How the Spectrum Business-Moviebeam partnership creates the personalized experience hotel guests crave and the reliability hotels require

We’ve long lived in an era where people want—even expect—personalized experiences. A 2018 Epsilon research study of 1,000 clients across industries showed 80 percent are more likely to do business with a company if it offers an experience tailored to personal preferences.

The hotel industry, too, has placed a significant emphasis on catering to guests’ personalized expectations. People want a hotel room to feel like a private oasis. I’ve been helping hotel managers for more than two decades, and I believe nothing creates a reliable personalized experience better than when hotels offer technology that makes guests feel like they are in their own homes. 

That’s why I’m excited we’ve announced new offerings with our partner Moviebeam, a full-featured hospitality systems integrator. This partnership helps hotels not only reliably deliver video but also provide the personalization guests expect more easily. Here are tech trends guests expect that make their hotel stays more personal, and here’s how our partnership helps hotels deliver them.  

Reliable video services

One year ago, Popular Mechanics magazine asked, “Why are hotel TVs so bad?” Among the top complaints: outdated TVs with unreliable video service. The reasons for spotty-fuzzy-delayed feeds vary, but most commonly, the issue is bad weather that satellites can’t get around. 

How Spectrum Business and Moviebeam provide them: Thanks to video options delivered over a terrestrial fiber-based network, a more reliable, better quality picture can be delivered. (Access to fiber, by the way, is increasing.) Our video service Fiber Connect Plus, delivered via fiber to each hotel, is not susceptible to weather-related disruptions and outages. Should an issue arise, our video service comes with end-to-end support, staffed with local technicians providing support online and by phone 24/7.

Interactive guest services

Now, guests expect seamless interactive services. In one recent study, 41 percent of guests said they want to see recommendations for restaurants, attractions and events on their in-room TVs. Another desired feature? The option to order food on in-room TVs. That kind of interactive guest service builds loyalty to the hotel and keeps guests returning.

How Spectrum Business and Moviebeam provide them: Spectrum Business delivers video services quickly and reliably to hotels. Then, along with that delivered video, hoteliers can also offer guests a custom-branded welcome page, channel banner and interactive program guide to each room, thanks to Moviebeam.

These interactive services allow hotels to not only supply guests with the restaurant and attraction recommendations they expect—they provide hotels with an additional revenue stream: Ads from nearby restaurants and businesses can be added to the welcome page.

Casting capabilities

Tablet-toting, smartphone-clutching guests are the norm, and in the era of binge-watching, they want to watch in the hotel room what they’ve been watching at home. Casting capabilities allow them to use their devices to seamlessly stream on the hotel TV.  

​How Spectrum Business and Moviebeam provide them: Casting relies on a PAN (personal area network), which allows guests to connect their devices with in-room smart TVs. Hoteliers can create a PAN, which is like having a dedicated WiFi platform for every room. But PAN alone won’t suffice; guests have to be able to use it—easily. That’s why our partner Moviebeam has created a tremendous user experience for guests. Every guest can simply follow the user-friendly directions to cast their streaming service (think Netflix or Amazon Prime) onto the room’s TV.

The possibilities are just beginning

I’m just scratching the surface of how this partnership can help hotels improve the guest experience—and their bottom lines. See more on the partnership and more on our other TV offerings.