The powerful capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) and voice-control devices are already beginning to transform the hospitality industry. Advances in this area will no doubt accelerate in the coming months and years, fundamentally changing the guest experience.
One of the pioneers is Angie, which develops “the world’s first voice and AI solution purpose-built for the hotel environment.” Using their voice or the high-resolution touch screen, guests can learn about property amenities, play their music on Angie’s Bluetooth speakers, make hands-free calls using their mobile phones, order room service, contact housekeeping, control the TV and much more.
With additional available modules, guests can also control the room lighting and temperature, make calls inside and outside the hotel, and connect to a secure in-room private Wi-Fi network. Through this network, guests can also connect to casting-equipped guest room televisions to stream their own content.
Today the company announced the release of its next generation enterprise-class, cloud-managed interactive guest room assistant, Angie. After winning the HTNG TechOvation Award in 2017 for its initial release, Angie has since been outfitted with a variety of enhancements and additional features that are designed to make the solution even more robust and augment its functionality for both guest-facing and operational applications.
Newly released enhancements to the next generation Angie solution include optimized audio input and speech recognition performance, 28 percent larger and higher-resolution multi-touch IPS touch screen with wider viewing angle and capacitive touch buttons for easier access to most user features and new custom-designed Wi-Fi antennas to maximize guest and property network connectivity. Other advances include an upgraded sound system for enhanced sound quality and hands-free calling.
In addition to the new features, Angie now includes a privacy setting, which allows guests to completely turn off the voice-controls, if desired, and use only the device’s touch screen to access all property amenities and services available through the system.
Designed to serve as a 24-hour interactive guest room assistant, Angie offers intuitive voice and touch screen interfaces that provide convenient access to property information and services, as well as options to provide secure guest Wi-Fi access, room controls and even act as the in-room telephone. When interfaced with the property’s HVAC, Angie offers the ability to automatically reset temperature and lighting controls when rooms are unoccupied, providing significant savings on energy costs.
Angie’s multi-functional design eliminates the need to purchase separate products typically expected in guest rooms such as telephones, nightlights, alarm clocks, printed in-room collateral and Wi-Fi access points. Angie can also serve as a central source for providing personalized services and engagement with groups, as well as for promoting hotel amenities and sales incentives, either via its built-in touch screen or by voice response. Together, these next-generation features bring the promise of an interactive guest room assistant to fruition.
