Seaport Hotel extends unified communications to guests

Convergence & VoIP This newsletter is sponsored by Arsenal Digital Solutions Solving the Distributed Data Protection Problem Hackers, disgruntled and careless employees, equipment failure, broken pipes, fires, and natural disasters all pose threats to your data. Savvy IT and business managers have recognized that in order to deal with these challenges, they need to deploy a company-wide data protection infrastructure. Click here to read this whitepaper today! Network World's Convergence & VoIP Newsletter, 07/04/07 Seaport Hotel extends unified communications to guests By Steve Taylor and Larry Hettick Guests of the Seaport Hotel and Seaport World Trade Center in Boston now enjoy a new, in-room service: the Seaportal. The Seaportal is a complimentary touch-screen Web portal that provides information about the Seaport Hotel events and facilities, along with “click to talk” voice calling services. It’s provided through the integration of IP telephony with Web services. At the touch of a screen, the portal provides the usual one-stop-shopping for information about the hotel and its events and services, guest e-mail access, and local and long-distance calling services. The in-room system is a “thin-client” device with a touch-screen display, and a wireless keyboard and mouse, designed to minimize deployment costs and simplify operations. The back-office software that provided the basis for the hotel’s custom views runs on SessionSuite SOA Edition from BlueNote Networks. Manage Insider Security Threats Experts say 75% of security threats come from inside your organization. Watch the latest Network World Editorial Perspectives Webcast today, "Security From the Inside," and learn which technologies and processes best protect your intellectual property and assets inside the perimeter. Click Here to View When the hotel’s management first envisioned the applications, they had several requirements. First, the hotel’s IT staff was asked to deploy the first phase of the project within 90 days with limited development resources. Second, the deployment had to be completed without any upgrades to the existing voice and data network infrastructure so the application had to work without replacing the existing Nortel Meridian (TDM) PBX. Third, management wanted to improve the guest experience with a feature-rich yet easy to use Web portal. And finally, the Web service interface had to easily interoperate with the hotel’s existing Property Management System leveraging guest information to personalize both content and services. The results? The whole system was up and running within 60 days, according to Greg Piasano, director of market development at Blue Note. Using the BlueNote software’s embedded APIs gave the hotel IT staff the ability to initiate phone calls using simple XML/SOAP messages that could initiate phone calls from the touch screen (still using the existing Nortel Meridian PBX without PBX dial plan or route table changes). Long-distance calls from hotel guests are now routed to a VoIP service provider saving up to 80% over previous long-distance costs, so the hotel now promotes complimentary click-to-call VoIP service. In a case study note, John Burke, vice president of technology at Seaport, said: “The launch has gone very smoothly. The feedback has been tremendous, and we feel it’s a real competitive advantage for us.” Our observation: It looks like extending unified communications to hotel guests may be a pretty good idea for the hospitality industry.   What do you think? Post a comment on this newsletter

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Contact the author: Steve Taylor is president of Distributed Networking Associates and publisher/editor-in-chief of Webtorials. For more detailed information on most of the topics discussed in this newsletter, connect to Webtorials, the premier site for Web-based educational presentations, white papers, and market research. Taylor can be reached at taylor@webtorials.com Larry Hettick is an industry veteran with more than 20 years of experience in voice and data. He is Vice President for Telecom Services and Infrastructure at Current Analysis, the leading competitive response solutions company. He can be reached at lhettick@currentanalysis.com This newsletter is sponsored by Arsenal Digital Solutions Solving the Distributed Data Protection Problem Hackers, disgruntled and careless employees, equipment failure, broken pipes, fires, and natural disasters all pose threats to your data. Savvy IT and business managers have recognized that in order to deal with these challenges, they need to deploy a company-wide data protection infrastructure. Click here to read this whitepaper today! ARCHIVE Archive of the Convergence & VoIP Newsletter. BONUS FEATURE IT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered to your inbox each day. Extend your knowledge with a print subscription to the Network World newsweekly, Apply here today. International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: security.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007