Swisscom’s ConnectedHotel TV, the first all-in-one solution for Internet access, interactive TV and VoD, has been voted best product of the year by the readers of German hotel magazine Top Hotel. The award of the Top Hotel STAR AWARD 2010 further distinguishes Swisscom’s ConnectedHotel TV as one of the industry’s prime technology innovations of the year.
The STAR AWARD, initiated by Germany’s leading subscription-based hotel magazine, Top Hotel, identifies those new products which best support hoteliers in their aim to provide superior guest service. An independent jury selected 3 products across each of the 7 categories from a total of 120 entries. Readers of the magazine were then asked to vote and from the 2’200 responses. Swisscom’s ConnectedHotel TV secured the top score in the non-food category.
ConnectedHotel TV was launched in summer and has already been installed at Steigenberger and nH hotels in Germany and in Spain. In addition, the Saint Ermin’s and the Park International Hotel, both located in London, have already committed to ConnectedHotel TV.
“The Top Hotel STAR AWARD is a marque of distinction, as viewed by the industry”, confirms Thomas Karsch, managing director of Top Hotel magazine. “It rewards innovation in product design as recognised by our jury combined with a genuine market vote. I am happy to say that Swisscom ConnectedHotel TV brings forward the kind of innovation that meets with high market acceptance. Today’s guests have the latest technology at home and hoteliers are keenly aware of that. Any leading hotel will want to offer its guests the same, if not a better entertainment and connectivity service through a product like Swisscom ConnectedHotel TV.”
ConnectedHotel TV is the first “all-in-one” solution enabling hoteliers to offer wired and wireless Internet access, HD television, video-on-demand and web-based services through one single device – a custom-designed LG TV screen. Most importantly, it works without a set-top box or any additional hardware or HDMI cabling, significantly reducing costs throughout the whole product life-cycle, from acquisition to installation to operation (energy consumption) and maintenance. Another major advantage of ConnectedHotel TV: It runs on the existing cable infrastructure one normally find in hotels, be it Coax, Cat-3 or Cat-5. There is no additional investment for the hotel, which also benefits from the Wireless Access Point embedded in the TV.
“Internet-enabled devices have transformed our leisure time outside of the office”, explains Leo Brand, CEO of Swisscom Hospitality Services. “Swisscom’s ConnectedHotel TV is challenging in that it changes the way hoteliers look at guest room entertainment. The user interface, very fast and simple, is the most intuitive that they have seen on a HD TV (LED or LCD) screen. I am very proud of my team that have developed this flash based solution over the last two years jointly with LG in Korea. The guest and hotel responses are extremely encouraging. We are facing a fantastic pipeline to make more hotel customers and their guests happy.“
About Swisscom Hospitality Services
Swisscom Hospitality Services is a leader in converged technology solutions for the global hospitality industry. We provide clients with integrated cost effective communication solutions whilst meeting their guests’ unique service needs.
We design, build and manage hotel networks, laying the foundation for a scalable hotel service environment. Through the hotel networks that we manage, we deliver premium guest services such as IPTV, HSIA, branded portals, business center and conference solutions, and we support 3rd party applications to run on the same network. Swisscom services cover some 2,300 partner locations across Europe, Middle East and Africa, as well as North America.
