Voice-enabled smart assistants like Amazon
Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri may
be relatively new developments, but their
popularity is soaring among consumers. Since
Apple introduced Siri during the 2011 launch
of the iPhone 4S, consumers are growing more
comfortable talking to their “smart” devices.
That trend is starting to take hold in the
hospitality industry, as operators seek to make
the guest experience more modern, efficient
and cost-effective. That places the onus on hotel
managers to implement effective staff training
programs and to reassure them that Alexa or Siri
will make their jobs easier, not take them away.
Making the prediction that the industry will see
rising adoption rates of Alexa and other voice-
enabled technologies this year is not exactly
going out on a limb. Research firm eMarketer
reports that 35.6 million Americans will use a
voice-activated assistant device at least once
a month. That’s a year-over-year jump of
128.9 percent. Not surprisingly, the hospitality
industry has taken notice.
Marriott is testing out Amazon Alexa in a
number of its hotel properties to serve guests
who are more likely to search their smartphones
for nearby restaurants instead of calling the
concierge. Best Western is trying out Amazon
Alexa-enabled devices that greet guests by
name when they enter their rooms. Some guests
at Wynn Las Vegas can ask Amazon Alexa to
control lights, room temperature, drapery
and the television, and the hotel plans to add
additional capabilities.
If you plan to give your hotel a voice, successful
implementation requires that it speaks not just
to your guests, but also to your employees.
Amazon, which holds a commanding lead in
the smart speaker market, realizes that hotels
cannot install smart speakers in every room,
and then leave it to individual staffers and
departments to try to process all the requests
and questions guests will make. So late last year,
the retail giant during its Amazon Web Services
(AWS) re:Invent conference unveiled its
Amazon for Business initiative that formalizes,
coordinates, and bolsters its effort to drive
the use of Alexa in workplaces. That includes
providing hotels the back-office technical
support required to enable voice services.
This means hotels will need to figure out how to
integrate Amazon voice services with their other
technology platforms, which can be easier said
than done.
Consider how many software solutions - either
installed on the premises or hosted in the cloud
- your teams use for guest services, check-ins,
security, CRM, etc. Tying all of those disparate
systems together with a voice-enabled digital
assistant like Alexa is key to helping staff
to react to guest requests, and to enabling
managers to monitor their progress, in real-
time.
By Juan Carlos Abello