Print Preview : 21 leading hotel companies&technology providers join forces to address the future of guestroom technology

21 leading hotel companies&technology providers join forces to address the future of guestroom technology
The 21 companies were selected following a month-long process in which 35 different companies sought to participate, with 28 completing full applications. Interest in this workgroup has been enormous, and we are pleased to see major hotel companies committing to this effort along with leading vendors in each category, said Douglas Rice, Executive Director of HTNG. We believe this workgroup has a great balance of large and small hotel companies as well as all of the technical disciplines needed to solve the challenge of delivering all guest-room technology across a single wire.

A key issue for the workgroup will be to identify one or more network architectures that can support hotels in a future converged network environment. Historically, each in-room technology vendor typically provided its own dedicated infrastructure of cabling and networking components – coaxial cable for the television, standard twisted-pair wiring for telephones, special CAT 5 wiring for high-speed Internet, and sometimes even more systems for thermostats, door locks, and other in-room services.

Modern technology allows these different applications to share a single infrastructure and network, potentially resulting in much lower costs, simpler maintenance, and easier exchange of information among systems. As yet, however, there has been no agreement as to what the infrastructure design should be. Even major hotel companies have been unable to build hotels that are wired for the future, for lack of agreement among the many vendors on the network design.

The In-Room Technology Workgroup will include representatives from the following companies, who will work together over the next 12-18 months to develop and deliver major advances in guest room technology. Some vendors participate in multiple categories but are listed only once.

Hotel companies:

The Ginn Companies
The Kor Group
Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group
Marriott International
Peninsula Hotel Group
Starwood Hotels & Resorts

Telephony companies:

Cisco Systems
Mitel
Percipia Networks
Telephone Management Systems Ltd. (Comtelco)

Entertainment and/or high-speed Internet:

General Dynamics Interactive
Guest-Tek
LodgeNet Entertainment Corp.
Quadriga Worldwide

Energy management and occupancy detection:

INNCOM International

Infrastructure and other vendors:

Datanamics Inc.
IP3 Networks
Microsoft Corporation
Paradyne Corporation
SolutionInc

Content providers:

XM Satellite Radio

We had several other companies who applied but could not be accommodated because of size limitations, and still others who wanted to apply but were unable to meet the application deadline, said Rice. There is a lot of energy behind this effort, both among the selected participants and throughout the industry, and HTNG will be working very hard to keep all interested parties involved and committed.

A special role was also formalized for Center of Marketing Effectiveness, Inc. (CeME), which has been undertaking an ongoing market research effort on guestroom technology. CeME will share its existing knowledge and experience base on the competitive landscape, business models, pricing, and guest preferences; will facilitate a shared understanding of guest needs within the workgroup; and will shape a research agenda to assist the workgroup into the future.

Our ongoing research efforts with leading industry media has sharpened our collective understanding of the technology that improves the guest experience and actually drive profits, said Karen Webster, CEO and President of CeME. Recent results from both our guest and hotelier surveys demonstrate the need for a cohesive platform of services that provide a secure, reliable and quality experience. We look forward to working with Hotel Technology Next Generation, whose facilitation-based strategies for addressing customer-centric technology needs are very much aligned with ours. Rania Deimezi - Wednesday, October 27, 2004