Because the solution is based on Media Center, LifeAmenities also gives guests access to a full range of entertainment features such as electronic programming guides, PVRs, music management and Internet radio.
The system ties into hotel-management systems and a variety of Web services—say, for making reservations and checking out the local theater scene—to create one seamless experience for the consumer and the hotel as well.
“It gives the hotel a totally new way to run a business,” says Mike Seamons, VP of marketing for Exceptional Innovation. “Customers can order things without having to go through the hotel’s own service. … There can be advertising and other revenue opportunities as well.”
The amenities solution employs Microsoft BizTalk, which enables a seamless exchange of documents and information among a variety of applications, whether internal to an organization or external via the Web.
Seamons says that some hotels have contracted for the service already, and several are testing the product.
