels are catching on, adding convenience through streaming, voice activation, guest-room tablets, and food ordering tech.
    • ldevaul
       
      The guest room tablets that can order room service and manage the operating system in the room is a game changer. Hotel Mousai in PV Mexico has this installed in all of their suites and it was super impressive!
  • White labeling is a practice in which a product – in this case, hotel software – is manufactured by a third party and uses branding by the purchaser, or marketer, so that the end product appears to have been produced by the purchaser.
  • An API, application programming interface, is simply a messenger of data between applications. APIs allow your various hotel technology tools and programs to work together, connecting your RMS to a PMS, or your PMS to your upsell software, or your business intelligence software to your PMS. An API makes your technology user-friendly and efficient; when your tools work together, you capture each platform’s full capabilities.
    • ldevaul
       
      This is super useful! When all of your software can speak to each other it improves productivity so much!
  • For instance, feeding data from your PMS into a business intelligence tool leads to real, operational data to analyze trends and provide recommendations for better marketing campaigns, smarter staffing decisions, seasonal trends, and market competition. Hotels that are comfortable using APIs can automate tasks that take up much of their employee’s time with manual data entry.
  • On-demand convenience dominates our lives, and guests expect this level of ease from their hotel experience as well.
  • Oaky, one of the industry’s leading upselling tools, raised a Series A funding round of $9.5 million led by PeakScan Capital. Oaky’s appeal to investors stems from the app’s data-driven approach to driving incremental revenue. Their deep understanding of customer behavior makes Oaky one of the top-rated upselling tools on the market today.
    • ldevaul
       
      This would be great for hotels who are struggling to increase their revenue.
  • Hilton is taking a different approach, partnering with Netflix to allow guests to control their streaming straight from the Hilton Honors mobile app.
    • ldevaul
       
      This is genius! Definitely will be trying this at my next Hilton stay.
  • As far as voice-activation, Volara is leading the way in providing a thoughtful, Alexa-esque guest-room solution. Volara integrates with the most popular work order management systems so that guests can make requests and get confirmation when the item or service they need will be delivered.
  • And for savvy marketing managers, tablets provide a new channel through which to send targeted, automated messages generating $5,000 per month in additional revenue.
    • ldevaul
       
      This is great for hotel marketers! Proving their value and having the company invest in tech that shows an huge ROI. Love this!
  • 2nd Kitchen is a godsend for hotels without a kitchen on-site: guests can order room service from restaurants near your hotel, taking care of care of orders, menus, payment, fulfillment, and customer support for your property.
  • Hotels are a prime target for hackers. “Only about 25% of all U.S. businesses, including hotel operators, are fully compliant with current data security best practices. That means that three out of four are not and are potential disasters waiting to happen,” reported one cybersecurity expert.
    • ldevaul
       
      This is definitely worth exploring more!
  • Numerous high-profile malware attacks on the hotel industry have led to hundreds of millions of guests’ data being compromised and millions of dollars in damage. Just this February, MGM Resorts revealed they were the target of a massive data breach that compromised personal information for more than 10.6 million guests. Files leaked in the MGM attack included information on celebrities, chief executives of technology companies, reporters and government officials, according to Skift.
  • Expedia and Booking have taken some pretty big hits in recent months.
  • Why the dive in stock price? There are two factors outside Coronavirus that are impacting OTAs. First, hotels are getting better at capturing direct bookings. Hotel tech like direct booking platforms, metasearch ad managers, and messaging integrations help properties draw more visitors to their site and convert more direct bookings, circumventing the high OTA commissions in the process.
  • Secondly, Google has entered the travel market in a big way. Google has expanded from traditional AdWords to include hotels everywhere via its Hotel Ads product.
  • 5G may be getting all the buzz, but for property owners, WiFi 6 is much more relevant. WiFi 6 is the term used to describe the next iteration of Wifi, a faster, more efficient connection enabled through new technologies. WiFi 6 is about 30% faster than our current WiFi.
  • With WiFi 6, your property can leverage in-room technology to provide better service, driving positive guest reviews and repeat business. Smart thermostats, smart speakers, and smart locks will all perform better with the adoption of WiFi 6 over the next five years.
  • Investors in Oaky already recognize this next insight: data has become the world’s most valuable resource. The sooner you start to mine guest data for better customer insights, the better positioned your property will be against your competition.
  • Data can fuel smarter marketing campaigns, inform your pricing, and help you capture a higher market share than your competitors by knowing your guests on a deeper level.
  • Earlier this year, Revinate launched the hotel industry's first Guest Data Platform to aggregate, clean and deliver rich guest profiles for hotels and property groups of all sizes. The platform combines data from multiple sources to provide a complete picture of a hotel’s guests, delivering the information needed to increase guest satisfaction scores, direct bookings, and ultimately, profit.
  • Brands in the alternative lodging sector include Stay Alfred, Sonder, The Guild Hotels and to some extent groups such as Selina and OYO. 
  • The biggest distraction or barrier these next-gen hotels face is that they’re taking the wrong approach to tech. The companies that win will be the ones who stop acting like tech companies – using buzzwords like AI and virtual concierge – and focus on being more innovative and agile real estate businesses than traditional market players today. Those that succeed will be tech-enabled businesses; not tech businesses.
  • Smart hotel rooms use technology to allow guests to personalize their stay experiences.
  • Technology is becoming more important to hotel operations because it can deliver increasingly high value for hoteliers and guests.
  • The most important software in the hotel industry is the property management system, which acts as “mission control” for hotel operations. Hoteliers use a PMS to manage reservations, check guests in and out, and handle billing.
  • While exciting technologies present new options for hoteliers to enhance their offerings, these new innovations also mean hoteliers must focus on data security and continued training when implementing the technology that guests expect.
  •  
    This article takes a deep dive into the emerging tech trends in 2021. They briefly touched on how SaaS is slowly taking over the traditional PMS and how venture capitalist can't get enough of these programs. Another honorable mention in this article is the explosion of guest room tech such as streaming services, voice activation, and guest room tablets. OTAs that have traditionally been top dogs when it came to hotel bookings are slowly declining and big data is becoming super insightful to hoteliers. This article touches on so many avenues of tech and it's definitely a must read!
rrodr658

