How many of you chose Betamax over VHS? Sorry to hear it. I'm sure it felt like a good idea at the time, but ultimately the better technology did not prevail and VHS won the day, and our shelf space. Being an early adopter has its risks in the consumer environment and the same can be said in the hospitality guest room.

I was invited to speak at a hotel conference on the impact of 3D TV in the guest environment. Clearly this is exciting stuff and everybody wants to hear more about it, but how many of you actually don those 3D glasses at home? If you do, where do you find the content to watch?

Despite the hype, 3D content remains limited and traditional broadcasters are battling the lack of penetration as well as the total lack of broadcast standards. We are even seeing some of the major PayTV providers such as Canal Plus in France abandon its 3D trials until a day when the barriers to roll out are removed, and more importantly, when content is available. This is a pragmatic approach when one considers that HD is still not mainstream in Europe. So while we play with 3D and it is fun to think about, we suggest that as hoteliers you concentrate first on the basics which are still the migration to digital and HD. You don't want to be stuck with a shelf full of Beta in a VHS future.

I do quite a bit of travelling in my role at Acentic and in turn I get to explore many varied cultures. It is naive to think that all cultures work the same, and an important part of doing business in today’s global market is learning to adapt to the strengths of different cultures and find common ground where it exists. I’ve spoken to hoteliers across the world, and in my experience there is one point of emphasis that remains consistent. Whether meeting with heads of I.T., marketing, finance, maintenance, front of house or general managers, everyone in the hotel industry cares about the guest experience first and foremost. And this is true whether you are in the UK, Norway, France or Hong Kong -- speaking in English, Norwegian, French, Italian, German or Chinese. All differences in culture and methodology add up to one thing: improving guest experience.

Since our industry has its roots so firmly based in technology, it can sometimes be easy to forget about the human focus. As technology advances in the home environment and Moore’s Law (the law which states that computer processors double in power every two years) continues to prove itself out, our industry often looks to solve every issue by throwing the latest, greatest tech at the guest. While this is often helpful, it is very much only part of any good solution.

In basic terms, people stay in hotels for business or leisure. Regardless, the target for any hotelier is for the guest to leave happier than when they arrived. And this is often an uphill battle. Among all the magazine and TV ads, special offers and discount deals, it seems that hotels sometimes forget that the path to the dream hotel room sold in the brochure or website is a complicated one, full of potential annoyances over which nobody has any control. Before they even get to the front door of the hotel, guests often have to endure traffic jams, parking bays too small their car doors to open, overloaded public transport systems, luggage racks too small for their cases, delayed flights, cancellations, layovers the require an Olympic medal in spiriting and so on.

After all of this, the guest just wants things to work, without complication. If new technology can help this, great. If it makes things more complicated and the guest has to jump through hoops to get basic services, failure. On check-in, the guest is simply not interested in HDMI ports, Network Balancing, Guest User Interface etc., they simply want to get to their room, grab a shower, unpack and feel loved again.

Making the guest feel loved again is a core philosophy behind all Acentic products. No matter how tough the journey to the hotel, things will be better once you get through the doors. Whether the guest wants to use the latest on-screen app (such as the restaurant reservation app), buy the latest must-see movie, or catch up on some TV, the experience will be hassle free.

And ultimately, that is the world any hotelier is striving for, a world where hassle and annoyance ends at the front door. The challenges are different for every guest and every culture, but the goal is universal. As a guest, no matter what the trip entailed, no matter where in the world you are or where you came from, you should be able to expect to be taken care of once you arrive at your hotel. It is our job to ensure that all around the world, guests leave hotels in a better state of mind than when they arrived. Now isn’t that a great industry to be in?

In case you missed the first of our fall webinar series, "What's possible in the Hotel Room of the Future," you can check out the recording here:

https://acentic.webex.com/acentic/ldr.php?AT=pb&SP=MC&rID=42625212&rKey=0F4CFAD05B96F861

In the webinar, we talked about the future of The Cloud and how it is influencing the way the hospitality industry operates. We outlined some of the challenges of The Cloud, and how Acentic is overcoming those challenges to bring better service and savings to hotels across the world. We also answered many questions on topics like network links and security around P2P distribution. So, if you want to be up to date on The Cloud, you should check out our webinar now https://acentic.webex.com/acentic/ldr.php?AT=pb&SP=MC&rID=42625212&rKey=0F4CFAD05B96F861 and keep an eye open for the next in our series, scheduled for Q1-2012.

Our fall webinar series, "What's possible in the Hotel Room of the Future" starts today at 4:00 pm, Europe Time! Join us as we talk about content in the cloud and what it means to the hospitality industry. As you can see from our preview slide here, we are going to cover a lot, so you don't want to miss it.

