HITEC NEWS: Intelity Intros Premium Content Model
With its official release date fast approaching, new information is available about ICE Sapphire, the new guest services platform from hospitality technology firm Intelity. The company announced today that it is introducing a Premium Content model that will be available for clients that sign up for ICE Sapphire.
Guests can use Intelity’s ICE guest service platform to access all of a hotel’s services as well as look up information, but with the new ICE Sapphire Premium Content option, hotels will be able to select which features, if any, they want to identify as premium. These premium features can include games, magazines, Internet access and more.
All guest services will still be visible through the main ICE menu, but premium content will have distinct markers to identify it as such. Guests who select these features will be notified of the usage charge and can choose whether or not to pay for the upgraded access. If they accept the charge, the charge will be automatically digitally added to the guest folio.
In addition to the Premium Content model, another feature unique to ICE Sapphire is Intelity’s Bedside Dashboard, an exclusive offering referred to as a “21st-century wake-up experience.” The dashboard will serve as an optional landing page and provide more than 300 international streaming radio stations, an alarm clock with sleep function, and ambient sounds such as rainfall. Wake-up notifications will be directly through the device and no longer require a phone call from hotel staff.
ICE Sapphire will be available as a web-based HTML5 application in addition to native iOS and Android versions. This will allow for a responsive design that accommodates both landscape and portrait orientations. It also means that a wider variety of devices will be fully supported, including TVs, laptops, iPads and iPhones, Android devices, and all other smartphones and tablets.
Regardless of the layout or the device, all of the functions will be the same.
ICE Sapphire will also present several new themes that hotels can choose from, rather than just the iconic classic design of original ICE. Hotels will be able to pick out custom fonts and color gradients that will perfectly match the property’s overall style. Images will now automatically be formatted and populated.
Other additional features will be a more commerce-friendly format with restructured, simpler dining menus and full-screen advertisements that allow hotels to market products and services directly to guests.
Guests can use Intelity’s ICE guest service platform to access all of a hotel’s services as well as look up information, but with the new ICE Sapphire Premium Content option, hotels will be able to select which features, if any, they want to identify as premium. These premium features can include games, magazines, Internet access and more.
All guest services will still be visible through the main ICE menu, but premium content will have distinct markers to identify it as such. Guests who select these features will be notified of the usage charge and can choose whether or not to pay for the upgraded access. If they accept the charge, the charge will be automatically digitally added to the guest folio.
In addition to the Premium Content model, another feature unique to ICE Sapphire is Intelity’s Bedside Dashboard, an exclusive offering referred to as a “21st-century wake-up experience.” The dashboard will serve as an optional landing page and provide more than 300 international streaming radio stations, an alarm clock with sleep function, and ambient sounds such as rainfall. Wake-up notifications will be directly through the device and no longer require a phone call from hotel staff.
ICE Sapphire will be available as a web-based HTML5 application in addition to native iOS and Android versions. This will allow for a responsive design that accommodates both landscape and portrait orientations. It also means that a wider variety of devices will be fully supported, including TVs, laptops, iPads and iPhones, Android devices, and all other smartphones and tablets.
Regardless of the layout or the device, all of the functions will be the same.
ICE Sapphire will also present several new themes that hotels can choose from, rather than just the iconic classic design of original ICE. Hotels will be able to pick out custom fonts and color gradients that will perfectly match the property’s overall style. Images will now automatically be formatted and populated.
Other additional features will be a more commerce-friendly format with restructured, simpler dining menus and full-screen advertisements that allow hotels to market products and services directly to guests.