INNOVATIONS &
INNOVATIONS & TECHNOLOGIES CONTENT AND ACTIVITY INSIDE AN APP IS END-TO-END ENCRYPTED AND THUS SECURED FROM ANY EAVESDROPPING Cyril Tarizzo Vice President of Sales, Acentic CHROMECAST ARRIVES IN HOTELS Ease of installation and use put this solution at the top of the list for new installs and refits Acentic is rolling out a technical solution with which hotel guests can pair their devices with those of the hotel using Chromecast. We asked Cyril Tarizzo, Vice President of Sales at Acentic how important this solution is as a differentiator for the hotelier and why it is important. The hospitality industry has moved from “pushing content to the guest” to “allowing easily the guest to pull its own content/subscription”. Allowing the guest to watch his or her content via a simple and secure process on a big screen has a real value. What’s the difference between implementing AirPlay or Miracast and Chromecast? Airplay and Miracast are both effectively “Screen mirroring” or “Wireless display” solutions. The main drawback of these approaches are: When streaming videos, the content constantly traverses the end-user device, thus draining the device’s battery; Multitasking — for example streaming video and answering emails without stopping the video — is not possible; Client OS/Hardware dependency - Airplay supports only Apple end-devices, Miracast only supports a certain range of Android and Intel based windows laptops. The main design goal of airplay is still “screen mirroring” and airplay requires the costly (€160) installation of an Apple TV 4 in the room; a device that is also hard to manage and maintain in a hospitality environment. Miracast is today included with most hospitality Smart TVs as a feature at no extra charge, however end-device support for Miracast is patchy and when support is present, your mileage may vary due to subtle differences in the protocol across manufacturers. Chromecast addresses all of these issues by changing the “screen mirroring” approach to a token-based handoff “casting” approach. Main advantages include: The content does not pass through the guest’s device. Streaming is direct to the Chromecast, thus saving battery on the guest’s device and providing less strain and interference on the Guest Wi-Fi infrastructure; Casting is not stopped when switching to another app (such as an email app); All major platforms supported for casting - Apple iOS, Mac-OS (via Chrome browser), Android, Windows and Linux; The guest’s credentials never leave their device. Only one-time tokens are passed from the guest’s device to the Chromecast dongle; Chromecast is cost-effective, easy to install and manage; It provides an opportunity for the hotel to report on basic usage data (such as apps utilised); Security: content and activity inside an app is end-to-end encrypted and thus secured from any eavesdropping; No cross-vendor issues, as every Chromecast app is designed as an integrated part of the mobile app itself
Hotel & Tourism SMARTreport #38 2018 Spring Edition 43 Nevaya hero screen MY CONTENT ON YOUR SCREEN Raising guest satisfaction, with intuitive media-streaming for hospitality Online media for the hospitality industry is fast becoming the option of choice for in-room entertainment. Several recent surveys* have confirmed an increased preference amongst travellers, wishing to view personal devices on their bedroom TV screen. Furthermore, hoteliers are also set to benefit from a better understanding of their guests by enhancing their guest experience, whilst simultaneously improving their targeted marketing and communications. Since launching in 2013, Google Chromecast has become the media-streaming device of choice to enhance home entertainment on the TV via HDMI. The device allows users to choose from over 200,000 TV shows & movies, 30 million songs, plus radio, sport and games. A range of free, subscription or paid content is available from thousands of apps, such as YouTube, iPlayer, Hulu, Spotify and Net ix, all through the leisure of one’s TV screen. While Google Chromecast offers an inbuilt “guest mode” for use beyond the home, many hoteliers have still been somewhat nervous to introduce the device into guest entertainment systems due to specific security challenges faced by commercial venues. The hospitality industry requires a safe and secure application; what would prevent users from casting malicious content to surrounding bedroom TVs? How vulnerable could a guest’s device become? Powered by Google Chromecast, nevayacast has been specifically designed to provide all the enjoyable benefits of media-streaming entertainment, in a complete solution. With nevayacast, guests only ever access the Chromecast device specifically connected in their room. Hoteliers can be reassured that there is no risk of a hotel guest viewing devices from any surrounding rooms, casting to any surrounding rooms, or accessing any of the Chromecast settings. Designed to work through Wi-Fi integration, casting the guest’s device can be as simple as just connecting to the bedroom Wi-Fi, or if preferable, with a TV code. GENERATING REVENUE THROUGH GUEST SATISFACTION Hoteliers are able to maximise opportunities to improve their business reputation through increased guest satisfaction, review ratings and occupancy. Furthermore, with nevayacast, guests never have to feel the frustration of a break in their box-set viewing, or struggle to view their favourite entertainment on the small screen of their smartphone. Using the smartphone as a remote: The average person spends over 4 hours per day on his or her smartphone, so a guest’s instinctive preference to use their personal device over a hotel TV remote control is obvious. It’s easy to control the TV from anywhere in their hotel bedroom, furthermore guests can keep using their device without interrupting what’s playing or draining their battery *Data taken from ADB In-Room Entertainment Preference Study 2016
