Tag Archives: Mobile Technology

by | October 24, 2013 · 8:19 am

Hospitality Industry Safety Risks: New “Smartphone App” Searches Twitter To Identify “Possible Cases Of Restaurant Food Poisoning”; Results Correlated With “Scores From Health Department”

“…The app tags related users and follows that user around for 72 hours and analyzes their tweets for signs of food poisoning symptoms like Restaurant Food Poisoning Appsvomiting, abdominal pain, fever and chills. The system watches out for tweets that contain keywords like “threw up” and “tummy ache.”…In just four months, the nEmesis team was able to identify around 23,000 restaurant customers and detect around 480 possible cases of food poisoning. They then gave the restaurants a “health score” based on the number of incidents of people who became sick after eating there. The nEmesis team correlated their results with scores from the health department…”

Researchers at the University of Rochester developed an app called nEmesis that searches through Twitter and identifies possible cases of food poisoning. The app takes GPS data that is accessible via Twitter’s API and cross references that with the coordinates of restaurants.

One of the creators, Adam Sadilek, who now works at Google, sees the app as something that can help warn customers and as a potential tool for health officials to identify restaurants that may need to be looked into.

For more:  http://www.psfk.com/2013/10/food-poisoning-detection-app.html

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Hospitality Industry Technology Trends: More Restaurants Are Installing “Electronic Payment Systems” As Many Consumers Prefer Self-Service Terminals, Use Smartphone Apps, And Visit Websites For Information

Restaurant Technology Infographic

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by | October 14, 2013 · 9:46 am
by | September 16, 2013 · 8:03 am

Hospitality Industry Technology Solutions: Hotel “Housekeeper” App For Smartphones And Tablets Improves Staff Efficiency; “Room Status And Problems” Reported Directly To Property Management System

“…the new ‘Housekeeper’ application is proven to deliver an average 50% reduction in the time required to carry out housekeeping and hotel Hotel Technology Solutionssupport tasks, enhanced staff communication, as well as powerful reporting capabilities…with quicker response and improved communication with the housekeeping staff we are able to better serve our guests and get a real-time picture of the room status…”

Building on its growing range of mobile applications and cloud-based services, Housekeeper provides an alternative to Quadriga’s established, fixed TV-based housekeeping solution, integrated into its Sensiq guest communications and entertainment platform. The Hibox Housekeeper application is a web-based service which can be hosted in the cloud and provides hotel staff with easy and immediate reporting capabilities via most web-enabled mobile devices. Services include the reporting of room status to the hotel PMS, minibar usage and rooms fault reporting and management, as well as a staff messaging tool.

Housekeeper is already deployed in hotels across the Nordic region and is now available worldwide. Juha Peltonen, Hotel Manager at Hotel Haikko Manor, Porvoo, Finland, says, “The Housekeeper application gives us an easy-to-use tool to manage the housekeeping tasks. Also we are able to reduce the housekeeping costs with improved monitoring and reporting.”

For more:  http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4062156.html

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Hospitality Industry Technology Solutions: Hotels Increasingly Rely On “Mobile Platforms” For Guest Check-In; “Mobile App Downloads” To Increase More Than 7-Fold In Next Five Years

Infographics On Hospitality Mobile Apps

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by | September 5, 2013 · 9:13 am
by | September 1, 2013 · 8:12 am

Hospitality Industry Technology Solutions: “Emergency Management Software” For Hotels Provides Fire, Police Departments With Instant Access To “Site And Floor Plans, HAZMAT Details And Utility Shut-Off Locations”

“…By installing (the Emergency Management Software), Doubletree provides Detroit’s first responders instant on-site access to site plans, floor Hotel Emergency Management Softwareplans, hazardous material details, utility shut-off locations, geographical maps, fire hydrants locations, persons with special needs, guests and residents, and other critical information.  The pre-plan data will be on a touch screen computer in the lobby as well as on the mobile data computers in Detroit’s fire department and law enforcement vehicles…”

“Our adoption of this technology is an excellent example of the private sector bracing the public works,” said Shannon Dunavent, general manager of Detroit DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel.  “This new technology will be fully implemented by September 1st, making all critical building information quickly available to first responders.  We are not only making a smart, cost-effective investment in our property and in the safety of our guests and staff, but in the city’s ability to respond to emergencies.”

CommandScope allows building and facility owners, managers and first responders alike to easily add and upload building and site data.  The information is shareable across organizations and city departments, and is updateable in real-time allowing first responders to act with knowledge rather than trial and error.  First responders can save time and lives by immediately execute emergency procedures instead of wasting time locating managers or engineers on site.

For more:  http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/2013/08/commandscope-pre-plan-technology-changing-the-nature-of-first-response.html

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by | August 16, 2013 · 5:58 am

Hospitality Industry Technology Solutions: Hotel And Restaurant “Mobile Websites” Rank Highest In Performance, Customer Engagement According To Recent Study; Mobile Payments To Reach $90 Billion By 2017

Hospitality Technology Reveals Results of 2013 Customer Engagement Tech Study

For more:  http://hospitalitytechnology.edgl.com/home

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by | August 8, 2013 · 5:50 am

Hospitality Industry Technology Solutions: Hotel, Restaurant Guests Will Soon “Check-In And Make Payments” Using Mobile Phones Offering “Secure Software Applications With Facial Recognition Technology”

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Using the PayPal app for iOS, Windows Phone and Android, wallet-less shoppers can track down stores that accept PayPal’s “check in to pay” service. The customer then checks in to the shop where they need to make a payment, paying by sliding a pin down in the app. The shopper’s credentials then appear on the shopkeeper’s PayPal app, with the photo and name appearing to identify the person who has asked to make the payment, allowing the shopkeeper to then confirm the sale.

