Evolving communications necessitates BYOD environment
As the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend continues to expand into a number of sectors, the hospitality industry has specifically seen a significant need for BYOD technology. As communications continues to evolve, consumers have become dependent on using their own mobile devices to access personal content. Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise advises hotels, lodges and guest houses to keep up with this trend and to meet the demands and expectations of travelers by providing a BYOD environment.
In this competitive industry, delivering a positive guest experience is crucial. "Using an integrated technology platform achieves a smooth and unified flow through every aspect of a guests visit. This solution bridges the gap between a hotels internal voice communication system and the guest's personal device," explains regional director of Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise for South and East Africa, Ravin Naidu.
With a number of advantages, guests can appreciate having full control at their fingertips. The main advantage being that hotels can make the guest's device their primary extension during their stay. This means that visitors can receive incoming calls from outside or within the hotel on their own mobile devices without having to be in their room. This really allows guests to feel confident that they are contactable no matter where they are within the hotel.
Further to this, guests are also able to engage in all the hotels services from ordering room service to checking-in by simply downloading the application which is compatible with both Apple iOS and android and is available to multiple devices. Once the application is successfully installed, it does not require any additional IT management by hotel staff. This should be a user friendly application that adds to the guest's experience, and that sets the hotel apart from its competitors.
Naidu adds "BYOD is a major force driving the hospitality market, and organisations in this sector are encouraged to offer this service. The solution compliments existing telephones placed in hotel rooms or alternatively can be used in place of fixed lines creating a value-added mobility service as part of a full telephony solution within the hotel."
Keeping up with cutting-edge technology is challenging and hospitality groups need to select providers that are equipped with the right software to suit their specific requirements. "We see huge potential for BYOD in the hospitality sector and we believe that this is something that will continue to develop and grow within the South African market," concludes Naidu.
