Hertz Corp. has just launched numerous travel apps for 11 major US cities. These apps let customers plan a trip by browsing content which is cutomized to that city and having it wirelessly sent to the GPS system in their rental car. The apps complement Hertz's NeverLost Gen 5 GPS route-guidance system. While in the car, this service will deliver certain information based on which city they are in and can be taken with them once they leave the car as well. Hertz is using this as an attempt to reach out to potential customers and expand their clientele. In an effort to remain unique, each app includes six categories: Explore, Top Must See, Events, Favorites, Tours, and Neighborhoods. There is also a feature that allows you to track the weather as well as see the nearest restaurants and attractions by simply pointing your iPhone at the horizon. The first app purchased is free and each subsequent app can be downloaded for only $0.99. Hertz already has an app for making reservations and confirmations so these apps are being used to build upon that and take it to the mobile level.  This is smart as people who are renting cars are more likely to be unfamiliar with their whereabouts than when driving their own vehicle. Being able to take GPS voice directions and find specific attractions while outside the car is a step in the right direction for m-commerce.

Pending approval, personal panic alarms would be carried by staff members in all New York City hotels. These panic buttons would be carried by the staff member during their shift so that they are easily and quickly accessible should something happen. Fox News in Sacramento, CA reported that house keepers voiced their desire for more saftey measures to be put in place. Assaults on house keepers may be more common than people think. House keepers tend more often to be women and they tend to work alone or with only one other person. Hotels host many events in which guests may be drinking which in turn creates the potential for violent or inappropriate actions. Not only is the safety of guests important to the hospitality industry but safety of employees is paramount as well. Having personal panic buttons would give house keepers and workers alike more peace of mind should they encounter any uncomfortable or unsafe situation.

This article looked at the views on IT investments of Hospitality Technology's Editorial Advisory Board. The Board represents a variety of hospitality industries. The article focused on areas of improvement, emerging technologies, IT priorities for 2012, "wish list" IT investments, and more. Among the areas for improvement, guest Wi-Fi and mobile apps, loss prevention technologies, and social media targeting older clientele topped the list. Older guests connecting to and understanding social media are a worry among many of the Board members as well as lack of standardized, secure payment methods. Many also mention that their current systems (POS in particular) tend to hold them back from implementing new IT technologies because they would not be compatible.  Most Board members listed having mobile devices that could be used for a variety of purposes on the guest end as well as on the business end would be top on their "wish list" for IT implementations. With almost everyone owning smartphones today, I think this would be the smartest and most effective IT implementation to invest in. Many customers and guests are looking for easy and accessible ways of navigating through the hotel and restaurant environments without extensive help from others. Since many people, especially the generation coming up, are more and more attached to their phones and tablets, mobile apps for nearly everything seems like the smart way to go.  Cloud-based servers were a close second in terms of what they wanted in invest in. Many of the Board members pinpointed technologies that have been around but are still new, especially in their respective areas, when speaking of useful emerging technologies. Mobile apps, tablet and 73456

More and more retail stores are converting to iPad tablets as their POS software. Some stores are using them only for customer internet searches and product display capabilities but many are starting to use them for bigger tasks such as checking inventory and entering product orders. This takes away the need to run back and forth between the stock room and sales floor with pen and paper. As a result, customer service is increased because sales floor presence is greater. Some benefits of order management using the tablets as their POS software are increased employee productivity, reduced out-of-stocks, and more payment flexibility. Now you can use tablets as payment devices with credit cards.  DecisionPoint Systems, a leading provider of mobile and wireless systems for retailers, is now offering an application to help retailers personalize their customers' shopping experience. Aruba Networks has recently presented a new tablet-based software that allows customers to check out from anywhere in the store. Having worked in the retail industry for many years, I think this technology for back-office purposes is very useful. One of my employers had started using tablet technology during my time there and I can attest that it does increase employee productivity. It makes doing inventories, size checks, and ordering management so much easier and faster. Employees are able to stay on the sales floor longer which is especially beneficial in the case of being short-staffed or during shift changes. However, I am a bit skeptical about using these tablets as a form of check out from anywhere in the store. Unless the store has security measures in place for this, it does not seem very theft resistant. Especially in a clothing retailer in which sensors need to be removed. The cashier would have to be carrying around a sensor remover at the time of check-out to make this system really time-saving. 