Mobile Technology Transformation is Innovating Mobile Access Solutions | By Markus Boberg - 0 views

  • hesitation came from a belief that mobile services would prevent guests from having truly personalized experiences as well as reducing opportunities for valuable interactions between guests and staff
    • rrodr658
       
      reason why some hotels were not very open to introducing digital services
  • challenged with re-imagining the guest experience and implementing in procedures turned to mobile technology solutions, which reduced touchpoints and gave guests the ability to access property services while maintaining social distancing measures
    • rrodr658
       
      the pandemic is what gave the push for hoteliers to begin using technology and create creative experiences.
  • hoteliers have found that mobile technology has enabled guests to have more control over their hotel experience.
  • ...13 more annotations...
  • as much as 67 percent of guests in fact now hold a preference for digital key check-in and room access over more traditional methods such as plastic keycards.
    • rrodr658
       
      statistical fact of how many people prefer to use their digital key over the traditional check in at the FD.
  • collecting and storing guest data and preferences, which can then be used by integrated loyalty services to better target guests with rewards and promotions.
  • incentivize downloads and encourage loyalty by allowing hoteliers to better target users with promotions and special offers.
  • ntegrating mobile access solutions with food ordering and contactless payment service vendors has helped hoteliers create convenient, engaging mobile app solutions that also boost their property's bottom-line
  • control in-room amenities.
  • This can include guests being able to use personal devices to effortlessly manage guestroom thermostats, lights, drapes, televisions and more.
  • Digital key service providers have evolved to easily integrate with other hotel services and provide guests with greater convenience and personalization throughout their stay.
  • This is rapidly proving to be a successful method to swift services and meet new demands, as many consumers are increasingly using digital wallet services in their everyday lives: in 2019, nearly 1.5 billion travelers downloaded mobile boarding passes that were stored in their digital wallets, and mobile wallet payments increased by 29 percent in 2020.
    • rrodr658
       
      statistical facts about how many people switched to mobile services for traveling and paymemts
  • preventing guests from being locked out of guestrooms due to low battery status on their device, mobile wallet-based digital keys also serve to further provide a more seamless and hassle-free travel experience from start to finish.
  • offers guests increased security and reduces the risk of a lost or stolen room key
  • it meets short-term challenges because it reduces risk
  • it has incredible potential and long-term benefits for the future
  • mobile access solutions will continue to adapt and provide properties with digital convenience, reduced costs, sustainability and efficiency over the next decade and beyond.
  •  
    This article was very informative about the effect of mobile tech within the hospitality indsutry. It definitely broke down how hoteliers were not very open to using this wireless technology but how the pandemic gave that push to hoteliers and now they are noticing how much travelers enjoy it. Hence, they are innovating the mobile access and enhancing their guests experiences with mobile access solutions such as food ordering, contactless payments, encouraging loyalty with mobile app download and to gain promotions, control in-room amenities, and more. This article also touched upon the increased security and reduction of lost or stolen room key, as it eliminated the need of a phsyical key. Essentially, mobile technology benefits the industry in the long-term.
apere870

Proximity-Based Marketing: Why Marketers Need to Use It | TUNE - 0 views

    • apere870
       
      This article talks about the benefits of proximity-based marketing when combined with mobile apps. It explains how proximity technology works and the different types.
  • Proximity-based marketing is having a (mobile) moment. Big brands that are eager to trace advertising and their mobile app investments back to in-store sales are looking at ways to emulate Starbuck’s admirable success with their Rewards program.
  • Understanding and segmenting your customers based on where they spend their time. Engaging customers based on location & time context. Bridged attribution to prove your marketing dollars in the physical side are positively affecting the digital side, and vice versa.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Marketers can detect if a customer with their app is near their store or facility. Those customers can then be sent offers tailored to their specific location and context.
  • Essentially a collection of different sensor technologies, proximity enables awareness of both place and time for mobile apps:
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