These day’s hotels are facing huge changes in customer behavior, their needs and expectations. The Dubai and in fact the entire UAE is a tourist hotspot. This means that the country welcomes millions of guests throughout the year. That is why the hospitality industry sector is also huge, well-established, and standards and regulations are also higher. For the hotels it is extremely important to meet the expectations of the guests, as it will bring repeated business, positive brand promotion, internet reviews and referrals which is a key to long term growth and success in hospitality sector. For the hoteling businesses it is crucial to build a positive reputation. Mostly guests are coming from overseas, and even the local guests too prefer to search online before deciding for the hotel reservation. These days due to COVID situation, businesses all over the world have heavily integrated digital solutions and systems to maximize the digital experience of the customers and to provide them quick and easy access to their services. The hotels all over the world are adopting interactive self-service kiosk technology to offer self-service and fully automated receptions.
The hotel reception is the first physical interaction of the guests with the hotel. It is extremely important to imprint an excellent first impression. This first impression will last for a long time and if it is satisfactory, the guests will keep choosing you over the others. Basically it is all about the psychology of the guests, think from a guest’s point of view, if you are traveling for the first time, or if you want to spend a quality time with your family or friends or if it is a business meeting, the guests would be hesitant for the first time. If their first or previous experiences are great with a hotel, the same feeling will come when they think of selecting another hotel. If a hotel succeeds in satisfying the guests, then most probably the guest wouldn’t bother looking into other hotels, the will simply reserve with you to save time and hustle. That is how a hotel can get repeated business. For the satisfactory customer experience the very first thing that matters is your first impression. If your first impression is great it will provide you leverage throughout their stay. That is why in order to boost this first impression hotels are adopting fully automated hotel reception and self-service interactive kiosk solutions.
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In this blog we will discuss key points of moving from a tradition to fully automated hotel reception and the key factors that can transform your guests’ first impression with the help of interactive kiosks.
What is Interactive Kiosk?
An interactive kiosk is basically a computer placed on a public place for public use. Unlike a personal computer the interactive kiosk is designed to perform certain tasks and allow users to do certain transaction. In some cases the interactive kiosks are also used to provide access to the internet, even then it will remain a public computer and anyone can use it, but no one can personalize it and it also doesn’t allow anyone to install their own applications and programs. These days the technology used in interactive kiosks is either Windows based computer station or Android based computers. Both are used for different applications. The interactive kiosks are also different from personal computer as they provide a certain set of peripherals and features to enable the users to perform certain tasks. In Dubai or anywhere in UAE the interactive kiosks are a common sight, if you are living anywhere in UAE you will be seeing them everywhere, from airports, to shopping malls, and from educational institutions to businesses.
What is Fully Automated Hotel Reception?
The fully automated hotel reception is a digital alternate to the traditional hotel reception where a customer service agent or receptionist interact with the guests and provide them certain information and also check then in or out. The word automated means certain features that allow the guests to avail all services that a hotel reception is offering without but any human interaction. That means there is no staff present at the station and the guests can use tools and features of the fully automated hotel reception interactive kiosk to avail all the services in a self-service mode. Whether it is a check-in/out or changes in the reservation or upgrade. The fully automated hotel reception also provide all the information that a guest might be needing before or during the check-in/out process without any human interaction or staff’s involvement. That is why it is called fully automated hotel reception. During the modern age of technology and dominance of digital, the fully automated hotel reception is far much better in some aspects than the traditional hotel reception. It also help improving the guest’s experience and satisfaction.
Fully Automated Hotel Reception with Interactive Kiosk
The hotel reception can be automated with the help of interactive kiosk. The hotel reception kiosk consists of an interactive kiosk unit with an information kiosk. Both the information and the hotel reception features can be incorporated in a single kiosk as well. Any digital interactive kiosk consists of a user dashboard or UI (user interface), a server and a content management system or administrative dashboard. The interactive kiosk usually have windows based in-built computer module or in some cases Android based modules are also used. There are some peripherals such as ID scanner, barcode and QR code scanners, passport scanner and in some cases document scanners are also provided. Sometimes a guest might need to print receipt or invoices for that thermal printers and a regular A4 size printers are used. The server is the main brain of the system, it runs all the algorithms and logics. The UI is the software that is provided on the interactive kiosk where the guests can interact with the system. Everything is linked to the server via internet or network connection. That is how a fully automated hotel reception with interactive kiosk is build.
User Interface and User Experience
The interactive kiosk comes with an in-built touch screen, sometimes physical keyboard and track-pads are also used. However, these days only the touch screens are preferred. When a user arrive at the hotel, at the reception area a big bright screen attracts welcomes them with an eye catchy welcome message or branding adverts. If a user have a booked reservation they can log-in to the system using their booking number, or scanning a barcode/QR code. Once a user signs-in they are being provided with the available options. The users can check-in using the required method as per the hotel’s policy. For example if a guest is required to provide their passport or Emirates ID, they can scan them via the dedicated scanners on board. Then they can check-in or either they can modify their booking, they can also upgrade their plan and are able to perform any other functionality the hotel offers them. In some cases additional costing maybe involved, so the interactive kiosk also provide facility to either deposit cash or pay with the credit/debit card. The customers can also use their bonuses or reward points against the cost.
