In many ways, the hospitality industry is the best platform for digital companies to showcase how their technology and innovations can ease life for people. While we have become used to technological advancements happening regularly, we still tend to frame them in our minds as being solely for big tech corporations and business conglomerates.
Technologies that require interaction daily are generally presumed to be for the rich or the tech-lovers, and the average individual is not expressly interested in smart home technologies. This is slowly beginning to change with home personal assistants and web-based community builders that allow people to see that technology is simply a way to stay connected better in an increasingly digital world.
For technology companies, hotels can provide the perfect vehicle to allow people to experience the convenience of smart technology designed to simplify daily tasks. The hotel industry will benefit by being able to provide an intuitive and near-bespoke service to every guest.
Energy Management: Smart Thermostats
Smart thermostats with occupancy sensors can monitor the temperature in different rooms and respond by adjusting the settings based on the occupancy of each room. Smart thermostats can automatically adjust the temperature settings to suit the outside weather. They can be instructed to have the temperature set to preapproved settings by the guest’s arrival.
Giving the thermostat the ability to sense and then use its algorithms to judge the amount of heating or cooling needed in each room means that it can utilize its power usage much more effectively. Hotels lose a great deal of money every year to power bills, and being able to rely on a heating system that can adjust, utilize power effectively, and shut off when unoccupied is a distinct advantage.
These smart thermostats can be linked to the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems to monitor all in real time and send power utilization updates to the main control tablet at preset times.
Energy Management: Smart Lighting Systems
Smart thermostats are not the only way hotels can make power savings. Smart lighting systems allow the central management of the entire hotel’s lighting while using sensors to lower or increase brightness based on the occupancy and preference of the guests.
Lighting systems that use LED lights do not make heat waste. These lights can be monitored by their central operating system and can send power reports with information about where the load can be reduced.
Predictive Maintenance: Hotel Upkeep
Predictive maintenance uses a series of sensors and machine-learning algorithms to ensure that the hotel does not experience significant resource wastage. It can also help identify wasteful trends and alert maintenance staff as soon as an issue presents itself.
As any hotel maintenance issues can easily escalate into costly situations that can cause distress to patrons, it is in the hotel’s best interests to use a system that will alert them to maintenance needs before anything can become a big problem. Predictive systems can detect when a problem occurs because they monitor water pressure and compile the efficiency ratings of linked processes and machinery.
This does mean that when the system indicates that updates, upgrades, or replacements need to be made, the maintenance staff have the authority to do so as trying to cut corners on machinery will lead to bigger problems down the line. Hotel guests expect a service level that will not go well with hotel usage issues or significant delays.
Smart technologies can help guests choose which hotel is best for them simply by taking a virtual tour of the rooms. They can view recommendations and reviews on services and make specific requests for items to be put in place before their arrival.
Providing these conveniences happens at a level of technology that allows for remote monitoring and compliance. This system will require less labor and allow hotels to run much more efficiently with less staff. Hotels that offer computer monitored remote check-ins and check-outs can even remove the need for staff to monitor the concierge desk constantly and instead focus their efforts on service improvements.
Smart key card information sent directly to the guest’s phone allows them to enter and exit their rooms without worrying about losing their key. It allows the hotel to monitor occupancy and provide efficient housekeeping. It reduces the significant waste generated by plastic key cards.
Smart systems can note the guest’s preferences, send them suggestions of meals or services that will specifically apply to their tastes, and send instant updates to staff to comply with requests. It is a much more efficient system than having staff monitor calls and make notations that can get lost in the hustle and bustle of a busy hotel.
In short, digital technology designed for the hospitality industry allow staff to give each guest the exact hotel experience they desire.
