65% of guests use your Wi-Fi within 7 minutes of arriving at your hotel. So how can you make their first experience an excellent one?

Did you know that your hotel guests would have a hard time choosing between wireless access and air conditioning in your hotel? And, that the majority of your guests would also pick wireless over food? Yes, you read that right – Arbitrip’s 2017 report found wireless service and air conditioning tied as the top guest amenity with breakfast coming in second.

Simply providing wireless connectivity is no longer enough. Guests expect fast, reliable and secure Wi-Fi, to the point that they may choose another hotel if your network does not provide sufficient connectivity for their devices. If your hotel network is frequently the source of guest complaints, you are not alone. Many hotels have aging networks that were not built to handle the high network bandwidth they need today, which is largely due to the sheer number of mobile devices that arrive with each guest.

Upgrading your hotel network: Happy guests, productive employees and new services

When you upgrade your hotel network to meet (or hopefully exceed) today’s demands, you give your property a competitive edge. Your guests will be happy with the super-fast wireless, and they will be thrilled by the new services – check-in/checkout, order a drink while at the pool or turn the lights on in their room before entering – that your hotel can now offer with smartphone apps. Your staff can also now communicate and coordinate with each other, as well as guests, using mobile technology from anywhere on the property.

Here are five things to consider when upgrading your hotel’s network:

1. Coverage

In the past, wireless coverage was only needed in a few places – the guest rooms and maybe the lobby. However, today’s guests expect coverage everywhere in the hotel – even pool areas and the parking garage. And employees need to be able to communicate from the housekeeping closet or the maintenance shed at the back of the property.

2. Traffic patterns

Your guests and employees move around constantly while accessing the network, resulting in unpredictable traffic patterns. And they expect the same level of connectivity wherever they are on the property.

3. Throughput

It’s no longer email and Facebook that your guests want to access. They want to use multimedia applications such as streaming video from wherever they are at the moment – their room, the swimming pool, even the golf cart. The result – high bandwidth use.

4. Security

Guests trust your network with their work documents, banking information, travel plans and more, and they expect a network free of viruses and data breaches. This becomes even more challenging to ensure with so many different people and devices accessing your network.

5. Levels of service/access

Not everyone on your hotel property needs the same network access. Guests, employees, management, IT staff – all have different needs. By having the ability to define multiple user types, you can create a different environment on the same infrastructure for each user type, which improves security and service, and helps control bandwidth. Hotels can also provide VIP guest access with special perks – faster service, more bandwidth, or access to premium services or applications.

Contact Amillan today to discuss our range of Hospitality Communications Technology Solutions