Eleven, the cloud-based guest Wi-Fi management leader and TELUS, Canada's fastest growing national telecommunications company announce today that Sun Peaks Grand Hotel & Conference Centre has deployed a solution that leverages the power of the TELUS Pure Fibre network and the simplicity of ElevenOS to optimize the guest Wi-Fi experience everywhere on the property.The IT team at Sun Peaks Grand needed to address multiple connectivity challenges including bandwidth speeds, dropped connections and guest support concerns that were affecting guest ratings and reviews. They planned to upgrade their network for better performance and needed a solution that could integrate with Oracle® Hospitality OPERA Cloud PMS to ensure that only hotel guests and conference center attendees could authenticate onto the Wi-Fi network. Sun Peaks Grand selected TELUS and the ElevenOS guest Wi-Fi platform to centrally manage Wi-Fi to ensure guests have an elevated experience across the entire hotel - from guest rooms to public areas to the conference center."As the premier hotel in Sun Peaks, our guests expect Wi-Fi to be fast, reliable, and easy-to-use," said Ian Tabor, IT Manager at Sun Peaks Grand. "TELUS brought fiber to the premises with 100Mbps to each access point for maximum performance and provided exceptional guest support to minimize calls to the front desk or IT department."

The hospitality industry is one of those industries where the people running the show of hotel business cannot lay back and earn easy revenues. Revenues of a hotel may fluctuate like weather depending upon a number of factors like demand, competitor rates, climatic conditions, security & political situation, holiday season, events etc. Revenue managers are always on their heels to ensure that the hotel operates at maximum occupancy throughout the year. Every empty hotel room is a loss of revenue as the operational cost of running a hotel remains broadly the same for 50 customers or 100 customers.

FCS Computer Systems, a leading global provider of comprehensive hospitality guest services applications and solution design services, has announced the General Availability (GA) of FCS Housekeeping V3.1 with new features that serve to further boost housekeeping department efficiency and guest satisfaction. The latest release includes the ability to implement task assignment rules that can adapt to changing priorities throughout the day. Other useful enhancements include instant access to guest profiles via mobile app, greater report customisation and the ability to view or update an array of additional information via mobile device.

Today at HTNG Insight Summit North America, Eleven, the industry's pioneer in cloud-based guest Wi-Fi management software introduces the ElevenOS Site Manager dashboard making it easy for hotel staff to ensure a high performance guest Wi-Fi experience from guest rooms to public spaces to the conference center.Centralized Wi-Fi ManagementElevenOS Site Manager provides a centralized dashboard to access all of the features needed to optimize Wi-Fi at a single property or across all properties in a brand. Non-technical hotel staff can set up portals from branded templates, create access and discount codes, add or modify Internet plans and pricing and manage conference Wi-Fi all from a single, easy to use web interface.Real-time AnalyticsThe ElevenOS dashboard was purpose-built for Hospitality with real-time 360-degree insight into Wi-Fi activity. Comprehensive analytics include the number and types of devices and browsers used, bandwidth usage, service plans, payment methods and revenue reports that can be viewed at property level or across all properties in a brand. Users can log into one system to get all of the information they need to optimize the Wi-Fi experience.Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place Hotel was concerned that spotty Wi-Fi performance was affecting guest ratings, so they sought a solution to upgrade the network and simplify Wi-Fi management. They chose CCI Systems®, Inc. a MI-based leader in across-the-network solutions to provide a complete Wi-Fi solution including the ElevenOS guest Wi-Fi platform and high-quality 24/7 guest support."With the ElevenOS Site Manager dashboard, I can analyze critical Wi-Fi data in a central location and make real-time decisions that directly impact our guest satisfaction scores," said Justin Smith, IT manager for Falcon Hotel Corporation. "I'm no longer accessing multiple systems to pull reports and analyze data. The relevant data I use daily including network activity, revenue, number of devices per guest and conference Wi-Fi are wrapped into one, user-friendly dashboard.""Eleven is committed to simplifying Wi-Fi management for both hotel staff and brand-level management," said Peri Pierone, CEO of Eleven. "We are pleased to partner with CCI Systems to deliver ElevenOS streamlined Wi-Fi management solution with and industry-leading customer service to delight guests and our mutual customers."ABOUT ELEVENEleven pioneered the development of cloud-based guest Wi-Fi management software for the hospitality industry in 2002. The ElevenOS central authentication platform enables hotel brands to centrally manage guest Wi-Fi across multiple devices, properties and providers with real-time analytics. With ElevenOS, hoteliers can effectively leverage their Wi-Fi network to identify and engage guests to improve brand loyalty. An open platform, ElevenOS easily plugs into leading network hardware and service providers and requires zero proprietary infrastructure. Thousands of hotel and cruise brands trust Eleven to keep more than 9 million guests connected every month. For more information, visit www.elevenwifi.com.

