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With the maturity of IoT technology, all walks of life have their own IoT solutions. IoT hotels enable operators to streamline hotel front and back office operations and reduce costs through data collection and automation. At the same time, it allows guests to enjoy personalized experience by using their mobile phones to access room functions and hotel services, such as adjust lighting, read digital food menus, and control TVs, etc., to enjoy a more comfortable stay. So, what exactly is the internet of things in hospitality industry? what are possible IoT applications and solutions?
Definition of IoT Hotel
The Internet of Things is an information carrier based on the Internet, allowing all physical things that may be addressed separately to establish an interconnected network. In layman’s words, it makes use of Internet information technology to connect objects.
The hospitality industry is leveraging IoT to improve guest comfort, manage energy consumption and monitor personal security, asset usage, and more at a lower cost. In the traditional hotel management model, data from separate systems is stuck in siled, disparate locations and cannot be further processed and analyzed.
The IoT-powered smart hotel uses intelligent control systems to control various room devices such as lights, curtains, air conditioners, TVs, sensors, door locks, and so on, to realized automated mode of opening doors, voice control of air conditioners, one-key smart scene switching, and other functions of various systems, assisting hotels in transitioning from disparate systems to an integrated cloud dashboard capable of doing data analysis to find patterns and anomalies, and then to determine when to execute building maintenance or other chores to improve the customer experience.
Examples of the IoT in the Hospitality Industry
Room Automation
The IoT smart hotel may offer completely tailored services to guests. The hotel rooms have smart door locks, lighting, blinds, thermostats, and entertainment systems that can all be controlled by voice or smartphones. Guests who stay in smart hotel rooms may experience a service that is totally different from traditional hotels.
Another advantage of IoT in the hotel business is its ability to recognize client preferences and give customised services during their next visit. Hotel corporations that build hotels in multiple locations can also share guest data in the CRM systems to guarantee that guests have the same experience in each branch of the hotel chain, but such users must be cautious about data privacy and security.
Energy Management
Utilities often make up a significant portion of hotel expenditures. IoT may assist minimize these expenses by monitoring large energy users such as HVAC systems, lighting systems, and large equipment like industrial refrigerators. Enough data may be collected over time to perform an AI analysis of previous energy use trends and identify conservation areas that require improvement.
Smart thermostats, for example, conserve energy by altering the temperature of a room depending on past behaviors and occupancy. When the visitor is not in the room, the room sensor and smart thermostat may automatically switch off the air conditioner, and when the guest returns, it will turn on at the temperature chosen by the guest, saving energy usage.
Asset Management
To ensure customers have appropriate access to essential commodities such as hand sanitizer, towels, and toilet paper, the average hotel must continually keep track of a plethora of items, such as the inventory of various supplies and room accessories. Facility managers may use wireless IoT sensors and Zigbee universal hubs to proactively monitor when consumables are running low in guest rooms, office centers, and exercise facilities for optimal inventory management and prompt replacement.
The supply chain can be optimized to reduce the possibility of stock shortages or excesses by using IoT sensors and gateways to monitor the temperature of food and beverages, track their location, and even record shipment and arrival date times to manage inventory in real time.
Predictive Maintenance
Customer satisfaction is primarily reliant on seamless operations and no interruptions in service. IoT sensors can capture the status data of hotel electrical appliances, equipment, and facilities and upload data to the background cloud server via Zigbee IP gateways, notifying maintenance personnel immediately when the equipment shows signs of deterioration or abnormal performance, thereby extending the service life of the equipment and reducing the guest’s stress. complaint.
IoT has made it easier to undertake routine maintenance checks on guest room and hotel equipment, lowering repair costs and allowing employees to focus on other tasks rather than completing manual maintenance checks every few days.
Traffic Management
IoT indoor positioning systems can detect the number of people entering and exiting a specific place in real time and notify administrators when capacity thresholds are surpassed.