Hotel Concepts- Brilliant, a leading global provider of advanced PMS, recently announced its integration of Flip.to into RezExchange. For a small monthly subscription, Flip.to acts as marketing platform for hotels, restaurants, and airports. Customers can use it to comment, post feedback, and recommend the establishment to friends who in turn can get discounts. It also allows loyal guests and customers incentives to spread the word. RezExchange allows customers to manage their sales channels directly from the hotel management system and will receive all reservations from these channels directly into their own database. With this integration customers don't have to present printed coupons and any earned incentives are automatically credited to their hotel profiles. Hotels, restaurants, and airports that already use RezExchange and integrate Flip.to into their system will become more streamlined making it that much easier for customers and guests to build up and use their incentives.   L'Auberge Carmel hotel in California is the first property to go live with this integration and thus far, this integration has proved successful. Approximately 15 to 25 percent of guests who book rooms at participating hotels engage with Flip.to, and for every 100 engaged guests, an average of 10 to 20 additional room nights are booked within six months. 

Immaculata University in southeast Pennsylvania has replaced 20 standard water fountains with new "hydration stations." In addition to the regular spout, there is an outflow at the top. The fountains' tap water is supplied by Elkay, an Illinois-based water supply company. Each fountain has the ability to keep track of the number of refills and displays it as the number of water bottles that are NOT going into a landfill as a result. Putting a number to this green initiaive is a great way to get people involved and make them more aware of how much they can contribute by doing simple things like reusing a water bottle. It also encourages students to drink more water instead of sugary sodas and other carbonated beverages. With about half of the students using refillable bottles last year, the university's environmental club plans to hold events and give away refillable bottles to increase the use of these fountains.  I think it is great that you can see the contribution you are making with the tracker on the fountain, as I am all for doing my part to reduce waste headed to landfills. I just wonder how much waste is being produced by replacing the still-working standard fountains. 

In Amazon's last quarter, net income dropped by 57 percent from a year ago. Sales for the three months before December 31 came out to $17.4 billion, lower than Wall Street expected over the traditionally busy holidy season. It is predicted that for the next quarter outlook, there could be anywhere from a gain of $100 million to a loss of $200 million. While Amazon continues to profit in sales of its best selling Kindle devices, there were a variety of factors that contirbuted to its losses. The flooding in Thailand slowed down production for many tech companies. Third-party sellers (which give a 13% commission to Amazon as oppsoed to 100% commission when Amazon sells themselves) were used more than usual. Promotions such as the Amazon Prime program which allows the customer to pay a fixed rate and get umlimited two-day shipping hurt the retailer hard over the busy holiday season with shipping costs. Other reasons were lower demand for skimwords

Restaurants have been turning more to high tech tools to better their services. A restaurant in Chapel Hill, NC has given its wait staff iPods and iPads to take food orders instead of writing with a pen and paper. Guests can look at photos of the dishes to help them make their decision and when the order is complete, the server can send it wirelessly to the kitchen.  This is a great way to increase customer service and overall satisfaction on both ends. It reduces wrong orders and is a green incentive as it eliminates much of the restaurant's paper use. However, it is a pricey investment to make. The restaurant owner in Chapel Hill said he expects to recover the cost in the long run through reduced expenses on paper and pens.  The wait staff reported they liked this new way of taking orders because they don't have to worry about their writing being illegible or their hand cramping up from writing so fast. It is beneficial for the customers in that it is a more interactive way for them to order and get something they have a better chance of liking since they can see photos. It also eliminates problems seeing a printed menu in dark lighting. Additionally, orders are processed right away so guests don't have to worry about their food taking a long time to come out because the server either forgot to put it in or they were running around doing other things before getting to the POS station. 

Mobile Key by OpenWays allows hotel guests to bypass the front desk and go straight to their room upon arrival by simply using their cell phone as a room key. Many people do not want to wait in line at the front desk merely to get a plastic key card for their room. As long as the guest has a cell phone and the hotel is equipped with OpenWays they can get secure access to their rooms. Mobile Key by OpenWays is also very beneficial to the hotel as well. Since Mobile Key is only made of data, it cuts the hotel's costs of making room keys out of toxic plastic for guests as well as master keys for employees. The hotel is now "greener," saving money, and improving customer service. With technology growing and customers relying more and more on mobile technology while travelling, Mobile Key creates an easier and more enjoyable way to travel.