If a guest doesn’t have any reservation or prior booking, they can also do that instantly via the interactive kiosk. For the users who need only the information, it can be provided within the same UI. Some hotels prefer a separate self-service information desk to prevent any queue or crowd on the interactive kiosk. Each hotel have different policy, some offer digital room keys, which can be printed in the form of QR code or barcode. Some offers physical keys, and some even provide facility to dispense the hotel room key from the hotel reception kiosk. The layout and design is kept very simple and the information, the buttons and color schemes are specifically selected to increase readability, simplicity and convenience of the users. The user interface can be offered in multiple languages as per hotel’s needs.
The biggest advantage is that the guests, don’t have to wait in long queues, and there is no ambiguity remains in communication, all the information are provided on the kiosks, can also be shared to the guests’ mobile phones or emails. The fully automated hotel reception interactive kiosk also remains available for 24/7 without any interruption. The access to the information is simpler and easier, the users can get as much information as they like.
System Server and Main Software
The main software or system server is the brain of the system. It is commissioned on a server or in the local data center. It depends on the IT infrastructure or the needs or policy of the hotel. The fully automated hotel reception interactive kiosk system have in-built statistical and analytical tools as well. These tools can capture data at each and every touch point of the user interaction and it also keep record of the performance and usage data of the system. The content management system enables the hotel management to keep the information up to date on the interactive kiosk and the information desk. In any case if the single kiosk is used for both purposes the content management system or CMS provide facility to keep the information up-to-date. The user data can also be stored and later extracted for the marketing purposes. The administrative dashboard is used to push policies and publish information on the network. It can be controlled remotely from the head-office or local office as well. The hotel management can also boost their upselling goals using the interactive kiosks. The business intelligence data can be compiled in actionable reports which help hotel management to make improvements and draw future strategies to boost guests’ experience and growth.
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Contact-less Self Check-In Mobile Module
The fully automated hotel reception interactive kiosk system can also be integrated with a dedicated mobile app or any existing hotel mobile application. The system is fully capable to integrate with the web-based apps as well such as online guest portals and hotel website. The online features always help to enhance digital customer experience and are a great tool to add value and convenience to the guest’s experience. The mobile app can provide facility to upload identification documents, make payments and self-service check-in/out functionalities. The mobile apps can be used to provide additional information such as city attractions, near-by facilities, emergency services details, recommendations, taxi services information and much more. The mobile apps for fully automated hotel reception system can be used to personalize the user experience on the bases of their previous interaction, their details and even the hotel management can also build customized customer personas to cater relevant information.
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Customer Feedbacks and Suggestions
Customer feedback data is an integral part of the business intelligence data. These days any business require high-level planning and future proof strategies to ensure long term growth and success. The customer feedback can be collected using any channels within the system such as the fully automated hotel reception interactive kiosks, information kiosks, mobile apps, online or websites, emails and SMS or even via QR code based online surveys. The customer feedback provide a deeper and very precise understanding of the guests’ minds and their preferences. On that information a hotel can easily built their future strategies and communication or marketing campaigns to attract more customers. Along with the customer feedbacks all the relevant channels can be made available for the guests to share their suggestions or even official complaints can also be streamlined through the interactive kiosks, website, or mobile application. All these channels provide user information which can be helpful in personalizing user experience and user journey. In long run such facilities are very beneficial for the hotel.
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Benefits of a Fully Automated Hotel Reception
The technology have developed to a stage where it is impacting on each and every aspect of our daily life. Whether it is our personal life or work or recreational activities or travelling, the technology had made its way to everywhere, far deeper than we usually understand. This has revolutionized some of the industries, especially the hospitality sector where the very basic need is to provide excellent service and a great user experience the technology is playing an important role. Hotels all over the world are rapidly adopting to new systems and solutions to make sure they are ahead of the competition. Here are some benefits of the fully automated hotel reception system:
- Provide hustle free check-in/out, 24/7
- Avoid queues and waiting lines on the reception
- Enable easy access to the information
- Offer more flexibility and control to the guests/customers
- Effectively monitor and evaluate the guests’ experience and interaction
- Offer unique and personalized guest experience
- Collect business intelligence data and customer feedback
- Offer contact-less experience with the mobile apps and online channels
- Drive sales and boost upselling tactics
- Reduce resource consumption and boost profitability
These are the few key advantages a hotel can have with the fully automated hotel reception interactive kiosk system. There are several other advantage of digitalizing guest experience. The hotels and entire hospitality sector relies on the customer satisfaction which can be achieved by offering excellent services, simpler interaction and keep making improvements. All that can be achieved with the help of afully automated hotel reception interactive kiosk system.
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Conclusion
The Dubai and in fact the entire UAE is a tourist hub, people from all around the world came here for tourism and for city attractions. The hospitality sector is booming, the competition is very high and the customer’s expectations are even higher. This begs an important question, how to beat the competition. For any customer service based industry there are two major things that drive customers’ trust and loyalty, one is the service quality, the other is the customer experience. For any hotel or hospitality business the guest’s experience and satisfaction is everything. The fully automated hotel reception with interactive kiosk is a great tactics to achieve your long term growth goals. It not only enhances customer experience and help building brand image, but it also collects valuable business intelligence data which can be used to further improve and update business’s policies and guests’ experience.
RSI Geeks is a leading name in customized interactive solutions and our in-house fully automated hotel reception system and interactive kiosk is a result of more than a decade-long journey of improvements and refinement. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want to get a quote for the system please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.
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