PayPal are trialling a new scheme in the Richmond shopping precint of London that will allow shoppers to have their PayPal payments confirmed by their profile pictures. The Richmond shops first to test out the new check-in service include Cook & Garcia, The Farmery, The Tea Box, The Bingham Hotel, Revolution, Caffé Paolo, The Cedar Coffee Shop, Urban Diner, Pier 1 Fish and Chips,  Noble Jones, Hill Café and Knot Coffee and Pretzel.

“PayPal first brought ‘pay by mobile’ to the UK high street two years ago,” said Rob Harper, Head of Retail Services at PayPal

“Through our Richmond initiative, we’re pleased to help local businesses of all sizes offer a new more personal experience, while never having to turn away customers who don’t have enough cash on them to pay. Now locals in Richmond can leave their wallet or purse at home and be the first in the country to use their profile picture to pay.

“This is another step on the journey towards a wallet-less high street, where customers will be able to leave their wallet or purse at home and pay using their phone or tablet. We predict that by 2016 this will become a reality.”

For more:  http://www.techdigest.tv/2013/08/paypal_to_let_y.html

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by | July 21, 2013 · 6:37 am

Hospitality Industry Technology Solutions: “Smarphone Payment Apps” Allow Customers To Pay For Food And Services With Phones Or Mobile Wallets

The Carlisle & Gallagher Consulting Group forecasts that within five years half of smartphone owners will prefer to pay for their gas, food, Hospitality Industry Smartphone Paymentsgadgets and other consumer goods with phones and mobile wallets…By one count, perhaps 280 digital wallets or more have sprung up or are in development around those various technologies. Some retailers, notably Starbucks, have built their own apps for mobile payments.

Mark Logan ordered lunch at Mildred’s Coffeehouse & Bistro in the Crossroads Arts District and stepped to the register to pay. No cash. No check. No plastic. Logan paid with his smartphone. He had previously loaded it with his debit card information, using an app called Square Wallet, and snapped his own picture. To make the payment, Square Wallet sent Logan’s picture to the iPad that Mildred’s uses for a register. The iPad tied his tab to his photo.

The barista, seeing Logan, tapped his photo from among several customers on the screen and told Logan the payment was going through. A second tap — technology took care of the rest.

A recent survey of smartphone users found that half had never heard of the idea of a digital wallet, let alone downloaded and used one.

And few stores or restaurants take them.

All the same, you may be using one soon. Money is making a dash from pockets to smartphones thanks to digital wallets like Lemon, Isis, LevelUp and others.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/07/20/4357393/digital-wallet-apps-unfold-in.html#storylink=cpy

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by | July 19, 2013 · 6:26 am

Hospitality Industry Technology Risks: Hotel Wi-Fi And LAN Networks Remain Vulnerable To Being Hijacked

“Whether it’s paid or not, whether there’s a password involved or not, nearly all of them are completely unsecure,” he said. “The reason that Wi-mobile technologyFi hotspots put passwords on their Wi-Fi is not to protect the individual, but rather to limit usage…LAN technology evolved years ago for use within organizations where security was never thought to be a major issue. The result is that most of today’s LANs can be hijacked, and all communication can be easily captured and stored on an unseen laptop.”

Private Communications Corp., a Connecticut-based digital-security company, reports that more than half of the 24 million Wi-Fi networks thought to exist worldwide are unencrypted, meaning they’re effectively open to anyone within radio range.

That statistic is particularly alarming when juxtaposed with another from the same company: In the United States, an estimated 43 million people use Wi-Fi hotspots to conduct personal or professional business.

Lawson said travelers should be wary even when connecting directly to a local area network, or LAN, offered by, say, a big-name hotel.

For more:  http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2013/07/14/on-vacation-your-hotel-wi-fi-might-be-vulnerable-to-hacker.html

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by | July 8, 2013 · 6:12 am

Hospitality Industry Technology Solutions: Hotels Are Providing “Customized Apps For Guests’ Tablets And SmartPhones” That Facilitate Constant Interaction During Stay

“…hotels are starting to adopt (new apps) for guests’ SmartPhones and tablets. A number of companies—including Handheld Hospitality, iRiS Hotel Technology SolutionsSoftware Systems and Cardola– have developed apps (such as mobile phone acting as TV remote and pre-ordering dinner at hotel restaurant) that facilitate constant interaction between hotels and their guests before, during and after their stay…”

The apps can be customized for each hotel. But they typically work like this: When guests book their rooms, hotels send them emails letting them know about the app. They can then download the app and start planning their trips. The apps act as virtual concierges with information about local restaurants and attractions.

For those guests who want to spend time inside the hotel, they can use the apps to order room service, book spa appointments and golf tee times, and learn about in-house events or happy hour specials. In other words, the apps eliminate the need for an in-room directory or a concierge.

“Apps, like 16 different types of pillow, are seen as a must-have for hotels, particularly at the top end of the market,” says Katherine Doggrell, editor of Hotel Analyst Distribution & Technology.

But, she says, hotels run the risk of overloading the apps with too much information and too many functions. “What the customer often wants is the chance to cut down the time spent in queues trying to check in and out and pay, and that’s what apps can help do,” she says. “Apps should be functional, first and foremost.”

For more: http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20130708/BUSINESS10/307080046/Mobile-apps-let-guests-order-room-service-more

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