The evolving customer service experience in the hospitality industry

With the ubiquity and constant connection of mobile devices on the rise, the average consumer’s preferences are shifting away from interacting face-to-face with customer service representatives toward a desire for more digitized services. The hotel customer service experience is evolving, with more high-tech options for guests than ever before. A new survey of 1,000 British hotel customers by AppyHotel.com found that half of the respondents actually preferred asking for assistance from staff via digital means rather than speaking with them directly, Breaking Travel News reports.
Many hospitality businesses are making upgrades to their current systems to accommodate customers’ new technology expectations. High-end luxury hotels are modernizing whole segments of their customer service offerings, but small and mid-size hotels that can’t usually provide concierge services to their guests now have a cost-effective option for supplying such amenities with these new tools.

Defining the digitalized customer service experience
Courtyard by Marriott, for example, is upgrading their hospitality technology with new digital signage in all of their lobbies. These displays act as high-tech information desks, supplying guests with all the travel data they need in real time, including flight status, local weather, suggestions for activities and restaurants, and area maps with step-by-step directions.
Other new digital offerings include streaming informative videos about area attractions directly to guests’ rooms, interacting with customers through Twitter, and even offering online ordering applications for room service or groceries for customers on extended stays.

Are you prepared for these upgrades?
Providing real-time, high-bandwidth content and services to customers requires more than just shiny new digital screens. Businesses making these changes to provide a more tech-centric customer service experience must consider the IT infrastructure necessary to keep such applications running smoothly. Behind the scenes, increases in website traffic during high-volume periods could cause frustrating lag times for users. Any downtime will not only waste these valuable resources, but it could also negatively affect the customer experience.
Content delivery networks (CDNs) can help support current infrastructure by complementing existing servers, allowing guests to access digital information without interruption even during high-volume periods. Customers pay based on the access that they need, and the best CDN providers offer scalable bandwidth that can help any business keep up with customer demands, no matter its size.
As customers demand more technology from their service experiences, the hospitality industry must continue to evolve their digital offerings to keep up with these new trends.