5 Reasons Why Your Hotel Needs a Smart Wi-Fi Solution
5 Reasons Why Your Hotel Needs
a Smart Wi-Fi Solution
Hotel managers, hotel owners, Hotel IT admins, and key decision makers in the hospitality industry, listen up. This post is for you. There’s no doubt that you’ve experienced the hassle and frustration of poor Wi-Fi service at one point or another. In fact, chances are you’ve probably researched ways to significantly improve your hotel’s internet solution. The good part is, there are robust and secure solutions available that tackle some of the most common problems surrounding unreliable hotel Wi-Fi.
For those who are still on the fence, and wondering what the advantages and benefits that ‘smart’ Wi-Fi can offer your hospitality business, we’ve put together 5 essential reasons why your hotel needs a smart Wi-Fi solution, today.
YOUR GUEST’S TOP PRIORITY
Before we dive into the top reasons your hotel needs professional grade Wi-Fi, it’s crucial to understand that Hotel Wi-Fi is one of your guests’ most important needs. Today’s travelers have become reliant on their mobile devices, tablets, and laptops, all of which require high-speed Wi-Fi to operate effectively. Fail to deliver on this core need and guests will quickly become frustrated and annoyed at the lack of support. In other words, if they are not able to check their e-mail, scroll their social media feeds or use your mobile apps because your Wi-Fi connection is too slow, your hotel rating score will take a hard hit. You need to invest in fast, powerful Wi-Fi that will support all of your guests at any given time.
After price and location, this may very well be the most important factor in a guest’s decision to book at a specific location. A survey by J.D. Power discovered that, along with breakfast and parking, free Wi-Fi is one of the essential amenities for travelers.
1 - FULLY MANAGED INFRASTRUCTURE
Here’s a scenario for you; Your paying hotel guests expect an always-on free Wi-Fi service, while your hotel guests may be fine less bandwidth, or possibly paying for your hotel service on a per hour basis. An updated smart Wi-Fi solution allows you to benefit from the best of both worlds by shifting your internet based on various use cases. Your hotel lobby, for example, may require more usage than your hotel restaurant or bar, since the usage isn’t equally used across the hotel. Additionally, as a hotel manager, you may expect a peak of visitors due to special occasions and events. Having a fully managed solutions and updated infrastructure ensures your Wi-Fi is constantly available, at its optimal performance.
Managed Wi-Fi Notable Features
- Fully managed, end-to-end wireless network connectivity.
- Extends your wireless LAN without adding cabling or management costs.
- Design, configuration, installation, management, support and upgrades.
- Connections and networks are monitored around-the-clock from the service provider’s network operations center.
- A customer portal provides capabilities for monitoring network availability, performance, and efficiency.
2 - EVENTS AND CONVENTIONS SUPPORT
Hotel conventions and events can host in the upwards of hundreds of attendees, each carrying around multiple devices like mobile phones, tablets, and laptops. To make things even more challenging, events are now being live-streamed and shared in real time, while hundreds of guests may be on your Wi-Fi concurrently. Does your current infrastructure have what it takes to support such heavy bandwidth? If you’re running on hardware and software that’s just a few years old, chances are, the answer is no.
3 - PRIVACY AND SECURITY
Maintaining your guest’s privacy and security is paramount to your hotel’s success. After all, the last thing you want to have is someone’s privacy compromised. Keeping a hotel wifi network secure is a full-time job, a job that becomes increasingly more difficult for large hotels with hundreds of guests. This task can be streamlined and optimized with the right security standards such as 128-bit encryption, firewalls, and privacy protection.
Security vulnerabilities in a hotel’s internet service are no laughing matter. Cybercriminals began targeting hotels years ago. Back in 2010, a Forbes magazine article quoted Nicholas Percoco, who said that “The hospitality industry was the flavor of the year for cyber crime. These companies have a lot of data, there are easy ways in and the intrusions can take a very long time to detect.” The lesson for hotel owners is that they cannot stand idly by – hotel owners must be proactive by instituting best practices in their own operations, requiring the same from managers, and obtaining insurance coverage to fund the inevitable costs of a breach.
No business is safe from privacy breaches and cyber attacks, and hackers grow more sophisticated each day. This issue is particularly important in the hospitality industry, which relies heavily on its reputation for confidence, something that can be shattered when guests learn that their private information has been compromised.
4 - UPDATED INFRASTRUCTURE
You would expect this to be the standard in the hotel industry, but the fact remains that many hotels are still using SoHo-class gear, instead of enterprise-class solutions. Far too many hotel managers ignore the fact that equipment manufacturers actually use different components that work better than others. Not to mention man-years of coding of firmware to get the most possible out of the hardware.
There is a massive difference between the capabilities – RAM, CPU, antennas, and hardware quality between SoHo and Enterprise gear. That affects the results, especially as we add more and more load to our Wireless networks. Your hotel is a not a home environment and requires a much higher standard of quality.
5 - EMOTIONAL CONNECTION
This one’s a little different from the points mentioned above, but keep in mind, it’s in hotels’ best interests to encourage guest satisfaction, and even more so, encouraging your guests to share their positive experience with others online. Disengaged guests are less likely to return to a hospitality location, and are in fact, more likely to go online to broadcast their dissatisfaction with others. That’s something that your hotel simply can’t afford. Engaging guests is as simple as surpassing their expectations, with services like fast, free, easy to use and hassle-free Wi-Fi, anywhere on your hotel property!
VIGGO’S SMARTNET
By integrating Viggo’s Smartnet Wi-Fi solution through your hotel establishment, you receive the peace of mind that both you and your guests need, knowing that your network is monitored, your internet connections are always at an optimal level, and your guests and your business interests are protected against any cyber threats that might occur.
Find out more about how Viggo’s Smartnet solution can deliver everything you need to provide your guests with a memorable experience during their stay – Viggo Smartnet