There is increasing evidence to suggest that IPTV technology is the way forward for hotel operators. In simple terms this is a system that can help to unite all a hotel’s technology. It can combine with a hotels computer network system and marry back of house operations and all in-room applications to create a single user-friendly application that gives guests exceptional technology access and hotel management and staff a streamlined management system. And according to advocates of IPTV it’s future safe: designed to allow new generations of technology to be integrated.
Leo Brand, CEO of Swisscom Hospitality Services looks at how converging technologies are shaping the hospitality sector…
Today’s status of un-integrated applications in any given hotel creates a major headache for owners and operators, not only in terms of cost and efficiency but also when it comes to keeping pace with the ever faster evolution of technology and guest expectations. Guest-facing applications such TV, telephony and Internet access often exist in mutually separate environments.
The same applies to back office-facing applications like asset management, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), security alarms, CCTV and many others. For all these applications to communicate with one another, multiple interfaces need to be built and maintained, which creates unnecessary cost, limits the hotel’s service improvement ability and ultimately inhibits innovation.
The IP standardization of all applications and their integration into a unified network – IP convergence, that is – represent a unique opportunity for hoteliers to bring order into their applications environment. It’s an opportunity for hotels to streamline their operations, servicing their guests and their bottom line at the same time.
IP convergence – a simple definition
With IP convergence (also known as digital convergence) we refer to the bundling of different forms of communication on an all-IP network infrastructure. In a hotel, as in any business, IP convergence enables a holistic, user-oriented service design and lower network cost. A well-known example for IP convergence is the so-called “Triple Play“ – where users (guests) can make phone calls, surf the Internet, watch TV and order videos through one and the same data network.
Beyond these very important guest services, however, there are many more applications in hotels that can converge on the same IP network: heating and air conditioning, room blinds, door locks, room safes, elevators, CCTV, security alarms, fire detection, to name but a few. By merging them on one standardized form of communication, the Internet Protocol (IP), a hotel can massively reduce its operating cost in addition to simplifying and enhancing the guest experience.
The point becomes clearest by looking at the limitations of today’s existing hotel applications. Employing proprietary rather than open communication standards, they do not easily talk to one another; interfaces have to be built among the different services, and every new application or service update engenders multiple new interfaces… This creates considerable operating cost – too often taken for granted – but it also inhibits service innovation.
This is why at Swisscom, we design cutting-edge guest services to share a converged network infrastructure with third-party services based on the same open IP standard. For instance, Swisscom IPTV can be packaged with Internet access and run concurrently with any other IP-based hotel application such as room controls, door locks, heating and lighting controls.
Is IP convergence something hotels are taking advantage of in great numbers?
There is a compelling business case for taking advantage of IP convergent technologies which is most evident in a new build situation. I have already touched on some of the key aspects, but let me summarize them as follows:
• Operational efficiency (cost savings because of multiple services on one physical network; reduced workload for network monitoring and maintenance; consolidated service management through one network manager)
• Service innovation (one aspect is the full interoperability of all applications because they are fully interconnected and “speak” to one another; another aspect is the easy integration of new technologies such as RFID and applications, mini-bar, door-locks, mobile applications which are all IP-based)
• Flexibility (IP is an open standard, allowing hoteliers to replace proprietary software, resulting in less dependency on individual application / vendors)
• Future-proofness (the network serves as a basis for multiple applications to follow the common technology standard, allowing the hotel to move forward from an initial “dual play” or “triple-play” to a full “multi-play” of convergent guest services, thus increasing synergies and network efficiencies)
Making use of IP technology provides hotel operators with streamlined processes, lower cost structures and the possibility to continuously innovate their guest services, which is really what counts in the hospitality business to steal a march on your competitors. More and more technology vendors are now introducing new applications that match the move towards IP-enabled hotel infrastructures. With this in mind, we see a need not only to provide IP convergent services based on open standards ourselves, but also to assist the hotel in the design and management of its converged network. Hotels typically do not have the tools and the experience to build and manage a converged hotel network.
One Swisscom partner hotel brand that has technology at the very heart of its offering is CitizenM. This award winning hotel brand which opens in Glasgow in summer, has embraced an all IP environment which includes IPTV, wired and wireless HSIA and Voice over IP. From the in room mood lighting and music to live-TV and the free movies-on-demand, alarm clock, heating and air-conditioning, everything in the room runs off the IP network and is programmable with just one device that will impress even the most sceptical gadget junkie, a touch screen Mood Pad.
Michael Levie from Citizen-M explains; “Citizen-M is an ambitious hotel concept that has become reality. It’s built around the needs of today’s mobile citizens, whether that is a globetrotter, a business traveller, a family vacationing or a bachelor looking for the best party in town. As you can guess, technology plays a vital role in the lives of all these mobile citizens. But technology can be burdensome for a light hotel like ours that essentially operates without a back office. Thanks to Swisscom I am making a quantum leap ahead in terms of efficiency. Swisscom is helping me to bring order into a messy applications environment. This translates into smoother operations and a much more service-oriented environment for our mobile citizens.”
With a retrofit, the business case is just as powerful in theory but in practice there are several inhibitors:
• cost of upgrading the cabling infrastructure in buildings, plus the need to keep historic building infrastructures intact (think of 5-star palace hotels)
• the potential disturbance to guests, and the necessity to close down parts of the hotel for refurbishment – translating into revenue losses – is not an easy choice in an all-year-round operation
• the high number of individual applications / vendors which has grown over the years without much IT planning, resulting in a fragmented IT landscape; these vendors have normally protected their interests by long-term contracts (typically 5 to 7 year) which are very costly for hoteliers to exit.
• proprietary technology standards and the unwillingness of many vendors to adopt open technology standards as these could erode their market position
The newly opened 5-star Cedar Court Grand Hotel & Spa in York is an example for how these inhibitors can be overcome. During a general refurbishment of this historic property, the management team introduced CAT-5 cabling in all hotel areas, guided by the forward-looking objective of enabling a lean and personalised service delivery.
The new Ethernet cabling now provides all hotel areas with comfortable levels of bandwidth and permits a holistic approach to managing the hotel network and applications environment. The hotel management then selected Swisscom to deliver IPTV and High-Speed Internet access over this infrastructure, and to build an additional wireless overlay for seamless WiFi connectivity for laptop and Smartphone users.
Other IP-based applications are presently evaluated to be placed on the same network. “Swisscom IPTV represents the best solution for our guests and the best value for the hotel management, allowing us to bundle TV and VoD service with other guest amenities on one single data network”, says Andrew Coney, general manager of Cedar Court Grand Hotel & Spa.
Hospitality and Catering News are grateful to Leo Brand of Swisscom Hospitality for this contribution.
Swisscom Hospitality Services is a leader in converged technology solutions for the global hospitality industry.
For more information on technology click here
Since June 2015, Swisscom Hospitality has joined Hoist Group – the leading hospitality provider in the EMEA region
To discover more click here