Technology is advancing everywhere, and has become an integral part of our lives. More so it has been important for the hospitality industry and travelers traveling from places to places to be kept at ease with the new technologies. With rising expectations, surprise and delight has been replaced by expected and assumed. Reservations must be easily made via any smart device, guestrooms must facilitate any type of content, networks need to be rock-solid, and data is now your most valuable asset. Lets see whats are the new technology that you should be aware about:
Mobile ubiquity.
Mobile handsets are becoming more efficient and handy as everything can be done on a single handy device. Today more and more hotels are offering guests room access via their smartphone app. Guests can check in and check out remotely through their smartphone, don't have to wait in long queues; significantly saving time. This technology can be used to curate personalized services for the guests. Just with the touch on you keypad, it can control the music and lighting, shower walls with an instant frosting option, flat-screen televisions embedded in bathroom mirrors and iPads that provide concierge service from the comfort of the room. All the necessary information on a single device saves the hassle from calling the reception and for room services for everything. Guests can order for room services, for food or for any queries that can be solved on a single device.
High speed network.
Hotel guests no longer seek wifi as perks but as must have. A hotel equipped with a high bandwidth network system is more likely to make the entire guest experience a digital and smart stay. guests expect to be able to connect to the internet seamlessly and without too many interruptions. Fiber, or passive optical LAN, is quickly becoming the standard for new builds and retrofits. With the high speed network, guests can seamlessly access the internet and if the entire hotel is connected via a single network system, it gets easier for the flow in data for the guests as well as for the hoteliers.
Near-field communication (NFC) technology
This new technology for wireless data transfer senses technology nearby your device allowing you to communicate without needing an internet connection. NFC improves how consumers pay, transfer files or connect to other devices. For instance, with this technology, guests can use their smartphone as a smart room key or to pay for various services.
Wireless charging.
Already carrying a lot of devices and their charge plugins, increases the weight. But with wireless charging it's easier to charge all the devices without carrying lots of wires. The next generation is longer-range wireless charging uses resonant electromagnetic fields to charge multiple phones with special cases up to 17 feet away.
Robots
Robots will be the next new thing that will take care of the requirements of the guests. Robots would help to get what guests want. From room servicing, to cleaning, to making food and even parking vehicles for the guests. With the outbreak of coronavirus, robots have been installed at many places to provide sanitizer to people and also to clean the floors and rooms. They will also be programmed to be used for speech recognition and AI to respond to queries from customers and intelligently learn from interactions.
Chatbots & Artificial Intelligence.
In the modern age, customers expect to be able to interact with hospitality companies across a variety of digital channels and receive rapid responses. Of course, actually having staff monitoring all of those channels and delivering swift responses can be difficult, if not impossible, which is where chatbots and AI come in.
Chatbots are able to understand simple questions and provide answers almost instantaneously, taking the burden away from customer service staff and improving the experience for customers. Meanwhile, AI’s uses extend into other important areas for hotels too, including data analysis.
Augmented Reality
Unlike VR, which places users in a digital environment, augmented reality is about enhancing the real-world environment through information overlays. Again, this offers limitless potential. Imagine if your hotel provided AR-compatible wall maps, where customers can point their phone at the map and find out information about specific locations. Alternatively, how about an app, which allows users to see customer reviews of local restaurants by looking at the building through their phone? Completely saves the hassle and can actually amplify the entire travel experience.
These technological advances have given the power to guests. These technology-driven services allow guests to plan and book trips, and they allow hotel administrations and staff to provide streamlined services and improve security, cost and time efficiency and overall customer experience.