Method and system for a hotel based meeting & conference communications network

Abstract

A method and system for implementation and operation of an interactive communications network for meeting, trade show, convention or conference (“event”) organizers and attendees, which is implemented in one or more hotels proximate to the event facilities, with an access device in guest rooms as well as additional implementations for universal access by event attendees, which access provides for real time messaging and on demand information and communications between the organizers and attendees for access to both static and changing information about the event, such as schedules, locations, speakers and other information typically pertinent to event attendees.

Description

Once attendees to a Meeting, Conference or Convention (“Event”) arrive at the city, convention centre, or hotel where the Event is held, it is a difficult, expensive and time intensive task to try to communicate with attendees, to advise them of changes in agenda or location, or remind them of information or highlight information that was published in Event publications before the Event began. Only physically printed information delivered to Hotel rooms by hand, or available at a distant registration area, or a one-way TV broadcast channel for a single Event in a single hotel, or a web-site accessible to those with laptops who know about the web-site and are able to access it, is available.

There are many complicated problems in trying to create a solution to the over-all problem of instant and on demand communications to Event attendees who have traveled to a city to participate in the Event;

• • 1—Normally attendees will be staying in multiple Hotels and not all of the rooms in any Hotel are occupied by attendees to the Event. Each Hotel may have guests attending different Events which are occurring simultaneously, or attending no Event and don't want the intrusion of information about an Event they have no interest in.
  • 2—Many attendees don't have access to a laptop or other computer to access a web-site. Attendees may not know how, where or when to access a web-site.
  • 3—Event information may be time-sensitive and even quite urgent, requiring some method to capture the attention of attendees, whether they are looking for information or not.
  • 4—Event organizers must have an ability to access, initiate and send communications at any time during the Event as unexpected circumstances arise.
  • 5—A solution must be economically viable and must have the capacity and ability to solve the problems beyond a single Hotel, a single Event or even a single city or region.

A communications network, which could be accessed by attendees from their Hotel Rooms with specialized communications device, incorporating real-time voice and data communications, with the capacity to also communicate to a variety of additional devices, channels and locations in proximity to the Event site, with interactive capabilities, as well as the ability to “broadcast messages” to their rooms, available at one or more Hotels patronized by Event participants, would provide organizers and management of the Event with a powerful tool to communicate with Event attendees.

Solution Implementation

The implementation of a solution consists of four components in a highly integrated system, which together create a multi-media communication and information publishing network that is capable of targeting and delivering specific Event information to those Hotel Guests who are participants in the Event. The four components include; a) a communications access device installed in each Hotel Room at or near the Event site (“GIS”), b) a hotel situated meeting & conference communications server which manages the dynamic customization of Event content and communications for each room occupied by a Guest participating in the Event (“MCCS”), c) a content management system implemented in software, which receives Event information provided by the Event organizers and dynamically formats and presents the Event information to the guest on demand in the hotel room (“CMS”) and d) an events management system (“EMS”) implemented in software, which enables the management and administration of multiple Events in one or more hotels from a remote location.

The GIS consists of a dedicated telephone/computer/network communications device installed in each hotel room, for use and access by guests, where each device is dynamically modified upon check-in by a guest participating in a specified Event, to broadcast Event information and implement interactive menu choices for the guest to select information of interest regarding the Event. Importantly, the GIS is capable or receiving and displaying broadcast messages and rotating banners that could consist of urgent time sensitive information, like schedule changes, seen by the guest whether or not they are looking for information.

The MCCS is installed in one or more hotels close to the Event site and implements communications with the hotel administration and account systems (PMS) to identify which guest participates in which events, to then dynamically reconfigure the content and selections of information displayed and available to the guest in that room.

The CMS is located at a remote central facility, It is used to create and package in modular format, a specialized collection of Event information, using templates and expected Event information applicable to the guest for that Event and has the ability to create content for multiple Events. The CMS can be accessed by Event organizers to supply Event information, including last minute changes or unfolding information during the Event.

The EMS is located in a remote centralized location, like a corporate head office or regional office, has the ability to create and Manage multiple Events, which includes distribution of Event modular packaged information using a communications network, to each applicable Hotel and channel, including the administration of the start, stop, control and audit, and roll-back of each Event in one or more Hotels and multiple Events in one or more Hotels and one or more Regions.

