News Briefs

Shiji announced the launch of Shiji Digital PayBy. A transformative integrated payment solution, uniquely tailored for hotel operators and managers, built to facilitate guest experience through faster and more secure, efficient, and globally compliant transactions.

In an increasingly digital era, hospitality professionals have recognized the need for a seamless and reliable approach to managing and processing guest payments. Shiji's new solution, Shiji Digital PayBy, responds to this demand. Built on the foundation of 2-WayPMS connectivity, Shiji Digital PayBy allows hoteliers to securely capture card details or collect payment from guests via a simple link.

Shiji Digital PayBy, integrates reservation details speeding up the payment request process. To support accuracy and transparency, agents are provided with a real-time folio balance view during the creation of payment links. Payments are then automatically posted into the Property Management System (PMS), or updated to the attached token, saving hoteliers the time-consuming task of manual updates.

Shiji has ensured an Application Programming Interface (API) interacts with PayBy. The API functionality allows various platforms, such as pre-stay communication, In Room TV, and Banquet/Event platforms, to independently generate payment requests, eliminating the need for an agent user interface. Thus, removing payment request friction.

The system diligently processes payments via eCommerce channels, incorporating the latest 3D Secure(PSD2) and fraud screening measures. This not only reduces the risk and compliance concerns associated with manual payment forms but also ensures an optimal level of security for all transactions.

"We're confident that Shiji Digital PayBy will greatly improve guest experience in the industry. Designed to simplify and streamline payment processes while maximizing security and minimizing risk. We're excited about the transformative potential of this product for hotels around the world." Said James Montague, Senior Director Shiji Payment Solutions.

To find out more about Shiji Digital PayBy visit the website.

For electric vehicle owners in British Columbia, Tim Hortons is now fueling road trips in more ways than one.  The company has announced the expansion of its electric vehicle charging station pilot launched earlier this year in Oakville, Ontario, by unveiling six new charging stations at restaurants throughout  British Columbia.

Tim Hortons announced the pilot in February in an effort to study the technology, its usage and opportunities.

"We have been thrilled with the results of the pilot so far.  Usage of the charging station in Oakville has surpassed our expectations and we received many calls with requests to expand the pilot," said Paulo Ferreira, Senior Director, International Strategic Restaurant Design and Building Standards, Tim Hortons. "With more than 3,300 eligible restaurants across the country, we continue to look for opportunities to expand the pilot and contribute to the EV infrastructure."

The BC expansion, supported by the Province of BC's Community Charging Infrastructure Fund and Koben Systems Inc. (KSI), placed charging stations strategically in Nanaimo, Langford, North Vancouver, Burnaby, Abbotsford and Coquitlam to create paths within the province, allowing guests to travel from restaurant to restaurant strictly on electric power.

Tim Hortons offers charging stations as a courtesy to guests at six locations.  As of March 31st, 2013, Tim Hortons had 4,288 system-wide restaurants, including 3,453 in Canada, 808 in the United States and 27 in the Gulf Cooperation Council. 

Wade Allen has joined Costa Vida, Fresh Mexican Grill, as EVP of Strategic Growth, he shared on LinkedIn.

The industry innovator is a frequent contributor to Hospitality Technology. At MURTEC 2023, he was one of three digital transformers to take the stage to share how digital channels and experiences are evolving.  Allen, Justin Falciola, Chief Insights & Technology Officer, Papa Johns; and Vadim Parizher, VP of Technology, Taco Bell  talked about everything from robotics to labor challenges to what the future might hold.

"COVID gave us the opportunity to press the envelope with drones, robots in front and back of house, and delivering food, and ghost kitchens, etc. I think all these things have a place. We decided to either fail fast or succeed quickly. We found that the horizon was a lot longer than we anticipated for many technologies. So we went back to see what was really driving profitability, sales, guest experience and team member experience. We’re getting everything to work perfectly so we can move forward with confidence," Allen said during the session. 
 

• WATCH: Digital Transformers Take the Stage at MURTEC

Allen is also a member of Restaurant Technology Network's Board of Governors.  Check out more people on the move in the hospitality industry in HT.

Sojern, a digital marketing platform for the travel industry, announces the latest version of its Sojern Travel Marketing Platform with enhanced Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered audiences. Sojern has leveraged its long-standing AI capabilities to provide expanded support for more than 10,000 travel marketers annually. Customers include hotels and resorts of all sizes, destinations, attractions and airlines.

“Our customers needed to respond swiftly to the rapidly evolving digital marketing landscape, so during the pandemic, we expanded our automation and AI capabilities. It all begins with data, specifically the Sojern Traveler Ecosystem™, which powers our platform with billions of travel intent signals from thousands of travel brands in every corner of the globe,” said Kurt Weinsheimer, Chief Solutions Officer at Sojern. “While AI is making headlines now, we’ve been harnessing its capabilities for years and are excited to announce these new updates. We have competitors that are just now building AI functionality, and I can tell you firsthand that it takes several years to develop and refine the sophisticated AI models that power our platform. Our 15 years of experience and deep technological expertise gives us a significant advantage in delivering results with AI-powered audiences in the latest iteration of our Platform.”

