May
Hotel Lobby Digital Signage
On a recent visit to the Marriott hotel chain, we where met at the reception with a digital advertising screen that had a built in motion sensor.
This gave us some basic information for the hotel, such as what leisure facility opening hours are, what was on the menu in the main restaurant and in the bar and information about Internet access.
This bought time as the desk clerk was busy dealing with another customer who was checking in, and by the time the ads had looped completely we where being tended too.
This is the most basic use of digital signage, however a more sophisticated digital signage solution is deployed at the Hyatt chain of hotels, here they have an interactive check in and an express check out. Also in their car park they utilise outdoor digital signage to advertise their chain of hotels in various destinations throughout the world, this type of solution is common in hotels and this is how they achieve it.
Check in desk digital signage.
Here numerous large flat panel screens are deployed above the desk and are viewed by guests as they check in. The media is stored on a local networked media player just behind the wall, sort of a back office application; this is then connected to the large screens using Category 5e network cables, this enables the content to be uploaded from a local computer connected to the media player.
Express check in and check out.
This application uses a floor standing kiosk that is interactive so guests can input their data, i.e. reservation number. This is can either be on a secured wireless network that is also used by the handheld terminals used by staff to take card payments, or alternatively they can be wired to the main computer network or be a standalone solution with the media player built in.
Advantages of wireless interactive kiosks – is there are no unsightly cables running across the floor or from the ceiling, also the kiosks can be located any where in the foyer of the hotel lobby and can be moved to another location with very little disruption.
Disadvantages of wireless interactive kiosks – these can be expensive.
Advantages of hard wired interactive kiosks – deployment costs are lower than the wireless kind as the hardware is more expensive.
Disadvantages of hard wired interactive kiosks – due to the nature of the deployment, the location is really restricted to either the perimeter of a room of near a pillar to conceal the cables. Moving the kiosk to a new location is costly as engineers have to be called in to re-cable to the new location.
Advantages of an interactive digital kiosk – these are very cost effective, due to the media player being built in and can even run Flash content. Moving to another site is easy, just move the kiosk with no purchasing any wireless adapters or having to pay for engineers to come to site.
Conclusion.
If you are going to deploying digital signage in a hotel lobby, you need to consider how to connect it, bearing in mind if it is likely you be moved during any event, such as a wedding – the bride does not want to be upstaged by the digital signage hardware.
LCD Enclosure Global are a specialist manufacturer of outdoor flat screen enclosures, also called LCD enclosures, these are used by digital signage integrators and people who wish to make a feature of their pool or hot tub area.
LCD Enclosure Global – anything else is a compromise.