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INDUSTRY WATCH
the guest enters the room, without any
switches being touched, sensors turn the
lights and the air conditioning on and open
the curtains. This undoubtedly is a delightful
experience for guests. In the future custom-
built apps for in-room controls will allow
guests to access everything from their own
smartphones and other mobile devices. They
could for example set the climate controls
to a certain temperature before they even
arrive in their room. HOTELS CAN BOOST
REVENUE BY SENDING PUSH
NOTIFICATIONS VIA BLE
BEACONS TO GUEST DEVICES
THAT ARE CONNECTED TO
THE HOTEL’S WI-FI.
Once in the room, the hotel’s IoT-enabled
and location-aware infrastructure will work
in other ways. For example, it can permit
guests to stream personal content onto their
in-room television while using the hotel’s
mobile app to schedule a massage in the spa
and order a beverage to arrive pool side the
same time as they do. As wireless solutions
advance, expect even more options, such as
using a mobile device to project a preferred
fitness routine onto a full-length mirror. devices that are connected to the hotel’s
Wi-Fi, without invading privacy by promoting
offers that are relevant to the guest’s
interests, needs and preference as they
wander around the property. Geofencing
using the wireless network allows property
owners to know where the guest is in the
property and when they pass a particular
beacon they can receive a personalised
message, coupon or loyalty points. Data
analytics will be the secret sauce here.
Hotels can boost revenue by sending push
notifications via BLE beacons to guest Property owners can deploy navigation
features within the hotel’s mobile app to
guide guests to food and beverage and all
amenities in the property as an option, again
using BLE beacons.
Asset tags for efficient
resource utilisation
Luggage cart delay is often the case of guest
frustration. Cost-effective asset tracking
technologies via asset tags added to a
location-based solution can enable hotel
staff, or even guests, to locate carts for quick
retrieval on the hotel’s mobile app.
Another use case could be that the asset tag
is used to track how long an asset remains
stationary, for example in a guest room, and
then alert staff so that they can take action
like calling the guest to find out whether he
or she has finished.
Latest IoT security innovations
IoT-enabled systems must also be secure.
Advanced IoT security options include the
ability to group connected IoT devices
into ‘zones’ for segregating them on the
network and then applying different sets of
security policies.
Solutions that infuse real-time intelligence,
advanced analytics and AI-based machine
learning can spot changes – at millisecond
speeds – in user or device behaviour
that may indicate a security breach and
affected devices can then be automatically
quarantined and an alert sent to a
designated human to investigate.
In conclusion, one thing for sure is
that the hospitality industry has an
exciting future given the continuous
evolution of technology. n
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