Trending in ’21

As we bid a long overdue farewell to 2020 let us take a look at a few of the trends that will be shaping telecommunications in the lodging industry in 2021. Initially, we’ll dive into the outlook for premise, guest room technology and security.

As a whole, the hotel industry has started to adopt a service based or SaaS mindset when it comes to technology. However, as it pertains to telecommunication’s we will continue to see an expansion of premise-based platforms. The price points to move hotels over to telco as a service still don’t add up and given that room phones no longer generate discernable income, it’s hard to see that happening in 2021 or beyond. Both NEC and Mitel have seen surprisingly strong demand for premise-based hospitality switches in 2020. As a rebound takes hold in 2021 the eye on value will certainly continue.

With the unprecedented advancements in at home conveniences, hotels will continue to catch on with guest room technologies. We will see continued adoption of streaming, voice activation and food ordering tech. Tiger TMS is one of those companies. Through their iPortal and iConnect platform guests can access all hotel amenities using their own smart devices. Eliminating the need to touch on-prem ancillary devices(handsets, tablets, etc.) For those economy hotels that will continue to utilize traditional handsets, manufacturers such as Vtech, Cetis and AEi have all adopted and integrated antibacterial plastics designed to reduce bacteria growth.

Security will continue to be a main focus for the hospitality industry. With that in mind, Companies like NEC and Mitel have designed end to end security features. Multilayer security built-in to their platform that allow for completely encrypted communication. Both manufacturers continue to upgrade and implement security features through their software assurance programs. Moving forward it will be more than ever to maintain current software status on your platforms. These platforms continue to patch and upgrade security code as well as monitor status of the network.

Please feel free to reach out to us if you have questions about anything covered here or anything else pertaining to your telecommunications network.