Sign in to participate in our webinar! www.acentic.com/cloud-webinar

Recently, one of our customers decided against placing an interactive TV system in their four star hotel. The reason? They thought that including a flashy LED TV with a traditional channel package would be enough. It has been in the past, right? Well, in-room entertainment is changing and for a four star hotel, that LED TV is no longer enough to separate them from the budget brand competition.

Many budget brand hotels are now providing guests flashy LED TVs of their own, and on top of that are offering free Internet, something many four-stars do not provide. The result is that the in-room guest experience, with the exception of the bed and room size, is remarkably similar between the budget brand and our four star customer (well nearly, since internet in the four star hotel still costs 20 euros).

So, what can higher-end hotels do to differentiate themselves from the competition? They should embrace iTV, and soon. These days, most customers have HD iTVs with movies on demand in their homes and are expecting the same entertainment experience when they travel. We know this because we have seen an increase in guest comment cards requesting the implementation of an in-room entertainment system to complement the flashy new LED screens.

By moving away from iTV, higher-end hotels risk a failure to differentiate themselves from budget brands and a failure to keep up with the entertainment standards of their customers.  That is not a good mix.

Our fall webinar series is going to focus on the exciting future of the hotel industry and how technology is shaping the hotel of the future.

For our first webinar in this series, taking place in October, 2011, we will talk about Content in The Cloud. Join us for an insider’s view of what it takes to deliver content from the cloud for more reliable HD movie distribution in hotel rooms.

We will show you how content transmission via Acentic Cloud Services provides key benefits for hoteliers such as:

● Simplified distribution of thousands of HD movies and content compared to transmission via satellite
● Faster transmission with no negative effects on HD picture quality
● No geographical transmission boundaries as with satellite—Acentic can easily transmit movies to additional continents, including the United States and Asia
● Cost-effective decentralised movie distribution and virtual storage space that enables hotels to share content with each other, significantly reducing transmission costs

Exact date and time will be communicated shortly. Be sure not to miss it!

Next up, join us  for our perspectives on  further hot subjects for the hospitality industry such as high speed internet access in the hotel room, Smart TV and hospitality focussed Mobile Apps. More to come soon!

TV technology is on the fast track these days. It seems like not a month passes when a TV manufacturer doesn’t announce a new smart TV. With all this buzz about smart TVs, it was just a matter of time before hotels picked up the topic, discussed and predicted the end of system integrators and Pay TV. Smart TVs are arriving in earnest.

However, what most decision makers do not realize is that smart TVs are only as smart as the applications that are developed for them. The purchase of a smart TV also requires hoteliers to think about which applications they require and more specifically, which applications are best suited for the hotel environment.

As system integrators, we are working closely with the TV manufacturers  to develop application suites that fully leverage the capabilities of the TV and meet the needs of the hotel guests whilst at the same time providing hoteliers with a return on investment. In other words, it’s the applications that make the TV smart.

For example, Acentic launched our brand new CoreUI and due to its system architecture we were able to retro-fit over 500 hotels with this brand new Guest User Interface. The new CoreUI enables the hotel to choose from a variety of what we call "On-Screen Apps" which enable the hotel to offer a lot of new services beyond simple payTV and hotel information.

We at Acentic are focused on providing services that fall into two kinds of applications, the ones bringing the hotel services to guests and the neat little helper apps that allow guests to get flight information, find out about the weather at their next stop, or simply order a sandwich. Both types of applications are needed for a truly smart TV environment and need to be integrated within a wider interactive strategy that also entertains guests and provides the property with a return on investment today but also tomorrow.

Today’s technology is rapidly evolving and the software applications that make devices smart are evolving even faster. In such an environment a system integrator  that can deliver the latest smart technology but also ensure that your platform is upgraded through the years is key for both the property, the property's finance director and impotantly the guests.

Online transactions have gone up over the last decade; of that, there is no doubt. Consumer behaviour has changed dramatically, a change seen in online shopping and with online reservations. With the help of today’s savvy technology—iPhones, smartphones, tablets and laptops—online shopping has gone from a trend to a ubiquitous part of the consumer landscape. We are so used to online purchases that a 2010 Social Shopping US Study (seen here) found that 80% of the survey participants strongly preferred to do their own research and shopping online rather than speak to a knowledgeable sales associate in-store.
 
So why shouldn’t such purchase methods be an option in hotels? Wouldn’t it save guests time, money and unnecessary stress? After all, in the current hospitality market, smart hotel in-room technology is just as important as a comfortable bed—travellers are no different than the average consumer. And, in-room TVs and interfaces have developed so much that they are able to adapt to numerous features, so the technology is certainly there.

