HOSPITALITY PrinterOn Guest Printing Services Attractive...
Transcript of HOSPITALITY PrinterOn Guest Printing Services Attractive...
Remote and wireless printing a realconvenience for business travelers
The Client
Choice Hotels International, a leader in the
lodging industry as an innovative company with
nearly 5,000 properties, launched the Comfort
Suites brand in 1986 as an extension of the highly
regarded Comfort Inn brand. Comfort Suites is
one of the leading performers in lodging today,
positioned to capture the mid-scale “luxury-
budget” segment. With almost 400 locations, the
brand features oversized, “user-friendly” rooms
and business suites at mid-priced rates.
Choice Hotels continues to lead the lodging
industry as an innovative company introducing
technology trends in their market segment. In
2000, Choice Hotels became the first to offer
wireless reservations via handheld computers.
Now the Comfort Suites in Aurora, Illinois, a two-
time Platinum Award Hospitality winner, is
offering guests free high-speed Internet access in
all rooms as well as wireless Internet access in the
lobby.
The Challenge
To find a more convenient way for business
guests to print
Located in a high-tech business corridor in the
suburbs of Chicago, the Comfort Suites Aurora
caters to business travelers. “Many of our guests
treat their stay with us as their temporary office
away from home,” says Ira Lathan, IT manager for
the Aurora property.
Comfort Suites Aurora strives to cater to their
business guests. At least 30% of their guests arrive
with their laptop in tow. These guests all faced the
same dilemma when it came to printing their
important documents from their laptop. Guests
saved documents to a disk and then had hotel staff
print the documents from their PCs to the hotel’s
local printer or waited while the correct print
driver downloaded onto their laptops.
Printing was “simply inconvenient for our guests,”
says Lathan. “We needed to find a way to enable
our guests with a better printing solution.”
The Solution
In-room remote printing via the Internet
PrinterOn’s guest printing service was installed in
the winter of 2003 to better service the printing
needs of guests. “PrinterOn complemented our
wireless Internet solution by extending the service
offering, “ says Lathan.
The PrinterOn service is an easy to install, low-
cost printing solution that is an attractive amenity
for the business traveler market. “Now guests
simply email or upload documents to the printer,”
comments Lathan.
Comfort Suites Aurora has a Business Center
accessible 24 hours a day, to provide convenient
business amenities to guests whenever they may
need them. There are two printers located in the
business center, including a color printer.
The unique in-room driverless printing lets guests
in their guestroom remotely print documents,
emails, email attachments and Web content
securely from their Internet-enabled laptops to the
business center. At their convenience, guests can
pick up their documents at the business center
where they sit securely spooled on the printer until
they arrive and release them with their privacy
release code.
In the business center they are greeted by ample
signage and a large ‘release your print jobs’ button
PrinterOn Guest Printing ServicesAttractive to Business Travelers
at Comfort Suites Aurora, Illinois
PRINTERON CASE STUDY Comfort Suites
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www.printeron.net [email protected]
"Once our guests usethe service just once,they really appreciatehow valuable andconvenient theprinting service is."
Ira Lathan
IT Manager for
Comfort Suites Aurora
on the PC for added convenience. “It’s simple for our guests to use.” comments
Lathan.
The PrinterOn Benefits for the Comfort Suites
“PrinterOn gives us a competitive edge”, says Lathan. “The business traveler needs
access to their own corporate infrastructure, the Internet and their email while staying
with us – being able to print a hardcopy just makes them that much more
productive.”
And this year, some 70 percent of all laptops sold will carry built-in wireless
networking capabilities, according to research firm In-Stat/MDR. Since Comfort
Suites Aurora installed Wi-Fi in the lobby and business center, guests can
conveniently surf and print without even being in their guest rooms. Guests with
wireless handheld devices such as a Palm Powered handheldTM, BlackBerry or Pocket
PC, can also print web pages, emails and other documents.
“Once guests use the service just once, they really appreciate how valuable and
convenient the printing service is”, Lathan continues. “And with the customizing
wizard, we were able to fully brand the site as a Comfort Suites printing service.”
“Setting up the service from my end was fast and seamless,” says Lathan.
Guests can actually print to the hotel printer before they arrive and release their
documents when they check-in, similar to sending a fax but higher quality. The
document sits securely encrypted at the printer until they release the document with
their privacy code.
Lathan continues, “I had a guest tell me how he uses our hotel as his remote office.
He forwards his print batches to our printer in advance of his arrival and picks them
up when he checks in. He likes the service because it keeps him productive while he
is traveling and he does not need to carry a printer with him. We know we are
building customer loyalty because he plans his stays with us.”
“With a complimentary service that provides so much convenience to print anywhere,
anytime for our business travelers, who wouldn’t take advantage of it?” concludes
Lathan.
PrinterOn specializes in mobile printing services. PrinterOn's Hotel Guest Printing Service provides a customized Web-based printing service for in-roomremote driverless printing. The company's software only solution supports all types of printers: ink, laser, and multi-function. PrinterOn also offers mobileprinting services for Wi-Fi hotspot printing and wireless PDA viewing, faxing and printing. PrinterOn is based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, and has beendelivering award-winning document handling solutions for 20 years. For more information on PrinterOn, visit http://www.printeron.net.
Copyright © 2004 PrinterOn Corporation. PrinterOn, PrintWhere, Print Simply Anywhere and the PrinterOn logomark are trademarks of PrinterOn Corporation. All other trademarksor registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Printed in Canada.
www.printeron.net • [email protected] • (519) 748-2462
Location Profiled: Comfort Suites, Aurora,
Illinois
Parent Company: Choice Hotels
International
Number of Rooms: 83-room property
URL: www.choicehotels.com
PRINTERON CASE STUDY Comfort Suites