At the Malibu Beach Inn in Malibu, California, a product called "Hotel Evolution" is being debuted after being tested in various hotels in the L.A. area. Runtriz is a software firm based in Hollywood, CA, and is the company in charge of this project. When guests arrive at the hotel, they are asked if they have either an iPod touch or an iPhone, and if they do the staff loads the Runtriz Hotel web application to the device, which allows the functions that usually require a call from the in-room phone or a personal trip to the concierge to be done with a single touch. If guests do not have either of these devices, they are given an iPod Touch with the application pre-programmed. From the screen anyone can order room service, set a wake up call, have your luggage or car delivered, have laundry done, or even have a "Do Not Disturb" sign put up on your room - all this without having to move a foot! Information on attractions and such is also available on this web page. The web application allows them to modify and easily install the app to the phones, and it also will allow the easy manipulation of the page to fit to other mobile devices in the future. This technology may even become useful in areas outside hotels as well, such as at ball stadiums. It is literally a concierge on-the-go, with services available readily and 24/7. A location-based service on these applications would allow this to be a possibility, and this is not a far-fetched idea.
Full Article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/11/AR2008101101571.html
October 20, 2008
Kathryn McCormack
Thursday 8 am
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment