INTEREL’S connectBsmart BLUETOOTH BEACONS NAMED TOP HOTEL TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION BY HTNG MEMBERS
Revinate and IDeaS Products Earn Runner-Up Titles
Hotel Technology Next Generation (HTNG), the membership association that unites the world’s hospitality companies and technology innovators to solve industry challenges, announced that its members have awarded the 2015 “TechOvation Award” to connectBsmart by Interel.
The First Runner-Up technology was inGuest by Revinate, and the Second Runner-Up was IDeaS Function Space Revenue Management by IDeaS. HTNG senior officers and competition emcee David Berkus, presented the awards at the annual HTNG North American Conference in San Antonio on February 25.
In accepting the award, Florian Gallini, Group CEO of Interel said, “We are extremely proud that our ‘connectBsmart’ beacon framework has been voted the hospitality industry’s best technology innovation this year. Innovation is at the absolute core of everything we do at Interel and winning this award is a real testament to the passion and dedication that drives our team.”
Interel describes its connectBsmart solution as an online, beacon-as-infrastructure hospitality solution. This framework is built into the established Interel technology platform and the first generation of powered, networked Bluetooth beacons.
The first runner-up technology from Revinate is a comprehensive platform for connecting with guests pre-, during and post stay. Revinate says that with mobile technology at its core, inGuest is designed to extend hotel services to guests, 24/7, to drive more touch points with staff and increase revenue.
“Being a finalist in the TechOvation awards demonstrates the vast potential our industry leading solution has to transform the guest experience with guest data and visionary technology.” commented Jay Ashton, CEO of Revinate.
IDeaS Function Space Revenue Management (FSRM) was the Second Runner-Up and is an innovation in revenue management. IDeaS describes it as a leap in technologies toward Total Revenue Performance available to hotels.
HTNG’s TechOvation Award is the next generation of the association’s hospitality technology innovation competition, which launched six years ago as the “Most Innovative Hospitality Technology Award.” In concert with its media partner Hotel Business, HTNG expanded the competition this year to include live presentations. But at its core, the program still focuses on recognizing and rewarding technology innovation in the hospitality industry. The three finalists were selected from a pool of 18 leading hospitality technologies by a diverse panel of hospitality technology experts. The full audience at HTNG’s North American Conference determined the final standings amongst the three finalists.
The winner and runners-up can immediately start using the award’s seal on product promotional information and packaging. The association’s website has information about all 18 contestants at http://htng.org/techovation-award.
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About Hotel Technology Next Generation
The premier technology solutions association in the hospitality industry, HTNG is a self-funded, nonprofit organization with members from hotel and hospitality companies, technology vendors to hospitality and other industry members including consultants, media and academic experts. HTNG’s members participate in focused workgroups to bring to market open solution sets addressing specific business problems. HTNG fosters the selection and adoption of existing open standards. Where necessary, it also develops new open standards to meet the needs of the global hospitality industry.
Membership in HTNG is open to hotel and hospitality companies, technology vendors to hospitality, consultants, academics, press and others. Currently more than 400 corporate and individual members from across this spectrum, including most of the world’s leading hotel companies and technology vendors, are active HTNG participants. HTNG’s Board of Governors, consisting of 18 top IT leaders from hotel companies around the world, itself has technology responsibility for nearly 3 million guest rooms. HTNG publishes workgroup proceedings, drafts and specifications for all HTNG members as soon as they are created, encouraging rapid and broad adoption. HTNG releases specifications into the public domain as soon as they are ratified by the workgroups. For more information, visit www.htng.org.