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March 30, 2021

Wifi killed the hotel star(s) – How to roll-out a secure Hotel network and catch a falling star

Offering hotel guests secure wifi is not a competitive advantage, but a commodity that they expect.

“You are not offering your guests the gift of the glorious internet,” said Jared van Ast, Founder and Managing Director at 10dot Cloud Security.

“You’re giving them an expected commodity, along with clean linen, coffee, and chocolates so small you could store them in your cheek without your taste buds even noticing.”

Guests expect an internet connection, but much more than that, they expect a secure network over which to conduct their business – professional or otherwise.

Hotels are the front-runners when it comes to on-demand network management and service experience.

How 10dot deploys and manages secured hotel networks

10dot Cloud Security recently deployed a seamless, integrated, secure network solution with a large hotel and leisure group.

The team added 10dot’s custom Gatekeeper management platform on-top, which empowers remotely deployed IT hotel staff with real-time insight into the performance of their secure network, from their smartphone.

“It removes the complexities of having to train-up personnel, consolidates the management of geographically disperse site networks, and allows you to optimize the entire service experience value-chain – all at the flip of a finger, and from the palm of your hand,” Jared explained.

Dreaming bigger – what tech has made possible

“Let’s dream big. The tech is here. All you need to do is use it well. Get an expert in who can guide you and help you configure just one element in your hotel network,” states Jared.

Starting at the security layer, Jared uses the humble firewall as an example.

Properly deployed, you can segment your guest and staff accounts across the entire geographically dispersed group of hotels (Leisure sites), sync AD, govern web usage, enforce security policies that protect your hotel and guest data, whilst simultaneously enhancing your guest online experience.

And that’s just at the infrastructure layer. But what about the service experience on the front-lines? Jared argues that it is possible to optimise the entire service experience value chain through the effective use of technology:

“What about hotel staff using their own phones (BYOD), and being able to interact with key hotel service apps through their phone – like booking a client spa treatment whilst in the lift on the way down to the lobby, chatting to the guest about the latest spa trends available at your hotel, and then pre-ordering that guest’s room service for after the treatment?”

“Or what about consolidating your staff Active Directory (AD) accounts, and linking them to all hotel service apps, so that all staff can access the network through a secure, single sign-on mechanism, speeding-up their ability to tend to guest requests, thereby becoming more effective at their jobs?”

We reckon that it is powerful, seamless, uninterrupted service experience, and brand building.

“This used to be the stuff of dreams when it came to delivering a high-end customer experience in the service industry,” Jared adds.

“This is now possible through the effective use of technology. Getting it 100% right is not as important as getting onboard.”

Let the tech drive the service experience you want to be remembered for.

“Guests will come back, and more importantly, you will buck the trends and instead set the new benchmark for on-demand, high-quality service experience across your hotel group,” Jared concludes.