Mobile & wireless will transform hotel & dining experiences

- Edited by Gary Thayer, News Editor

New York, Dec. 28, 2004 -- (MobileVillage) -- After a long, stressful journey, a tired traveler checks into his hotel from the back seat of a taxi via telephone, picks up his key from the concierge and checks into his room - all without stopping at the registration desk. When he enters his room, the temperature is set right where he likes it, the drapes are open as he prefers and his favorite hometown radio station is playing softly on the in-room entertainment system. On the table is information about a spa package that includes a hot soak and a massage - two of his favorite indulgences.

Not a typical tale from the road? It soon could be, with the launch of Microsoft Smarter Hospitality, a technology framework that Microsoft has developed for hoteliers and foodservice organizations. Microsoft partners supporting Smarter Hospitality to date are Ameranth Inc., Experticity, InfoGenesis, Intel Corp., Intervoice Inc., KoolConnect Technologies Inc., NCR Corp. and ontap4u Inc.

NCR, for example, offers a hotel lobby touch-screen kiosk for self check-in called EasyPoint Xpress Check In.

Ameranth's E-Menu allows restaurant patrons to select menu items using a Tablet PC. Diners can view pictures of the menu offerings, read descriptions in multiple languages, choose their favorite side dishes and beverages, indicate how they want their food prepared or even check nutritional information. Orders are transmitted directly to the kitchen, and wait staff is notified through a wireless communications device when orders are ready. If customers want a glass of water or need additional silverware, they page their server by pressing a key on the Tablet PC.

For lodging operators, part of the Smarter Hospitality vision is to enable property management systems to alert all the appropriate areas of a hotel to the arrival of individual guests and provide details on their specific preferences and patterns. By using Microsoft's BizTalk Server 2004 to link the property management system with hotel customer relationship management (CRM) systems, hotel management will have the ability to know what that guest bought in the gift shop during previous stays, how much he or she spent on spa services, and whether the guest is interested in a golf outing or tickets to a show.

The same principles also apply to foodservice businesses, says Tom Litchford, industry manager for Microsoft's Retail and Hospitality Industry Unit. "It's simply using technology at the table to enhance the guest experience, which leads to more repeat business."

To accomplish that, the Smarter Hospitality technology architecture combines the interoperability and integration of Microsoft's .NET Framework -- a set of technologies for connecting data, people, systems and devices through Web services -with Microsoft software, such as Speech Server 2004, BizTalk 2004, Windows Server 2003, Office 2003 and Virtual Server 2003.

"The philosophy behind this is to get the infrastructure right," says Litchford. "It's not a rip-and-replace model. We've developed a solution that helps extend the life of those legacy systems and gets some more use and value out of them. But we're also trying to move the industry away from complex proprietary-type integration platforms to a more open, simple, seamless integrated network that leaves them well-positioned to capitalize on new technologies that can help drive their business."

One such technology is speech recognition. Using Microsoft Speech Server in conjunction with products from Microsoft partners Intel and Intervoice, hotels can implement a voice enabled self-reservation system that allows guests to make, confirm and change reservations without speaking to a live attendant. A business traveler en route to a conference or meeting destination could upgrade his or her room, change it from a single to a double and extend the stay from two nights to three -- all done from almost any phone, and without requiring the help of a customer service representative.

After guests complete their stays, the voice recognition system can call them and ask if they wish to participate in a customer satisfaction survey in exchange for a free night's stay on their next visit. The survey is conducted, and the data is then recorded, checked for errors and sent by the speech server to the database, where it is immediately available.

"With Speech Server, speech is streamed in as audio and gets converted to text or it goes the other way as text and gets converted to audio," says Bill Frizzell, solutions specialist for Microsoft's Retail & Hospitality Industry Unit. That means any Web application can be speech-enabled. Hotel employees equipped with a mobile device, such as a Pocket PC, can provide on-the-spot service and answers for guests, anywhere on the property.

"Let's say a hotel employee encounters a guest who needs a bigger room on short notice," says Frizzell. "Rather than send that guest to the front desk, the hotel employee can use his mobile device linked to speech-enabled Web services to help that guest immediately."

With a series of simple voice commands, the hotel employee can check the availability of larger rooms that may fit the guest's requirements. The Pocket PC can display a list of available suites and their amenities. If a guest needs a room with a conference table and a large-screen TV, the hotel employee can show photos of rooms that meet those criteria and even arrange for refreshments to be delivered. Once the room that best meets the guest's needs is selected, the hotel employee can complete the change through the speech-enabled mobile device. The guest can pick up the room key and receipt at the concierge desk, without having to stop at registration.

"Calls with our Speech Server come in at about a 20- to 50-percent lower cost than a normal IVR," says Frizzell.

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