Sojern’s AI-powered audiences offer travel marketers a strategic advantage in optimizing their marketing investments. By leveraging AI technology, marketers can make informed decisions on resource allocation, effectively targeting the right customer segments for maximum return on investment and business impact. Through automated audience segmentation and optimization, brands engage with relevant audiences in real time, achieving greater precision, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. In response to increasing demand for personalized experience, and 71% expressing their expectation of personalization from companies, Sojern’s data-driven approach enables brands to deliver highly tailored campaigns at scale while adhering to data privacy regulations. The result is a more strategic and impactful marketing strategy that drives new traveler acquisition, boosts direct bookings, and maximizes guest loyalty.

Here are the three key enhancements to Sojern’s AI-powered audiences, built to address travel marketers’ objectives, on the Sojern Travel Marketing Platform:

1. Integration of 1st Party Offline Data: By integrating customers’ offline data - including unified access to historical booking data across various distribution channels - Sojern empowers marketers to gain greater visibility and develop more robust audiences. Combining offline data with AI-powered audiences provides deeper insights into consumer behavior and preferences, facilitating the creation of highly targeted and personalized campaigns. The platform also enriches and scores offline customer data, helping marketers identify and prioritize conversion-ready customers. Overall, this integration empowers travel marketers to build a holistic and data-driven marketing solution, leading to improved engagement and better business outcomes.
2. Enhanced Support for Reactivation: Sojern’s Platform enables marketers a distinctive capability to leverage AI-powered audiences to reactivate prior guests and loyalty members. This capability allows advertisers to identify and engage with previous customers who are currently in the market, driving loyalty throughout the customer journey. By combining reactivation with AI-powered prospecting and retargeting, Sojern’s full funnel strategy ensures increased return on investment and heightened customer satisfaction.
3. Expanded Audience Activation: Sojern’s AI-powered audiences can now be activated with more control and flexibility in activation through the Traveler Audiences To-Go offering. Advertisers can activate these audiences across multiple advertising platforms of their choice, such as DV360, Xandr, Meta and YouTube, broadening their reach and providing greater convenience and flexibility.

Another significant benefit of Sojern’s AI-powered audiences is the integration with extensive data partnerships. By enriching retargeting, reactivation and prospecting audiences with data from Sojern’s Traveler Ecosystem, advertisers gain a broader view of customers beyond their owned channels or walled garden media platforms. The use of durable identifiers illuminates blind spots in a privacy-compliant manner, enhancing audience quality and enabling real-time identification of consumers in-market. As a result, AI-powered audiences effectively reach the right audience at the right time with the right message.

“At Sojern, we’ve always believed in AI’s potential to enhance the travel experience. The latest iteration of our Platform benefits both our travel marketing customers and their end consumers,” Weinsheimer added.

Leveraging data-driven digital advertising, Sojern has consistently adapted to meet the changing marketing needs of travel brands. Today, Sojern has evolved into a robust platform business. To discover more about the benefits of AI-powered Audiences for your travel marketing campaigns, get in touch.

Hospitality technology provider SONIFI has announced the release of a new authentication and management platform (AMP) for its managed Wi-Fi and HSIA services.

SONIFI has been a rapidly growing provider of managed Wi-Fi services to branded and independent hotels, resorts, and other properties, quadrupling its HSIA customer base in less than five years.

As part of its continued commitment to guest internet solutions, SONIFI developed AMP to advance network management capabilities, including:

• Advanced network monitoring for prompt issue identification and response
• Dynamic real-time visualization of network topology for IT professionals to more easily and holistically view complex network infrastructures
• Advanced configurations for multi-zone and multi-site roaming for seamless connectivity for guests

“We made it simple for hoteliers to access essential functionality to operate managed Wi-Fi experiences, such as device authentication, splash page customizations, and network monitoring,” said Paul Johnson, Senior Vice President of Internet Services at SONIFI, “but AMP is really laying the groundwork for better guest Wi-Fi experiences in hotels.”

The enterprise-grade cloud solution is powered by AWS for maximum reliability and scalability. SONIFI’s breadth of media system PMS integrations will extend to AMP’s PMS connectivity so properties don’t have to manage multiple integrations for Wi-Fi and interactive TV features.

“Additional features are continually being added to AMP as we invest in greater automations, service reliability, and revenue drivers for our customers,” said Johnson. “We know the critical role Wi-Fi plays in guest satisfaction in hospitality. It’s a service SONIFI is committed to being the best at, and we’re especially proud of our engineering and development teams for continuing to push for better, more efficient, and more effective ways we can serve our customers.”

SONIFI began releasing its AMP solution to existing managed Wi-Fi customers this summer. AMP and SONIFI’s suite of guest technology solutions will be featured next week at HITEC in Toronto June 27–29, and at The Hospitality Show in Las Vegas June 28–29.