Hotel industry explores voice tech

Hoteliers are well aware the industry isn’t usually on the leading edge when it comes to the adoption of new technology, but as consumers have quickly taken to devices like the Amazon Echo and Google Home, the hotel industry saw its opportunity to introduce voice technology into its guestrooms.

Hotel companies have begun switching over some requests that would normally go to a concierge, such as restaurant recommendations, to voice-activated smart devices, while some have gone a step further and let guests control lights, shades and the HVAC system, said Victor Idrac, project coordinator at HTNG.

Best Western Hotels & Resorts works with a company that provides its entire mobile engagement platform, SVP and COO Ron Pohl said, which allows it to communicate with consumers through their mobile devices as well as providing the connection through Amazon’s platform.

The company created its initial platform a year ago, he said, and it’s in more than 600 hotels now as a way of messaging customers before they arrive, on their day of arrival for check in and then throughout their stay until check out. It’s also testing this platform in about 30 hotels internationally, he said. Among those hotels connected to the platform, he said, the company is testing a couple of hotels in the U.S. with the Amazon Echo Dot.

Through the smart speaker, guests can request information, such as hours of breakfast or for the fitness center, and they’ll receive an immediate “canned” response, he said. For other more specific requests, such as asking for more towels or for a late check out, the platform converts the request through a tablet, which triggers hotels staff to respond accordingly and complete the request.

“The beauty is it provides better tracking capability,” he said. “We always want to know how long it takes to respond to a guest request.”