Hotel Communication Network
Optimizing Guest Experience with Cutting- Edge Tablet Technology

The hotel industry runs a never-ending race of satisfying the most fickle and demanding guests. For this, hoteliers have relied on their experienced and trained staff for ages while also experimenting with cutting-edge technologies. But the pandemic has led the entire hospitality industry into a bout of turmoil. As society is gradually turning into germophobes and restrictions are being imposed on the occupancy rate, it is becoming a challenge for hoteliers to attract guests. This has impelled the entire hotel industry to operate under a low-profit margin. Given this scenario, it is almost impossible for hotel owners to maintain a huge staff base to address visitors’ expectations pertaining to improved hygiene measures, alternative dining, on-demand room-cleaning services, increased housekeeping options, and more.

Enter Hotel Communication Network (HCN).

HCN has architected interactive tablets for a contact-free guest experience. These devices enable guests to communicate with the hotel, order room service, report issues, make purchases, and leverage smart room controls for a comfortable stay. “We have created a guest-oriented technology that bridges the communication gap between the guest and the hotel. Moreover, our solution includes other stakeholders, including the local tourist agencies, top restaurants, and hospitality suite services,” states Kevin Bidner, CEO, HCN.

In an interaction with CIO Applications, Bidner, along with Richard Carruthers, COO at HCN, talk about their in-room tablet technology that transforms how guests interact with their room, the hotel, and the city.

Please walk us through the unique features and functionalities of the tablets that HCN offers.

Richard: We install new generation tablets paired with a charging base in every room of the client hotel. This eliminates the need to plug or unplug the tablets for the purpose of charging. The tablets also come with embedded Bluetooth and high-quality speakers to allow visitors to enjoy their Spotify or other music apps.

Further, the tablets can be easily integrated with a hotel’s property management system. That way, we can offer a personalized experience—such as welcoming people by their names. Our guest network on the tablets has been designed from the ground up to provide a person everything that he/she might need during the stay.

The tablet screen stays on from 8 A.M. to 11 P.M. After that, it turns dark to help the user enjoy an uninterrupted sleep. However, the tablet remains functional and comes awake at once with a touch if a guest wants to explore it more.

Kevin: HCN tablets significantly increase the scope of communication between the hotel staff and the guest by enabling the latter to inform about discrepancies. Generally, people don’t raise any complaints during their stay as they are often reluctant to involve in the time-consuming process. However, later, they post negative feedback that harms the reputation and online rankings of hotels. But our tablets equip hotel staff with the opportunity to address their visitors’ issues at the right time.
Our company has a patented group communication solution integrated into the guest network to facilitate exclusive communication between attendees and their groups. It also provides an easier way of amplifying promotions and information for the intended group.

We know that nobody wants to spend their entire day in a hotel room. Instead, people crave to go out, explore a city, and have fun. So, we offer a built-in city directory, making it easier for guests to explore the tourist attractions and more even before stepping out.

Please provide an example or two on how your solutions have helped clients in their business?

Richard: Recently, a renowned convention hotel in downtown San Francisco reached us to minimize their expenditure on offering room services to their guests. We installed tablets in each room and enabled the hotel’s customers to order food from local, high-quality restaurants. Finally, our client was able to eliminate the massive expenditure of maintaining around-theclock room service.

Kevin: Some of our client hoteliers leverage the tablet to inform their visitors about ongoing Happy Hours. They actively use it as a marketing and sales tool to promote their upscale rooms to the incoming guests.

What does the future look like for the Hotel Communication Network?

Richard: We are adding new features and exploring new avenues to make the applications on our tablets more flexible and intuitive. For example, we are working on a new feature that will allow guests to transfer everything from the tablet to their cellphones. This way, they would constantly stay in touch with the hotel through the HCN guest network. No matter whether they are in their room or sitting by the pool, they will be able to summon a waiter or order refreshments and get them delivered to their table. Also, we are developing a multi-language interface to enable the network to be used globally.

Many people are still skeptical about why we need a tablet to offer these services when we can develop standalone Android or iOS applications with the same features, but the issue is that guests don’t typically download these applications on their phones. So, this is why we let them have the best of both worlds. Now, they have all the services bundled up in one tablet, and if they wish, they can transfer the content to their cellphones too through a simple QR code and not need to download an app!

Truly, our in-room tablets have replaced the tradition of providing room service or maintaining an in-house kitchen. Now, guests have more flexibility in ordering or scheduling room services whenever they want.