The GDPR is a law governing PII (Personal Data) that will be enforced in the European Union in mid-2018. Global hospitality chains, trading partners and vendors who conduct business within the European region need guidance to navigate the pitfalls associated with compliance to these updated laws.

The EU is taking personal data security to new levels with the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) set to go into effect on May 25th of next year. This leaves global hotel businesses approximately ten months to set their data privacy and security policies in line with the strict GDPR compliance or face crippling fines of up to 4% of annual global revenue or €20 million Euros, whichever figure is greater.

While customer relationship management (CRM) is a term that encompasses both human interaction and software, some references to it might refer exclusively to technology but very few mentions of it would encompass both. For the successful hospitality operator, a CRM system is an essential piece of software that enables them to provide the perfect experience for a guest, no matter what channel they came through, what their reason for travel is, or who they are travelling with. The software layer simply resides where the human layer of CRM cannot: in front of the customer when he or she is not in residence at a brand property, whether that be online, mobile, or email; in the back office, storing guest records and strictly maintaining the privacy of that information; in the marketing department, helping to formulate personalized campaigns for greater revenue and loyalty; and with the customer in between visits, reminding him or her of the affinity he or she has for the brand, and when the next stay might be. In order for CRM in its full capacity to be successful, a hospitality operator must get to the heart of what drives all these touchpoints and what will ultimately enable them to provide a perfect experience for every guest – their data. So, what is the aim of gathering all of this data? And what will the hotel do for the customer once it has been collated and analyzed? The aim is to learn about the guests' behavior and use it to predict what they may pick/do in the future. The hotel will identify opportunities to surprise and delight the guest, ideally during their first stay which in turn would encourage them to return and become a loyal customer. For example, a standard urban business hotel in Singapore may not have a golf course or a swimming pool and the guest may have had the hotel chosen for him by a corporate travel agency. While this property may not have originally been the business traveler's first choice, using even basic data that the guest provides, the hotel can work to improve the stay of the new customer and begin generating loyalty. This new guest can be offered the opportunity to register for the brand's loyalty program, and made aware of any incentives and special promotions available to new members, be they discounts, upgrades, or other incentives. First timers may also be made to feel at home with even the most basic orientation – location of local amenities should they have extra time during their stay, reminders about operating times for dining outlets, including the availability and hours of in-room dining, if available; laundry services and cut-off times for same-day return of garments; location and hours of operation for fitness, spa and pool facilities. Providing this information may also elicit responses from the guest that will indicate their leanings (such as preferring to handle one's own laundry rather than use cleaning services). It's also a chance to notify the guest of reward-earning activities, such as declining daily housekeeping services in exchange for a daily loyalty points award. All of this information on preferences will be stored in the guest's profile so if/when they do return, the hotel is empowered to tailor the experience to align with their wants and needs. This data can also be used in marketing automation to entice the guest to return with personalized and relevant offers and promotions. For returning or premium-level customers, expectations will be higher, but the ability to offer rewards will also be greater. This is true not just for hoteliers, but in other areas including airline and car rental, the same basics apply. Using a more comprehensive profile demonstrates clear patterns of behavior and guides the hotel on how to serve the customer better. There's no point in offering a welcome cocktail to a guest who has never visited any of the chain's bars or ordered an alcoholic beverage during a meal. Using a CRM to garner this level of detail on each guest is one of the simplest ways to improve the guest experience, make sense of all their data and focus on building long lasting relationships that generate satisfaction and brand loyalty.

RateGain Technologies, one of the leading hospitality and travel technology solutions companies, today announced the launch of its all-new, modern and self-service Rate Parity+ tool for Corporate Chains to combat the growing rate parity issues while being able to establish and maintain guaranteed best rates across all platforms. The one-of-its-kind tool, apart from the exhaustive real time data, enables the corporate with actionable insights and two-way interaction interface that would help fix the problem of eroding revenues.

Angie Hospitality, creator of the world's first 24-hour interactive guest room assistant, Wi-Fi and room control technology solution purpose-built for hotels and resorts, has been asked to provide insight on its game changing solution at the HTNG North American Insight Summit. The event is scheduled to take place September 26-27 at the Westfields Marriott Hotel in Chantilly, Virginia. Angie Hospitality will present audience members with an informative presentation on Angie's multiple features and benefits at 3:45 p.m. on September 26 in the Lincoln Forum Auditorium. With leading members of the hospitality community expected to attend, valuable details will be provided on how increasing trends in online and voice-activated services can now be leveraged in a way that maximizes guest satisfaction, streamlines hotel operations and provides additional revenue opportunities.

Leading global hospitality software provider Guestline today announces that it is increasingly the property management system (PMS) provider of choice for a growing number of Best Western properties - including recent signings Best Western St Pierre, Best Western Mount Pleasant, Best Western Kenwick Park, Best Western Ullathorpe and Best Western Lee Wood.