UNIQUE ATTRIBUTES OF THE SOLUTION

The solution includes some unique and not obvious attributes that solve the many problems and challenges. Not all of these attributes are required to implement the solution. The solution allows for the operation of multiple interactive channels so that multiple Events can have their own custom communications network within the Hotel or multiple Hotels at the same time.

• • 1. The solution implements multi-media communications, including standard telephone voice, data such as Intranet and Internet, as well as both batch and real-time communications and transactions.
  • 2. The solution automatically determines which Event a Hotel Guest is participating in and customizes their Communications Access device to access and display the required information for their Event.
  • 3. The solution implements an efficient and cost effective, timely solution by which information published by the Event managers can be transposed and made accessible on demand by the Event participants from their Hotel Room.
  • 4. The solution implements a complete remote management and operations control function, so that multiple Events and multiple Hotels can be operated and managed in the Hotel Room Based Meeting and Convention Communications Network from a single or multiple remote locations.
  • 5. The solution enables Event management to instantly communicate and message to Event participants in their Hotel Rooms through-out the duration of the Event.
  • 6. The solution incorporates Type 2 and Type 3 ISO magnetic card swipe, so that Event participants can authorize and transact within the network on a secure and identity authorized basis.
  • 7. The solution includes a network and server/client/program/data architecture that is a unique combination of decentralized and centralized configuration, to allow for the efficient operation of all services and functions, while ensuring a base availability of service regardless of communications or network outages.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1—Total Communications Network View

A) The GIS access device is installed in each Hotel room in each or most of the proximate Hotels to major meeting and conference facilities. A1, A2, A3, A4 represent additional and supplementary access devices and channels, such as guests using laptops, public access kiosks, TV channels and PDA's

B) A Meeting Conference Communications Server (“MCCS”) is placed in each installed Hotel for the purpose of configuring each GIS access device to access communications for the Event that the guest in that room is attending and to provide distributed information on demand as well as real-time display banner and message communications about the Event.

C) A Content Management System (“CMS”) is implemented in a regional or central office facility and is used to collect, format and publish template modules of information for a specific Event.

D) An Event Management System (“EMS”) is implemented in a regional or central office facility and is used to communicate and publish contents for each Event to the Hotels and Access devices and channels that are required for that Event.

FIG. 2—Regional or Central Office View

A) The Regional or Central Office Meeting & Conference Communications Network (“MCCN”) Center is equipped with high-speed Internet communications and serves as the control, production and communications center for the Network. There may be multiple regional centers which are managed by a Central facility.

B) A Content Management System (“CMS”), implemented by specialized software on computing systems, is equipped with templates and modules that are formatted to reflect the type of communications and information required by usual Meeting and Conference Events. The CMS is used to collect, format for each access device and channel, then modularize multiple information contents for each and multiple events. Event organizers may access their Event to contribute, update and approve content. When completed and approved, content modules for an Event are released to the Event Management System for distribution.

C) An Event Management System (“EMS”), implemented by specialized software on computing systems, is used to communicate and distribute the Content modules for each Event, at a scheduled time, to each Event Communications Server at each Hotel, and in addition to each Access Channel that is internal or external to the Hotel.

D) Production Staff and Management have access to both the CMS and the EMS on either a local or remote basis, for the purpose of producing content, distributing or publishing Event communications and monitoring the operation of the system.

FIG. 3—Hotel Installation View

A) A specialized GIS access device incorporating a telephone, computer, ethernet communications and a large display screen is installed in each room of each installed hotel. Supplementary and additional devices and communication channels (A1, A2, A3, etc.) are installed or connected to the MCCN system. Supplementary and additional devices and channels include guests using laptops to access Internet, Kiosks installed in lobby or other public places, TV channel facilities and guest PDA devices.

B) An Event Conference Communications Server (“ECCS”) is installed in each installed Hotel. The ECCS receives active scheduled Event information and content and implements and manages specific Event communications to each GIS, by configuring the device to access Event communications which the guest in that room is participating in. The ECCS transfers logo's, labels, menu choices, pointers, automatic display banners and real-time messages to the GIS. The ECCS also serves as a host for storage of Event communications information. Upon completion of the Event, the ECCS must reverse configure each GIS to it's original state. The ECCS must manage multiple Events and determine which room guest in which room is a participant of which Event, either by receipt of guest check-in information from the PMS or by dynamic guest selection from a list of active events.

