SPONSORED: Hoteliers welcome first cloud-based mobile ordering solution for guestroom services

Wi-Q Technologies, has responded to demand with the launch of Mi-Room - the first cloud-based mobile ordering software designed to make guestroom services more accessible and profitable. Until now, hotel businesses with mobile ordering have turned to apps, not only investing a significant amount of time and money on app development and maintenance, but relying on guests to download it, which means competing for storage space amongst a host of entertainment, lifestyle, utility and social networking apps. In fact, according to a survey carried out by Wi-Q Technologies, hoteliers’ most popular reasons for not implementing mobile ordering were ‘too complicated’, ‘too expensive’, ‘customer use’ and ‘concerns over how it will integrate into their current system’. As a cloud-based alternative, Mi-Room can be accessed by guests in seconds and in under three key strokes via any internet-enabled mobile device, allowing them to use their own smartphones, tablets and laptops to order guest services from the comfort of their room. There is no need to download or store an app. Customer-centric features include a user-friendly interface, choice of language, allergy and dietary requirements and multiple payment options, including charge to room. Along with enhancing guests’ experience, Mi-Room’s brand customisable software provides an ideal platform to increase upsell opportunities, easily managed through a back-end system that facilitates real-time updates to menus and pricing, as well as take advantage of data-driven marketing tools. It can be in place in less than two weeks from point of contract and thanks to a little or no Capex SaaS model, venues can experience an instant ROI. Graham Cornhill, managing director and founder of Wi-Q Technologies, explained how the idea of Mi-Room stemmed from demand: “Following the launch of Wi-Q, our cloud-based ordering system that has been implemented in restaurants worldwide, a London hotel group expressed a need for our technology to enhance the guestroom services of their hotels. Through targeted research, it quickly became apparent that they weren’t alone, so we started developing software specifically for that purpose.” Mi-Room has been fine-tuned by working closely with the hotel sector and its current software providers, including Oracle Hospitality, which now enables integration with its customer-base of more than 26,000 hotels worldwide. Graham continued: “We had the foundations with the technology, but we wanted to create the complete mobile ordering solution for guest services. We have formed partnerships that ensure Mi-Room can seamlessly integrate with many hotels’ existing EPOS and property management systems so it’s hassle-free for guests and the hotel - our clients see an increase in revenues from day one.”