NEW YORK— On display at the IH/M&RS, the new iPhone VoIP and iPhone Hybrid Telephones from Teledex, LLC, both feature a 5.6-inch diagonal interactive color touch-screen display. “Guests can use it for a variety of purposes— chief among them to find information about the hotel or surrounding area, but also to order food and other items, and get news, sports and weather information,” said Dean Compoginis, director of marketing.
Hotels, meanwhile, are able to customize the content accessible on the phone by using the system’s content management console (CMC) and content aggregate server (CAS). “If they use the content strategically, owners can benefit from a lot of branding and co-marketing opportunities,” he noted.
The phone has a significant amount of computer circuitry built into it, but is not a computer. “There’s no Web browser, so you can’t surf the Internet,” said Compoginis, comparing the phone more to a bank ATM, which consumers also navigate through a touch-screen.
In terms of revenue and bottom-line profitability, systems like the iPhone have the potential of benefiting owners in two ways, he said: owners can cut operating costs and— at a time when guests are using in-room phones much less than ever before in favor of cell phones and PDAs— generate new revenues.
The revenue, however, may not come solely from increased phone usage. “Rather, owners can now sell advertising that displays on the guest-room phone,” Compoginis said. The ads can be for products and services the hotel offers or for businesses and products unrelated to the hotel. This allows owners to collect revenue on either a pay-for-placement or pay-per-inquiry basis.
Separately, the phone can help cut a hotel’s operating costs in numerous ways. “Owners can save on not having to print collateral for guestrooms. In addition, they can save on staffing since there are fewer calls to the front desk requesting information,” he said.
