News Briefs

PAS (Professional Accounting Solutions, Inc.), Professional Advantage (PA) and LLP Group (LLP) announce the formation of a global alliance aimed at providing an Operational Intelligence & Integration platform to the hospitality sector globally. 

This strategic partnership brings together the collective expertise of all three organizations to deliver a comprehensive solution that seamlessly integrates with existing systems, across different platform environments whilst also providing visibility over key data. By leveraging their combined strengths, PA, LLP and PAS are committed to enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of hospitality services worldwide, ensuring that their clients can offer an exceptional operational experience through cutting-edge technology and insightful data analysis.

“We are excited to announce our strategic collaboration with PAS and LLP to introduce a comprehensive go-to-market offering specifically designed for the hospitality sector,” stated Neil Richardson, Business Lead, ISV Solutions, Professional Advantage. “This initiative addresses the persistent challenge of application integration faced by businesses in this industry, enabling seamless connectivity and communication between disparate software systems. By leveraging our combined expertise and cutting-edge solution, we aim to enhance operational efficiency, improve customer experiences, and drive digital transformation, empowering hospitality companies to thrive in an increasingly competitive market. This partnership not only signifies our commitment to technological excellence but also ensures our clients receive the most robust and reliable solutions available today.”

"LLP is excited to be part of this Alliance," stated Tim Smulders, LLP Group Western Europe Managing Director. "With over 30 years of SunSystems hotel experience and our deep expertise in multinational implementations of Infor SunSystems, EPM, HxGN EAM and PA solutions in over 70 countries, LLP Group is well-equipped to support global hospitality companies. By working closely with Infor, PA and PAS, we are dedicated to helping to provide complete Cloud finance solutions tailored to the needs of the hospitality sector, regardless of company size."

"This is a whole new collaboration of three teams that know hotels," said Gayle Edwards, VP Managing Director of PAS. "Together, we now have not only the technology but the application as well. Add that to our consolidated 24/7 helpdesk services around the world, and you have #oneteam to streamline communications and service for hotel properties. The extensive knowledge and scalability that PAS brings to the table are exactly why so many hotels across the world trust us with their back office needs. We are excited about these partnerships as we are able to add to our own existing team around the globe. Additionally, as partners of Infor – PAS, Professional Advantage and LLP Group will continue to support many of Infor's global customers as a team."

For those attending HITEC 2024 in Charlotte, please visit the PAS team as well as representatives from Professional Advantage and LLP Group in booth No. 935 to learn more about #oneteam, or you can schedule an appointment in advance here.

Onity, a provider of electronic locks and mobile access solutions, is thrilled to  announce the enhanced DirectKey™ 3.0 system and an advancement in IoT-based hospitality security.  The company is set to showcase its expanded connected capabilities for electronic locks and mobile  access solutions at the Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC), from June  24-27 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Onity is part of Honeywell, a leading provider of solutions and services  that improve the occupant experience and are used in more than 10 million buildings worldwide. 

DirectKey 3.0 

Onity is proud to present the latest iteration of its flagship DirectKey mobile access technology. Onity’s  DirectKey technology allows guests to unlock doors upon approach using their mobile device - enabling  seamless entries across the property from parking garage, to elevators, guest rooms and beyond. Key  enhancements include: 

• Updated DirectKey ecosystem: Faster update times for firmware and data transfers as well as  lower power consumption for improved battery life.  

• Security and Enhanced Performance: Utilizing 128-bit AES data encryption to provide an  additional layer of security, complementing existing user access permissions and audit trails.  Designed to deliver faster open times and support quick connection to multiple users in common  areas such as elevators. 

• Soft Broker Technology: Enabling DirectKey/DirectKey Firmware capabilities on third-party  hardware platforms without the need for a DirectKey/DirectKey module. 

IoT Transformation for Enhanced Hotel Management 

Onity’s new 1-way and 2-way connected solutions will set the stage for future developments, offering  significant benefits to hoteliers: 

• Enhanced Front Desk Monitoring & Control: Allows front desk staff to monitor battery levels,  receive live alarms for forced door openings or doors held open, and remotely lock down  individual doors. 

• Improved Maintenance Capabilities: Features such as remote time setting adjustments for  daylight savings, lower staff costs, remote audits, and elimination of lock re-programming after  battery replacement. 

• Outstanding Guest Experience: Enables seamless room moves or extended stays, enhancing  the overall guest experience. 

New connected capabilities redefine property management and guest interaction:

• CloudConnect™: A cloud-based property management software (PMS) interface that eliminates  the need for on-premise hardware and wiring. It provides a single endpoint for PMS collaborators,  allowing seamless creation of key cards or digital keys. 

• Serene™ Wall Reader: A complete and connected solution offering flexible access to elevators,  parking garages, and common areas. 

