Everyone in the hotel industry knows the extreme importance of keeping up with current technology trends. Whether it's switching keys for keycards, providing Wi-Fi in the rooms, upgrading to VoIP for better communication, or maintaining a social media account, guests expect certain amenities that make their stay more enjoyable. One element that must not be overlooked is how your hotel's technology is able to interact on the mobile market. Unless you've been living under a rock, you've surely noticed that many people conduct business over their phones on a daily basis. Even more so, they will often avoid businesses that don't interact very well on these small devices, which could lead to plummeting profits if you're not able to keep up.
How do you ensure that your hotel is staying at the top of the leaderboards when it comes to mobile functionality? You can start by meeting these mobile milestones:
Offering Your Own Mobile App
When someone says "They make an app for that," they're not kidding. There seems to be an app for nearly everything and new ones are coming out every year. If your hotel doesn't have a native app, you could quickly find yourself falling behind your competition. So what types of functionality should your app provide? Some enable guests to unlock their room through an app, but you don't have to go that far. Instead, you can treat the phone app as a concierge service of sorts. Enable guests to order room service, investigate local hotspots, adjust room temperatures, use their smartphone as a TV remote, conduct guest services for assistance, check-out of their rooms, etc. These simple things will provide guests with unprecedented ease-of-use, and will even help your hotels run more smoothly by automating certain tasks.
Enabling Mobile Payments
Gone are the days when most guests are uncomfortable about paying for products and services online. These days, nearly everyone shops online and that includes hotel reservations. In recent years, mobile payments have increased in popularity due to the proliferation of mobile devices, and it's imperative that you keep up with this trend. The most common use of mobile payments is through a "mobile wallet" app, which enables a customer to store debit card or credit card information on their phone and use it at multiple vendors, as needed. The most popular of these services are Google Wallet, SoftCard, and Apple Pay. If your payment system allows for all of these, you'll be ahead of the curve and guests will be more likely to choose you as their getaway destination.
Responsive Web Design
Smartphones and tablets are much smaller than your average laptop or computer, so your standard website might not look nearly as good on these devices. If a customer visits your website on his or her smartphone and it doesn't look great, there's a good chance they'll go to one of your competitors who has taken the time to maximize its functionality for mobile devices. The goal is to provide an optimal viewing experience regardless of the device being used, and responsive web design works by detecting the type of device that a customer is using to visit your website and adjusting it accordingly. If you don't know how to do this yourself, it's time to hire a website designer for the job. This small attention to detail can prove to have healthy dividends.
Whether you're meeting these mobile milestones or not, it is essential that you provide your customers with the best communications available. The professionals at PhoneSuite can assist you with upgrading to VoIP as a way to stay current with technology trends. Contact us today and we'll get you started right away!
