Mark Twain once said, whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. Most hotels today are using the cloud in conventional ways that prevents them from maximizing its complete potential. Contrary to what many presume, cloud computing is no longer in its infancy. You can take the lead in using it innovatively in areas and systems that are gleaned as good evolvers of hotel technology adoption.
Take for example, the POS experience of your hotel guests. From lodging to food service, POS is the premiere place for customers to get their first impression of your property. And it is going mobile, faster than that next click on your computer. The fine line is, how do you adopt it so that it doesn’t intimidate your guests but brings you the much-needed profit and lead against your peers?
A recent study by MasterCard and Prime Research in USA tracks 85,000 posts across Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, and Forums. These posts determine global response to mobile payment for hotel bookings. Asia-Pacific followed by USA and Europe generated a high volume of interest in mobile payment technology but also a considerable amount of apprehension in terms of security and early adoption of this technology.
What I am saying is, here’s a clear opportunity for small and mid sized hotels. A lot of you are already going mobile in a huge way, if not for payment, then for various other useful services such as Frontdesk operations or POS terminals. So take a moment to pause and reflect. Merging the disparate cloud and mobile platforms right away will result in huge benefits in the near future. The next few years are going to see an exponential growth in cloud systems as well as mobile POS. As systems become more complicated, the need will grow for a unified platform that acts as a hub between mobile POS and cloud computing.
The days for making your guests pay for their purchase at a register are soon going to be a thing of the past. While mobile devices will let them plug directly into the smartphone to accept a credit card payment, anything from poolside ordering to concierge service will become exceptionally fast and effective. Mobile means better service. Cloud translates that into advanced integration and a better-managed hotel. And with Hotelogix, you can be sure of getting there soon :).