Evolving In-Room Entertainment Trend in Hospitality Segment

     The technology is rapidly evolving every year with the surge of smart devices and applications launched in the market. A few years back, internet facility in the hotel was a hot topic, but now it has become a necessity. With the increasing number of online media facilities and smart devices, even the hospitality segment has not remained untouched. The traditional in-room entertainment facilities are gradually shifting to adapt the latest technology. In the near future, most of the hotels will replace the normal televisions with the Smart televisions which enable you to watch movies of your choice on a single click. Moreover, live video streaming and social media access is the basic necessity of most guests. Seamless access of internet across the hotel property helps guests to stay online from any location of the hotel at no extra cost. For power users, those who are interested in playing online games or watching videos on demand, customizable bandwidth plans with higher speed and quality can be availed on additional payment. Moreover, guests these days carry multiple devices like laptop, mobile, tablets, iPods and cameras with wireless internet facility. In order to accommodate several devices, which is also known as BYOD concept, the hotel access network has to be robust enough to manage the bandwidth demands of all the guests and allow multiple devices from the same room. Segregation of bandwidth and authentication of users or devices plays a major role in this scenario. In such case, there are many internet access management solutions available in the market, which can be deployed without disturbing the existing network for fair distribution of bandwidth. The solution also offers comprehensive reports of internet usage done from the hotel network. In addition, hotels are coming up with instant messaging and mobile applications by which guests can directly communicate with the hotel staff. These applications are integrated with the hotel portal and systems which offer 2-way communication. Going one step ahead, some of the luxurious properties which offer villa or cottages also provide the flexibility to facilitate the in-room entertainment customized as per your requirements. It is a great way to make guests feel special and personally acknowledged. There may be several components required for introducing these internet based facilities, but there should be one comprehensive internet access management solution which can manage the increasing need and demands of internet in the hotel property. It will allow or disallow the internet, increase or reduce the bandwidth speed, provide error-free billing by integrating it with the PMS in the hotel and generate extensive reports for business growth and network security. In coming years, it is expected that internet will be key assimilator of all the technologies with interactive communication and in-room entertainment facilities. By keeping up with the latest technologies, hotels can stay ahead of their competition and adapt as technology evolves.