Articles

Considerations of implementing
self-service technology in hotels

Considerations 1 to 6 below...

1. Adoption by guests.

Not every guest is comfortable with new or unfamiliar technology. Handholding and helping the guest to use self service kiosks is a golden opportunity to welcome the guest and make them feel at home in the hotel and with self check-in routines.

2. Frustration.

Hotel staff need to be fully conversation with their hotel self-service systems.
Also, well-thought-out workflows on kiosk software does not allow guest confusion to creep in. Full testing of the check-in process by typical guests is a must for easy to understand software

3. Limitations.

However intuitive and well thought out, self service kiosks don’t replace the warmth, intuition, and creative problem-solving of human employees. A small no. of staff should be welcoming and helping guests with the self service process ensure smooth “buy-in” by guests.

4. Resistance from employees.

Employees that have not been trained on the use and reasons behind self-service technology introduction may fear its use and resist the step forward.
Communicating how the technology will augment the work of team members and assist in driving new guests to the hotel.

5. Costs.

Self-serve systems require investments in technology and time. When structured well and staff trained and deployment for maximum guest take-up is put in place, the pay back is considerable. Avoiding the training, deployment and using “low-cost” software and hardware will only convince that the technology does not produce a great ROI

6. Integration.

Ensuring that the self service technology integrates well with Hotel PMS systems is a must. Failing to do that is likely to create miscommunications and bugs that no-one knows how to sort out etc. It is important to select solution vendors such as P3 software and K4B hardware that have track record in delivering seamless solutions that integrate well with most PMS systems