• IoT Gateway: A scalable IoT mesh network infrastructure for properties with online locks,  facilitating remote access control for Onity connected locks. 

• Integrations: Collaborations with Wi-Fi access points and room management systems (RMS),  such as Inncom by Honeywell, enabling 2-way communication with Onity locks. 

"Providing connected capabilities for our customers highlights our dedication to enhancing experiences  for both hotel staff and guests," said Fayyad Sbaihat, President of Onity. "The future is promising as Onity  will soon launch a comprehensive dashboard for property owners and operators, offering valuable  analytics and insights into the operation and performance of their mobile credentialing and electronic  locking systems." 

For more information, visit Onity booth #3040 on June 25-27 at HITEC or visit www.onity.com. 

Mews, the industry-leading hospitality cloud, has announced the addition of Mews POS (Point-of-Sale) to the embedded payments experience offered with Mews Hospitality Cloud, bringing increased operational time savings for hotels and frictionless experiences for guests.

Mews is the first cloud-native solution to introduce embedded payment solutions to hospitality throughout the guest stay. With Mews POS now fully embedded with Mews Payments, it means digital ordering of food and beverage (F&B) transactions can use the same payment processing platform as all other transactions within the guest journey, including upgrades and bill settlement. The solution is also unique for its international presence, as it is available in 16 countries.

“By harnessing the power of embedded payments, hoteliers will feel real benefits across their business,” said Josef Starýchfojtů, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Mews. “Consolidated payment functionalities mean faster, more secure operations, with cumulative time savings, richer guest data and an increase in guest satisfaction.”

Mercure Roeselare, a four-star, full-service hotel in Belgium, benefits from embedded payments across their F&B offering. Damien Janssens, General Manager, commented: “Having all payments in one basket that we can check daily in Mews is crucial for our cash flow. It simplifies the reporting process for both myself and our accounting team.”

Additional benefits include fee unification across all PMS and POS transactions, as well as consolidated payouts. It also allows for complete payment reporting directly within Mews Operations without any need to manually import or export data. This translates into significant time savings because properties only need to deal with a single provider, and all reporting is unified. It also removes the need for additional Know Your Customer (KYC) checks, saving further time during implementation.

Capsule Hotel is an innovative hospitality brand with four properties in Switzerland. A single person staffs their multi-purpose lobby and can handle all transactions from check-ins to drink orders on a single device. Hendrik Renken, Project Manager at Capsule Services, said: “I am very satisfied with Mews Payments on POS. I can't imagine a simpler solution than what we have now. It's the most convenient way to handle payments, making front desk operations as straightforward as possible for all staff to understand.”

Sojern, a digital marketing platform built for travel and a member of Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN), today announced its suite of Guest Experience Solutions is available on Oracle Cloud Marketplace and can be deployed on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) and integrated with OPERA Cloud via the Oracle Hospitality Integration Platform (OHIP). Oracle Cloud Marketplace is a centralized repository of enterprise applications offered by Oracle and Oracle partners.

The Sojern Guest Experience Solutions enables hotel marketers to answer questions, resolve guest issues, and upsell services throughout the entire customer journey. 

Oracle Cloud Marketplace is a one-stop shop for Oracle customers seeking trusted business applications and services offering unique solutions, including ones that extend Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications.  

OCI is a deep and broad platform of cloud infrastructure services that enables customers to build and run a wide range of applications in a scalable, secure, highly available, and high-performance environment. From application development and business analytics to data management, integration, security, AI, and infrastructure services including Kubernetes and VMware, OCI delivers comprehensive security, performance, and cost savings. In addition, with multicloud, hybrid cloud, public cloud, and dedicated cloud options, OCI’s distributed cloud offers customers the benefits of cloud with greater control over data residency, locality, and authority, even across multiple clouds. As a result, customers can bring enterprise workloads to the cloud quickly and efficiently while meeting the strictest regulatory compliance requirements.

"Joining Oracle Cloud Marketplace marks a significant milestone for Sojern’s hospitality customers. This two-way interface enhances real-time guest engagement, with a suite of tools designed to enhance the guest experience and operational efficiency within OHIP. Sojern’s Reputation Manager empowers hoteliers to efficiently gather and manage feedback using generative AI for automated responses. Hospitality customers will also have access to advanced text and email marketing, along with auto reconciliation, simplifying marketing, performance, and measurement,” said Noreen Henry, Chief Revenue Officer, Sojern. “Sojern’s participation in Oracle Cloud Marketplace further strengthens our commitment to the Oracle community and enables customers to easily reap the benefits of Sojern’s Guest Experience Solutions. We look forward to leveraging the power of the OCI to help us achieve our business goals.”  

For more information about Sojern’s Guest Experience Solutions, click here.