There are many ways to integrate technology across your hotel, from the right PMS to a complete CRM that covers both strategies, B2B and B2C. But there is one that often gets neglected, and this is your IOT infrastructure. One that, of course, if implemented correctly, can bring more benefits than you could have ever imagined. 

Named by Kevin Ashton in 1999, The Internet of Things (IOT) was conceived as the capability of devices to connect with each other to gather data, to trigger and notify ‘humans’ when they need it to perform actions such as repair, replace, and recalibrate objects. In essence, it generates a much simpler way for us to become more productive, as computers help us in the process. 

Today, it has evolved greatly to the point that it allows us to conceive ‘smart cities’, ‘smart buildings’, and in our industry, ‘smart hotels’. 

Fear not, a smart hotel is not exclusive to industry giants; we can implement a series of workflows that can help you with even the slightest of tasks. The objective is to gradually implement a strategy that enables connected devices through sensors to streamline daily practices. Let’s look at how: 

• Imagine placing light detector sensors across your common areas so you can automate the hours all of your lights need to turn on—let’s say it’s 18:00 PM—and turn off at 6:00 AM. All without having your maintenance or security team go by one by one, and sector by sector, doing it manually and repetitively.  

• Sensors and devices can also be placed in each of your HVAC systems, so when guests or even employees leave the rooms, offices, or any other space, it can automatically turn on/off the AC unit, ultimately saving energy consumption. This will translate immediately to your ESG strategy by contributing greatly to better environmental practices. 

• Inventory management can often be complicated, especially when you have a big F&B operation. So, placing a series of devices per storage and items can help your team change daily practices that, instead of manual counting, can become a cross-check at the end of the day, week, or month, between your POS and your IOT dashboard. 

• In the past couple of years, the usage of smartlocks is way more normalized, allowing you to change all your locks within an affordable budget. From guest rooms to staff offices, placing these devices is not only an aesthetic improvement, but one that would impact your guests’ experience and your staff productivity; an overall control system ideally connected to your PMS.

In the long run, these are just a couple of spaces and examples of how to take advantage of the connectivity the internet itself offers, and the power and capacity of the devices. But remember that the most important thing once you have installed the hardware is data collection. This is the real deal, as it isn’t only how easily it contributes to daily tasks, but what you can do with the data that it gives. 

From finding a better way to manage and calculate your operating expenses (water, electricity, or gas), by improving the way you control and forecast your expenses in the P&L. And to reduce the bills, as the systems will cease all types of unnecessary consumption.  
Furthermore, and in some cases, it can impact your labour costs, as in the end, what you are looking for is a much more effective working flow between all your employees, or more particularly, the ones with the most manual tasks across the buildings. 

Dare to embrace technology across your back and front areas, dare to test, to execute, and to learn from the patterns the data is showing you. Because at the end, an IOT strategy is a mix of operational advantages, positive climate impact, cost improvements, happy clients, and motivated employees. Who wouldn’t feel valuable when strategies are there to help you navigate your job better? If you have the money to implement it, we have the experience to make every component work. 
 

There are many ways to integrate technology across your hotel, from the right PMS to a complete CRM that covers both strategies, B2B and B2C. But there is one that often gets neglected, and this is your IOT infrastructure. One that, of course, if implemented correctly, can bring more benefits than you could have ever imagined. 

Named by Kevin Ashton in 1999, The Internet of Things (IOT) was conceived as the capability of devices to connect with each other to gather data, to trigger and notify ‘humans’ when they need it to perform actions such as repair, replace, and recalibrate objects. In essence, it generates a much simpler way for us to become more productive, as computers help us in the process. 

Today, it has evolved greatly to the point that it allows us to conceive ‘smart cities’, ‘smart buildings’, and in our industry, ‘smart hotels’. 

Fear not, a smart hotel is not exclusive to industry giants; we can implement a series of workflows that can help you with even the slightest of tasks. The objective is to gradually implement a strategy that enables connected devices through sensors to streamline daily practices. Let’s look at how: 

• Imagine placing light detector sensors across your common areas so you can automate the hours all of your lights need to turn on—let’s say it’s 18:00 PM—and turn off at 6:00 AM. All without having your maintenance or security team go by one by one, and sector by sector, doing it manually and repetitively.  

• Sensors and devices can also be placed in each of your HVAC systems, so when guests or even employees leave the rooms, offices, or any other space, it can automatically turn on/off the AC unit, ultimately saving energy consumption. This will translate immediately to your ESG strategy by contributing greatly to better environmental practices. 

• Inventory management can often be complicated, especially when you have a big F&B operation. So, placing a series of devices per storage and items can help your team change daily practices that, instead of manual counting, can become a cross-check at the end of the day, week, or month, between your POS and your IOT dashboard. 

• In the past couple of years, the usage of smartlocks is way more normalized, allowing you to change all your locks within an affordable budget. From guest rooms to staff offices, placing these devices is not only an aesthetic improvement, but one that would impact your guests’ experience and your staff productivity; an overall control system ideally connected to your PMS.

In the long run, these are just a couple of spaces and examples of how to take advantage of the connectivity the internet itself offers, and the power and capacity of the devices. But remember that the most important thing once you have installed the hardware is data collection. This is the real deal, as it isn’t only how easily it contributes to daily tasks, but what you can do with the data that it gives. 

From finding a better way to manage and calculate your operating expenses (water, electricity, or gas), by improving the way you control and forecast your expenses in the P&L. And to reduce the bills, as the systems will cease all types of unnecessary consumption.  
Furthermore, and in some cases, it can impact your labour costs, as in the end, what you are looking for is a much more effective working flow between all your employees, or more particularly, the ones with the most manual tasks across the buildings. 

Dare to embrace technology across your back and front areas, dare to test, to execute, and to learn from the patterns the data is showing you. Because at the end, an IOT strategy is a mix of operational advantages, positive climate impact, cost improvements, happy clients, and motivated employees. Who wouldn’t feel valuable when strategies are there to help you navigate your job better? If you have the money to implement it, we have the experience to make every component work. 
 

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