Straight from HTNG: 3 Trends Changing the Way Guests Connect

The HTNG Conference, which we covered in our last post, is officially in full swing and we want to brief you on what was said to be one of Monday’s most valuable take away presented by our own, Eric Sullender, Eleven director of products.

Below are 3 trends that are transforming technology needs throughout the industry:

1. Continuing Rise of Mobile: Business travelers carry an average of 2.68 mobile devices and, by the end of 2014, it’s predicted there will be more mobile devices in the world than people (supermonitoring.com). Mobile use continues to revolutionize the way guests connect with properties before, during, and after their stays.
2. BYOC (Bring Your Own Content): The increase in streaming media has caused ever-increasing consumption of data and bandwidth with video making up more than 50% of mobile traffic (Cisco Feb. 2014). Guests, accustomed to high performance streaming at home and at their offices will expect hospitality properties to comply.
3. High-Density in Conference Spaces: Quality Wi-Fi connections are in high demand by conference and meeting planners. Ruckus reported 50% of Wi-Fi traffic is produced by conference areas, while only occupy 20% of the overall property. The high density of devices in a single area causes strain on current infrastructures.

These trends certainly present the hospitality industry with some challenges. Highly technical concerns include changes in how devices wirelessly connect via antennas as well as how built-in power-saving capabilities could generate more traffic. These technical concerns, coupled with the general Wi-Fi usage on the rise, most hotels infrastructures simply cannot keep up.

Stay tuned for our next original blog series, where we’ll explore the latest hotspot technology, known as Passpoint, and how it could help visitor-based networks (think guest Wi-Fi) become more efficient and user-friendly.

How do you monitor and distribute bandwidth at your establishment?