Mr. Wasik

Guest Service / Customer Experience Mgmt

Are You Getting the Most From Your In-Room Entertainment?

By Michael S. Wasik, Chairman, CEO, Interim CFO, Roomlinx Inc.

Take Back Control of your TV - Haven’t you let others control it long enough?

SCENARIO 1:

You’ve just arrived in a new city and checked into your hotel. You turn on the TV to be greeted with a woman telling you to select 1 for Hollywood hits, or 2 for hot, steamy action. Not the most welcoming greeting. Its 6:30pm, you’re hungry, you have some work to do, and you want to relax. You do not feel like talking to the concierge so you boot-up your laptop to do a Google search, but you need to get an access code to log on to the internet. 15 minutes later you are able to view restaurants in the area.

Once you’ve calmed your grumbling stomach, you pull the laptop out again to do your work. Then, to take your mind off your travels and long day, you venture to the TV again and begin surfing the channels to find a very limited selection, and only 3 HD channels. You peruse through the movie options that will, on average, set you back the cost of a week’s worth of lattes. No HD movies either. You decide to turn in; a bit frustrated and not so relaxed.

SCENARIO 2:

You walk into your room to some relaxing background music and beautiful HD images rotating on a flatscreen LCD TV, which also displays a welcome message. Once you’re settled in, you pick up the remote control and have easy access to many local restaurant options listed in an easy-to-read display, complete with map and directions from the hotel, right on the hotel’s LCD TV. You can visit the restaurant’s website with the click of a button, view their menus and even read customer reviews. You order food from one of the restaurants and, while you wait for your delivery, you explore the ‘Business’ option on the TV screen and notice all the programs you need are right there. You plug in your flash drive and start editing your documents and spreadsheets with a wireless keyboard.

You’ve now got your iPod plugged in and have your own music playing in the background through the stereo speakers on the LCD TV. You may as well have left your laptop at home! As you finish up your work, you put away your music and settle in to watch one of the many HD movies available on Demand for no additional cost and turn in for the night relaxed and satisfied. What is this experience worth to you? To your guest?

Guest Habits are Changing

With so many changes in communication and entertainment in the last five years, guests’ habits have changed. Guests are going on-line for information, maps, directions, communication, email, and entertainment. Guests are also bringing their media and entertainment with them on CDs/DVDs, flash drives and iPods.

These tools are integrated into our everyday lives and we are accustomed to accessing our content on demand. When we travel, it’s no different. In fact, it is more important. A little touch of home goes along way when you’re traveling. Your guests don’t want to be nickeled and dimed to have access to these amenities. So how do hotels afford to make these conveniences available to their guests without breaking the bank?

By embracing these changes and altering your perspective you will see that the new media and entertainment providers offer much more than traditional Pay per View movies, but rather a true in-room amenity that will create a differentiator for your hotel.

Interactive TV (iTV) is becoming a buzzword. iTV products provide platforms to access movies, econcierge, business tools, internet, news, music, and more via the flatscreen TV in the guestroom. With iTV your guests can enjoy an in-room experience like the one described in scenario 2 AND it can more than pay for itself. Think of all the possibilities these new mediums allow for revenue generation.

There are several things to consider to be sure you are getting the most out of your in-room entertainment product, especially if you are in the market for a new solution like iTV.

Is Your Provider Offering New and Profitable Business Models?

Many in-room entertainment providers can offer new technologies with exciting bells and whistles. But, are they repackaging an outdated business model. Traditional VoD models have been experiencing declines similar to the rapid disappearance of DVD rental stores. Guests are not as likely to pay a premium price for a movie. Guests have more options today than in the past. Many new generation providers are offering a more expensive way to deliver the same old business model. Be sure any new provider offers flexible business models that have a proven track record of success.

Does Your Provider Offer Alternative Revenue Streams?

The more revenue a technology can generate, the less it will cost you. The ideal in-room entertainment partner is a great marketing company as well as a great technology company. Ask to see how they enlist partners or sell advertising. You may do well to avoid companies that offer "up front credit" for advertising sales. Magic jumping beans always sound great, but rarely live up to expectations.

Do You Need IPTV?

IPTV is the delivery of free-to-guest channels via an Internet Protocol platform. IPTV does not eliminate the need to pay for free-to-guest programming. It simply changes the way the programming is delivered to the TV. Since nearly every existing hotel already has coaxial cabling installed, there is usually little benefit, and often much expense involved, to install an IPTV system. And since its core function is delivery of free-to-guest programming, it does not generate a direct return on investment. If your provider is including the conversion to an IPTV platform as part of an overall solution, be sure to investigate how much more you may be paying just to deliver free programming. It may sound like an exciting technology upgrade but, so long as your digital picture quality is good, does your guest really care about how the TV signal is provided to the TV? Are they willing to pay more for it?

Does Your Provider Allow You Control?

90% of your guests turn on the TV as soon as they enter the guest room; with traditional Pay per View VoD you are a prisoner to your provider’s screen display and greeting, but now some iTV providers allow you to control this first impression and customize the images on the TV screen to be an extension of your brand. Traditional VoD providers also dictate pricing and models. Make sure your iTV provider allows you to customize the business model and pricing. This is critical in order to be able to generate revenues to offset iTV costs. Similarly, it is important to be able to control the offering included with your in-room entertainment. Being able to decide whether or not to provide adult content, provide an in-room printer, etc, will allow you to cater the solution to your brand and to your guests.

There are several iTV providers emerging on the market. When deciding on a solution, there are a few factors to remember that will allow you to offer a true benefit to your guests and also generate revenue. Find a provider that:

• Offers more than just pay per view movies (eConcierge, MP3 player connectivity, unlimited HD movie options, travel and business tools, music, unlimited access to internet services and content)
• Has flexible business models that have a proven track record of success
• Has built-in ways to generate additional revenue
• Does more than simply deliver your same options, in a new way, at a higher price
• Allows you to control the product offering as well as the pricing model for your guest
  
  

Wasik joined the Roomlinx Executive Management team in August of 2005 after executing the merger of his company, SuiteSpeed with Roomlinx. Currently Wasik is responsible for leading Roomlinx, which includes the development and market penetration of Roomlinx’ newest product, Roomlinx Interactive TV. Roomlinx Interactive TV provides HD Hollywood movies, high speed internet, HD specialty content, international and U.S. television programming, music, MP3 player connectivity, business productivity tools, concierge services, games and more via the in-room flat screen television. Mr. Wasik can be contacted at 303-544-1111 ext. 101 or mwasik@roomlinx.com Extended Bio...

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