Acentic’s latest reservation and ordering on-screen app embraces the technology of today. With the new intuitive Guest User Interface, hotel guests will be able to operate multiple reservations and orders for several hotel facilities and external facilities. From the hotel TV, they will be able to order room service, laundry service, restaurant bookings and more. They will then receive direct confirmation messages or further information regarding their orders and reservations, completing the communication. Let’s start communicating with guests, while offering them the familiar ease of online-shopping via the hotel in-room TV.

Ready to order? Press OK!

Everybody’s been hyping sustainability over the last decade, at least in the world outside of our industry. Our industry has been quietly talking about it only since a a couple of years. Are we not seeing the benefits of claiming a green image, or don’t we see the (financial) benefits clear enough?

Did you know that research shows that 10% of all travelers would stay at a hotel with a clear sustainability policy, over one that doesn’t?

Surely hotels have been applying the towel-policy but can we call that sustainability?  It’s certainly a good start but we’re still relying on guests, who are ignorant about it and think that when they’ve paid for an – in their eyes – expensive room, they want to make use of everything in the room. Including all of these towels. So perhaps that’s a bad example and it’s not a driver of a hotel’s the green image. But what is driving this and how can we support you?

Just as an example, I recently booked a conference in a renowned hotel chain. In their offer, it was clearly stated that the hotel did everything to reduce carbon emissions during our stay. A good step forward from the towels-policy, but unfortunately not really concrete. Is this already an image builder (good or bad, up to you)?
A well known and successful hotel image builder is the Marriott Green Initiative. This programme is  concrete in terms of energy and CO2 saving and the guest is becoming aware of this throughout their complete experience at the hotel (before, during and after their stay). So it’s rather on a hotel’s core business strategy to differentiate from another while saving money in its operations and communicating this openly to its guests.

Exactly, saving money! And isn’t that what we’re all after? A green image is (only) interesting when it attracts more visitors, and more visitors on the long run can only be achieved when sustainability is considered into a brand’s core strategy (otherwise it may soon come across as fake). When it’s part of the core strategy it will also save costs. So at the end, doesn’t sustainability, when applied correctly, both save money and  bring in more recurring clientele? Then why don’t we see more of these best practices, and why don’t we have one hotel brand in mind which lives and breathes sustainability?

Is there something we can do as technology suppliers? Are we clear enough in our communications, and if we aren’t, what should we improve? Let me give you an example with our PrimeSuite TVs and Acentic’s Panorama as this would be close to your interests. We’re known as not the cheapest solution in the market, and we don’t aspire to be. However, over the lifetime of the product, we offer a better financial result for your operations as we help you save money and build your sustainability strategy resulting in repeat business. Acentic’s system - with PrimeSuite TVs - runs on only a small STB rather than a DVB-tuner or a mini computer, saving you 91% in energy costs. With the PrimeSuite TVs you will save another €20 per year per TV versus the average currently installed sets or competition. The combination of Philips and Acentic results in reduced lifetime cost or TCO, rather than plainly focusing on the initial cost!

Think cost saving, think repeat business, think sustainability. Let us know what we can do to help you!
I invite you to discuss this with us on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter (key words: PhilipsHotelTV).

If you haven’t read this book by Sir Compton Mackenzie you should do so immediately. It’s an intriguing insight into the hardships of the Second World War and more particularly a Scottish island that is deprived of whisky since most of it was shipped off to the USA in exchange for assistance. When a ship carrying thousands of bottles is shipwrecked off the shores of this remote island you can only imagine the chaos that breaks loose. Makes for excellent reading and I am sure the movie will be fabulous as well! Most of you are by now wondering why Acentic is providing book reviews rather than movie reviews, but this great book sprang to mind as we implemented a tailored Grant’s Whisky User Interface in one of our hotels the other day. With the annual Grant’s whisky workshop being held in the property the wish was to provide a unique guest experience to its attendees. Acentic therefore devised a unique Grant’s Whisky User Interface for implementation during the workshop -every attendee experienced an elegant Grant’s whisky branded interface. Just an example of how flexible the Acentic Panorama HD platform is and how smart hoteliers make use of it to enhance their conference offering. I must also add a special thank you on behalf of one of our graphic designers and myself to the Columbus hotel in Monaco and Grant’s whisky for having put aside two bottles to assist our inspiration for future blogs and Graphical User Interfaces. As they would say in Scotland: Slainte. Here's tae ye.

The Movie: Directed by Alexander Mackendrick, released in 1949