Cleaning Services
The most crucial aspect of the hotel is frequent disinfection and cleaning. Combining people count data with occupancy detection data allows for the identification of frequently and seldom utilized places, as well as the timely notification of empty conference rooms, gyms, and swimming pools. Hotel employees may then utilize this information to operate more efficiently and ensure that cleaning procedures are carried out when necessary.
Indoor Environmental Quality Monitoring
IEQ has moved from the margins to the heart of hotel design. The epidemic has highlighted the need of clean air in hotels, restaurants, and conference centers. IoT ensures that these rooms have clean air to breathe and that the ambient temperature, light, and noise levels are appropriate for visitor comfort.
Security and Safety
Hotels must prioritize safety and security due to increased customer traffic. A variety of IoT solutions, such as door mechanisms that notify personnel when a guest leaves the door unlocked, can help with these objectives.
Furthermore, staff safety is a big concern for hotels, which may be enhanced by having personnel sound a security alarm when they have an encounter with a violent visitor or burglar. This enables management to locate any dangerous employees and summon a response team.
Hotel IoT Solutions and Basic Requirements
The IoT industry chain in the hotel has a very obvious hierarchy. The raw materials of Internet of Things hardware are the upstream of the industry chain, the hotel IoT service providers are in the middle reaches, and the hotel is in the downstream. Midstream service providers and upstream hardware manufacturers collaborate, as do IoT integrated service providers and software service providers. Downstream hotels integrate midstream and upstream IoT devices and services to reduce operational expenses and save energy. So, what are the fundamental criteria of hospitality IoT solutions?
Full Perception Capability
IoT smart hotels mostly collect data through various sensors. Each sensor is a source of data. Different sensors gather different types of information. The sensors capture data on a regular basis, and the data is continually updated and real-time. This sensing capability directly impacts the intelligent system’s perceptual sensitivity to the surroundings and items utilized.
Data Transfer Capability
Usually this capability is achieved through the communication protocols and IoT gateway hardware. Huge amounts of data collected by the sensors is transmitted through the network. In order to ensure the accuracy and timeliness of the information, it is necessary to use IoT gateways to adapt to various heterogeneous network protocols.
AI Learning Capability
Analyze, process, analyze, and abstract the customer behavior characteristic model from the massive data captured by the sensor, and use the results of optimized data to feed back to the system through “learning”, making IoT hospitality system unique. The more you use it, the smarter it becomes.
System Feedback Capability
Smart hotel IoT systems must be capable of real-time control and provide intelligent and efficient outcomes. The lighting will be adjusted in real time based on the hotel’s luminosity requirements, as well as daily sunset changes and climate changes; the curtains will be intelligently adjusted based on indoor activity habits and sunlight transfer; and the mattress will be adjusted based on indoor temperature, guest preferences, and human biological rhythms, etc.
System & Device Stability
A large number of sensors are embedded in a large number of furniture and equipment, and big data processing, AI artificial intelligence, and behavioral control models are used to control the system and intelligence. As a result, the system’s reliance on people is greatly decreased, and customer satisfaction is shifting toward the reliability of the system or equipment. Enhancing stability of systems and devices becomes increasingly important.
Security Capability
While there are several advantages to integrating IoT in hotels, there are also concerns that hoteliers should be aware of. Data security is a big concern, as the increased number of connected devices increases the vulnerability to cyberattacks that might compromise valuable consumer and employee data.
As a result, hoteliers must have a dedicated cybersecurity staff (on-site or off-site) and annual budget allocations to cope with developing dangers while deploying an IoT infrastructure. However, hoteliers should not be discouraged from implementing IoT, as IoT has demonstrated its worth in a variety of sectors.
Final Words
The rapid advancement of smart hotels is inextricably linked to the advancement of IoT technologies. The day-to-day operations of a hotel will become increasingly automated over time, allowing personnel to focus on offering better customer assistance and engagement. IoT may genuinely alter the hospitality business by streamlining procedures, enabling unrivaled control ， eliminating energy waste, and creating a more customized guest experience.
