5900 room hotel uses RFID technology

I was reading an article in hospitality upgrade about a hotel called Aria in Las Vegas, this hotel has gone to RFID locks in their 5900 room hotel. The new technology allows guest to flash their RFID tag in order to open the door to their hotel room. Aria has also been able to integrate their RFID system with another company that handles the technology for their lights, TV, and curtains. When a guest walks into the room the
lights automaticly come on and if it is the guest first time entering the room, a theme song for the hotel will play. The hotel has controls on the tv which is activated by the door unlocking that let you control the rooms technology. This new technology is also a big convienence to the front desk as well as the customer, Guest can now have their room changed automatically without having to go back down to the front desk. The hotel also has a better idea of the guest wants through the technology in the room. The amazing thing about all of this is that we see two technology companies coming together to integrate thier systems. We now can have hope for other companies to start collaborating to unify the hospitality expeirience. http://www.hospitalityupgrade.com/_news/showNewsDetail-docID-4100.asp

Reflection
I found this article exciting because of the implications of technologies working together to upgrade the hospitality expierience. The fact that the doors open automatically is cool, but the real prize is the hope that the integration between the two companies responsible for the collaboration will continue. In the future you may be greeted by name instead of a theme song, and if you stayed at other sister hotels your personal preferences may be met upon entering the room. Imagine going to a hotel and already having extra towels in the room, or a bottle of champagne for you and your spouse. Or the capacity for the hotel to have reward points or payment systems through the RFID tag. The possibilities are endless to what kind of information this technology could provide the hotel to beeter meet your needs.

Central reservations saves money

I recently read an article from Enzine Articles, written by Nick Nikolis about how automated central reservations have saved many hotels money and time. The article talks about how consumers now use the Internet to book their rooms at almost all hotels and the need for a person to answer the phone and take the reservation has become a thing of the past. These automated systems can organize and help the hotel maximize their occupancy with very little labor involved. Hotels no longer have to take the reservations and hope the customer shows up, now the reservation is made online and paid for in advance, which allows the hotel to manage the reservations. Another positive is the hotel will know how to staff for different periods in the year depending on what reservations have been made. The hotel will be able to run deals during lean times to try to fill the hotel, or raise their prices when their is heavy demand. This automated central reservation system is also more convenient for the guest as they can answer any questions they might have through the centralized system. guest no longer have to wait on hold as the desk clerk checks the system for availability. The automated system is the way hotels are now doing business and it is saving hotels money .http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nick_Nikolis



Reflection:
I found this article to be very interesting, we all know that most hotels use online and automated systems, but the fact that it makes the hotel more organized and more profitable, just goes to show you that technology is quickly becoming the way businesses find ways to save money in the increasingly competitive business world. Automated reservation systems allow the guess work to be taken out of the equation and it gives valuable information to hotel managers on how they prepare for volume or dry times. The convenience this automation offers the guest assures that more people are likely to use the web to book their hotel reservations. The new system allows for forecasting and preparing to have enough staff on during heavy volume. Another way I think this technology could be used is to tie it into all the other components of the hotel to make a seamless operation, where guest could book their room and note their preferences. The staff members could then be ready to meet those guests needs.

Reflection Hospitality training through technology

I found the article to be very interesting, the fact that computer training can be more effective than personal training is something I never realized. If computers can do the training restaurants and hotels may really be able to save some money on the training. It may even be possible to have employees train at home on their own computers. One of the downfalls I see in this type of training is the lack of ability to ask important questions that may be important to the position that the employee is training for. There may need to be some integration between the old system of having someone train you and the new computer based system. It really could change our industry and help to cultivate knowledgeable staff. I think we all remember training under someone who did not give you all the information you needed to do your job, with a computer system many of those issues could be cleared up. Employees could have a sound knowledge of how they should perform their job before they get started.

Hospitality training through technology

The new way to train personnel in the hospitality industry seems to be by using technology. In an Article by Brian Jenkins from the Article base on January 24th 2009, Brian talks about the use of technology in the hospitality industry. The most interesting thing about the article is that he talks about employee training through technology and how using technology can be even better than having someone train your employee. He says that many companies rely on videos and computers to train employees and that new hires can now receive the same training that all the current employees had. This helps to eliminate the errors in translation and lets the new hire learn at there own pace. Learning policies and procedures through long drawn out manuals is outdated and ineffective. The new generation relies on technology for everything, so why not implement the technology in their orientation. They are also using computers to test the new employees knowledge of the training they received. Employers can use the technology to test for advancement or to take test for required certifications, such as a safe food handlers card. Online training is going to become to standard for tomorrow and help do away with old antiquated systems that do not work effectively.