6.29.2016

Hospitality Signage and the Internet of Things: a hypothetical that's becoming a reality

Try this hypothetical:

Imagine you took an impromptu flight to Las Vegas. You land in McCarran and are instantly greeted by the soothing sounds of slot machines tuned to "C" before being blown out by the boisterous orchestration of digital video screens above baggage claim boasting the latest shows on the new strip.

While you head to the taxi stand, you start to get excited about what's to come when you realize your shoulders are starting to ache from the weight of the bag you're carrying. Before the feeling to drop your travel things in you room so you can go explore overtakes you, you get shook by realization that you didn't book a room.

No worries!

See that kiosk over there, underneath the Photoshopped poster board signaling the perennial reunion of Brooks & Dunn? It's going to help you find the perfect hotel at the right price near all the things you wanted to do and see.

Kiosks themselves aren't really the Internet of Things, and as you think the 8 questions you filled out to find the hotel you are about to book helped you now, what you've started with these few questions and reservation confirmation is but the first step in how the Internet of Things (IoT)will shape your Vegas experience with each and every device use.

Tracking expenditures and purchases

While in your hotel room, you look in the fridge and see rows of a variety of soft drinks and alcohol. You pick up a few cans of the diet soda to look for a price, then put them back. After you find the outrageous price on the room information, you decide to wait until you go downstairs to gift shop and pay for it at a slightly cheaper price.

This sounds like innocuous movements, but the hotel's software tracked these movements so when you go to dinner tonight, the waitress will know to ask you for a diet drink before she gets to your table.

As for your other seemingly menial movements, that second question you answered when booking a hotel room in the kiosk, the one where you said you'd most want to see Celine Dion while you're in Las Vegas? While you're washing your hands in the hotel restaurant bathroom, two digital screens will have pages load, letting you know that will call just released tickets to her show tomorrow night.

How did the screen know you wanted to see it?

The secret is in your hotel card key. The new ones are fitted with RFID chips. Those RFID chips emit a signal. The screens in the restaurant bathroom picked up your signal, pulled up your information, looked up your answer to the question on concert preferences, and popped up for you. Then, when you said you wanted a pair of tickets that were released, the system used the card you had on file for the room and let you pay for them that way.

Your whole experience will be this way.

If you ask for gluten-free options, it will be tracked. If you continue to pick Diet Coke over Diet Pepsi, not only will the system track, but it will tell housekeeping to stock your fridge with more Diet Coke and take out the Diet Pepsi.

The most incredible thing about IoT integration is its increasing availability

The technology is becoming more and more available. If you're a part of the Hospitality industry would like to know more about how to incorporate IoT into your business, contact us today.