Guest room TVs, originally installed purely for entertainment purposes, are evolving to keep pace with guest expectations and evolving market trends. The in-room TV has transitioned from a simple entertainment source to a hub of interaction in the guest room. TVs can now provide an interactive experience that serves as a source of information for the guest and a way to streamline or automate daily hotel operations.

Leveraging advanced technologies is becoming even more vital to continued success as we begin our trek on the long road to recovery. With the right solution in place, hoteliers can not only achieve increased operational efficiencies, but also boost staff productivity, maximize revenue and ensure safety – all while enhancing the guest experience. Here’s a few ways that advanced entertainment solutions can help enable success moving forward:

• Digital concierge: Advanced entertainment solutions can offer an interactive, television-based concierge service, delivering custom content about local attractions, museums, shopping, live performances, sporting events and more to guests through a contactless means of engagement. Hotel management can track concierge content that seems to be most successful with guests and optimize their offerings accordingly. As an added bonus, this feature also can provide an additional revenue stream for hotels by selling on-screen real estate to local businesses.
   
• Digital guest services: Solutions that offer OTT services can provide guests with access to a full suite of hotel amenities and services. Guests can make restaurant reservations, order in-room dining, book spa appointments and schedule their own tee times, rather than calling hotel staff to go through all the available options. Not only does this allow guests to control their own experience and remain safe in the comforts of their room, but it frees hotel staff from spending an absorbent amount of time on administrative tasks.
   
• Property Management System (PMS) integration: Hoteliers can achieve operational efficiencies when leveraging in-room entertainment systems that integrate with their PMS. PMS integration gives guests visibility to all hotel charges and allows them to use express checkout, reducing front desk interactions and creating operational efficiency. PMS integration can also enable hotel staff to streamline and monitor room updates in real-time, ensuring safety protocols are following and documented – and a safe environment is provided to guests.
   
• Streamlined response to guest feedback: Some advanced solutions offer a guest feedback app to capture guest opinions and suggestions in an effective, modest way. Hotel management receives immediate notifications that a guest has provided comments, ensuring that negative responses can be instantly addressed while the guest is still on property – leading to greater service recovery. Likewise, a guest can be thanked or rewarded for their positive comments. This real-time interaction enables hoteliers to responsively address guest needs in an efficient and contactless manner, ensuring guests feel valued even when they are unable to interact with staff in person.

By implementing these advanced technologies, hoteliers can improve guest satisfaction, streamline daily operations, reduce costs, and unlock new, profit-lifting opportunities — crucial factors for maximizing overall business performance.

_{A note from the sponsor: Interested in furthering your digital initiatives? Schedule a consultation with a Spectrum Enterprise Hospitality technology specialist to further discuss how OTT entertainment solutions can help advance your digital transformation.}