C) The Hotel's PMS (Guest Folio Account) resident within the Hotel or a remote location has a communications connection to the ECCS.

D) Internet connectivity to each guest room, for laptop access to Internet by guests, is used as the network communications channel, by the ECCS to each GIS and by the GIS to Internet services

FIG. 4—Access Device View

A) The specialized GIS access device installed in each guest room of each installed hotel includes resident memory and software applications that enable a client server facility with the ECCS system located on the Hotel property. The ECCS transmits Event control parameters to be stored on the GIS, including Event ID tags, labels, menu choices, rotating banners and other Event content that will enable the guest in that room participating in the specific event, to see broadcast Event information if they are present in the room and on demand, access more information on an interactive basis. All Event specific information and control parameters are removed from the GIS when the Event is finished or if the guest checks out, so that a subsequent guest does not have access to Event information.

B) The GIS incorporates a standard telephone, a VOIP telephone, a computing facility and Ethernet/internet connections so that both voice and data communications can be used to deliver Event communications to the guest.

C) Supplementary and additional devices and channels, which are installed and resident at the Hotel or which are specifically used by Hotel guests, are also configured, managed and included in the MCCN system by the ECCS. Kiosks, guest laptops and guest PDA's are all examples.

Claims

1. A method and system for implementation and operation of an interactive communications network for meeting, convention, tradeshow or conference (“event”) organizers and attendees, which is implemented in one or more hotels proximate to the event site(s) facilities, which can be accessed from the hotel guest rooms where event attendees are staying, as well as accessed from additional locations and by one or more types of communications devices, for near universal access by event attendees, which access provides for real time messaging and on demand information and communications between the organizers and attendees for access to both static and changing information about the event, such as schedules, locations, speakers and other information typically pertinent to event attendees.

2. The method and system of claim 1 utilizing a specialized network communications device installed in each hotel room in one or more hotels proximate to the event site, for the purpose of providing event information to the guest in the room, who is participating in the event.

3. The method and system of claim 2 which incorporates interactive voice and data multi-media communications, including broadcast banners and messages that will be seen by guests in the room regardless of their action to seek and access information.

4. The method and system of claim 2 which incorporates an ability to reconfigure and modify the presentation and availability of information based on hotel system check-in records or guest choice of what information, events, and or services are pertinent and desired by the guest.

5. The method and system of claim 2 which incorporates a magnetic card reader to be utilized for authorization and identification by the guest as part of a purchase of goods or services, part of a loyalty reward or club program or part of a verification or age or other qualification required to access specific information, services or profile records of the guest.

6. The method and system of claim 2 which incorporates a hotel based remote management server, for updates of content and software programs operating upon or linked to the device, for interface with the hotels guest folio systems and customization of individual rooms to provide specific event information to those rooms where the guest is a participant in the event.

7. The method and system of claim 1 which incorporates the ability for a guest to choose an itinerary for activities outside of the hotel, either related to the event or other leisure or business activities, where the chosen itinerary with schedule, location and destination information subsequently downloaded to a PDA with GPS facility to accompany and aid the guest partaking in the activities.

8. The method and system of claim 1 which incorporates a computing device installed within the hotel and integrated with the hotels LAN network, to insert meeting and conference information, advertisements or other information into the network to be visible to guests of the hotel connecting their laptop computer to the internet, without the guest making a selection of the information.

9. The method and system of claim 1 which incorporates a rotating banners system which displays information in the guest room whether or not the guest actively selects, with time of day context where information displayed in pertinent, such as restaurant choices at the time that many guests would be choosing restaurant destinations.

10. The method and system of claim 1 which incorporates a central or regional content management system and event management system for the purpose of allowing event organizers and other non-technical people to access, produce, update and communicate instant and on-demand information to event participants.

11. The method and system of claim 1 which incorporates the ability to extend network communications to hotel guest laptops, to kiosks at the hotel with specialty devices installed in each room, to kiosks installed at other hotels, to kiosks proximate to or installed at the event site, to event attendee PDA, to TV broadcast channels in proximate hotels, or any one or more of the above.

12. The method and system of claim 1 which incorporates a distribution of current and pertinent information for the event participant at the room, hotel and regional or central office level so that specific and priority information is available to the event participant regardless of network communications availability and in an efficient manner with regard to applicability to one or more events and one or more hotels.