Not Just An Idiot Box...

Ashish K Tiwari discovers the smarter side of guestroom televisions

Offering efficient services to their hotel guests, be it personalised or otherwise, hotels across the world have left no stone unturned and have been quite proactive in incorporating new technology in their respective properties. Once such technology-based impersonal service is interactive televisions in the guestrooms, a facility quite popular with hotels abroad and much appreciated by business travellers. The interactive television is soon to become a standard feature in guestrooms in Indian hotels as well.

Hotels under the Orchid brand in Mumbai and New Delhi, (also the first hotel company to offer this facility in India) and Oberoi group’s select properties (just a few in the metro cities) are among the first few chains to incorporate interactive televisions. The latest entrant in this arena is the Taj group. Their management is in the process of adding interactive televisions as a ‘value-add facility’ for guests patronising the Taj chain across the country.

So what is so unique about interactive televisions? And more importantly how does a business traveller benefit from it?

"In appearance, interactive televisions are just like normal TVs. The difference lies in the functions and the kind of services offered to a hotel guest. In layman’s terms it’s a smart blend of hardware and software customised to individual hotel’s / chain’s requirements. And its sole objective is to provide that ultimate ‘infotainment’ to the hotel guest at the touch of a remote control and other accessories viz keyboard and joystick," says Sudha Raman, director, Grundig-Fine Arts Electronics which is the marketing office for Grundig in India.

Services/Applications

There are various services/applications that a business traveller can avail of through the interactive television. The service range may differ from hotel to hotel, depending on their individual requirements. The services enlisted below are the standard services of any interactive television:

• Wake up.
• Message.
• View bill/check out.
• Hotel Information.
• Room service.
• Information.
• Important phone numbers viz airlines and consulates.
• Details on shopping areas, places of interest and city map.
• Internet and email. Latest updates on current events, sports, travel, hotel information, news, weather etc

Entertainment

• Movies (in some cases music too).
• Games.

Free services

Among the above listed services, a few need to be elucidated. Take for instance the messaging service, as the guest enters the hotel room, s/he gets a welcome message on the TV screen which earlier used to be in the form of a letter. In case the guest is not in the hotel, all the messages are put on the message option in the TV. As the guest enters the room the LED display on the TV set indicates that there are urgent personal messages waiting for him/her.

All the information on the various facilities offered by the hotel viz restaurants, meeting and conference area, business centre facilities, menu details at various food and beverage outlets etc can be obtained from the hotel info and room service option.

If the guest has time on hand and needs options to explore s/he can look up the shopping, entertainment options on TV before setting out. Moreover, some hotels may offer users the opportunity to browse through a selection of products, providing them details such as product features, prices, local retailers, the option to receive coupons or information packages and finally the ability to make a purchase.

In case the guest is running short of time and has to check out, while packing the luggage s/he can use the ‘view bill’ option which allows the guest to see his/her bill on screen and then go through an express check out.

Services at cost

No matter how fascinating all of this sounds, there are a few things about using the interactive television that a user should keep in mind. Of the list of services on offer you may be tempted to avail of a ‘few’ but not really willing to pay for it!

You read it quite right. Services like the use of Internet on the television will come at a cost (unless the hotelier is really generous and wants to bear the cost. Do inquire, you may get lucky!). Games are also charged for but this option is still not available in India though some hotels are toying with the idea of incorporating the same in their hotels. The other one is the ‘movies’ option or ‘video on demand’. This service is also not available in any hotel interactive television in India. How disappointing... This feature is considered to be the most attractive one especially the adult movies section. In case you are travelling overseas and staying in a hotel which has an interactive television you could certainly avail the service. But if the hotel bill is going to be paid by your company, better be careful!!

I recollect an incident which had put a fellow journalist in an embarrassing situation on one of his overseas tours. He checked out the adult movies section under this option which eventually showed up in his hotel bill while checking out the next evening. He applied the ‘by hook or by crook’ approach and did manage to get a fresh bill without the charges for adult movies. But one may not get lucky every time!!!