NATIONAL REPORT— Many see the hotel industry playing a perpetual game of catch-up when it comes to the adoption of new technologies. But it’s a simple game in that hotels add new technologies in much the same way they add new carpeting: when something is old enough, throw it away and install a new one. But that game has now changed. Altering its traditional rules is the mounting introduction of the concept of hotel technology convergence, which is based on the fact that all hotel technology systems, from in-room services to back-of-the-house functions to building controls, can operate on the same Internet Protocol-based network and communicate seamlessly. It is a concept that was, of course, first proven to work within other industries. It is also a concept that, simply put, can save and make a hotel money. “The simplest definition of convergence is getting every piece of hotel technology onto a single wire, from guestroom entertainment to point of service systems to building control systems to elevators, lighting, heating and security systems,” explained Douglas Rice, the executive director of the four-year-old non-profit organization Hotel Technology Next Generation, which was formed to facilitate the development of next-generation, hotel customer-centric technologies and is now at the forefront of the hotel convergence movement. “Our industry is well behind Corporate America in this regard. There are certainly other industries that are behind as well, but if you look at the major corporate installations, such as in banking, they’ve pretty much completed the move to convergence. Hotels are just beginning convergence. But the reason is because we use technologies that were built for a whole bunch of different industries and use it in our own ways.” In using systems convergence, Rice pointed out that there are three primary steps, including the installation of an IP network, getting existing applications to utilize that network and getting those applications, such as a property management system and an energy management system, to communicate via the network. If such an arrangement is successful, the benefits are numerous. According to a report by Valcros, Inc., a technology convergence consultant, they include not only integration, but secure data and wireless transmissions; the ability to centrally manage, monitor, change, update and add services and applications easily; a long-term reduction of installation and operating costs; the ability to manage to guest preferences; and improved staff resources. “There are thousands of revenue and cost-saving opportunities that can come when you have systems that actually talk to each other,” Rice said. “For example, if you have a ‘pick up room service tray’ button on your [voice over IP phone], that command can then go to the nearest staff member capable of picking up the tray based on a location/dispatch system. So you end up saving someone elevator trips and time. You collectively saved 15 to 20 minutes of staff time, which is not free. There are a whole bunch of things like that that can save hotels money or make them money. Convergence can do that very easily.” As a press time, Rice extrapolated that there were zero hotels in the U.S. with technology systems that were 100% converged. However, he added that there are several on their way to the 100% mark as well as many more that have at least converged their front-of-the-house systems, including in-room technology, or back-of-the-house systems. Of course, since technology tends to trickle down in the lodging market from the luxury segment first, Rice said that convergence is currently a four- and five-star property phenomenon for the most part. But he pointed out that as its associated costs decline, convergence also makes financial sense for midscale and economy hotels. “It makes even more sense in some ways because one advantage of it is remote management,” he said. “A converged network allows you to monitor applications
