With the rising in OTT services, what opportunities and challenges it holds for hotels?
We are witnessing rising in OTT (Over the top services) in the age of streaming
Traditional television viewing has been declining in recent years, however OTT platforms are expecting a 20% increase in viewers this year.
OTT audiences are no longer limited to Millenials; individuals of all ages are now fascinated by OTT content.
The covid-19 epidemic drew a big number of new viewers to the OTT platform, and they are expected to stick around.
Hence, hotels must think about using this as an opportunity to enhance the guest experience.
Challenges with rising in OTT
Unclarity in casting and embedded apps
There is still no clarity regarding the guest’s preference among casting apps and embedded apps.
Many researchers find that people are not comfortable entering their log-in credentials which are the requirement of embedded apps.
Because of risks and security protocols are attach to it.
Whereas, in the case of the casting app, many people don’t know how to cast.
Network isolation is the first and most serious issue with casting.
There has to be a means to ensure that visitors can only connect to TVs in their room to prevent them from hijacking the TV in an adjacent room.
Challenge of supervision/monitoring of solution
Supervision and monitoring are a necessity of any solution.
Hence, in this case, hotels particularly need to monitor the Chromecast devices.
In most cases, the IRE provider will offer to monitor set-top-box systems. But this is not the case with Chromecast.
As a result, one option is to equip the hotel with monitoring software.
Constant updates
Because the technologies are constantly evolving, so the system will require regular updates.
The reasons are numerous like the government implementing new rules, functionality evolution, or security risks.
Most of these are handled centrally by cloud-based technologies.
In general, other providers can deliver updates to connected devices.
However, it is vital that you understand how each device is updated.
Speed
If you are connecting numerous devices to the internet at the same time, you may require a faster connection.
Because stream a high-quality video a much higher broadband speed is required.
OTT demands a large amount of bandwidth.
Fortunately, most streaming apps nowadays can adjust to a broad variety of available bandwidth.
With a requirement of about 1 megabit per second as a minimum.
And recommendations ranging from 2 to 5 megabits per second (Mbps) depending on the size and quality of the TV screen.
Different input connections
If the TV’s input connectors for streaming and linear TV are different (as is usual), the switching should be either automated or straightforward.
Providers may promise automated switching.
However, this is contingent on the television supporting the appropriate protocols, which is not the case with all televisions, so double-check.
If automation of switching isn’t possible, buttons on the remote control should label with words like “Cast” or “TV.”
Expecting a visitor to guess which connection accomplishes what by pressing the ‘input’ button on a normal remote is not a suitable option.
Opportunities with rising in OTT
Delight customers with advanced analytics
You can use advanced analytics to align guest’s choice of the genre with guestroom television.
Nowadays, the hospitality industry a large number of customers data.
They know guest choices very well, from their likes and dislikes in their hotel room to what their preferences are in OTT content.
Contextual advertising tailor to the content view by visitors may be one way to benefit from their viewing habits.
Likewise, hoteliers can unlock a variety of options from big data to make their business more profitable.
Simple integration and in-built OTT capabilities
Much smart television has in-built OTT capabilities, so you don’t need to incur extra expenses.
Also, their integration is much easier as OTT hotel solutions can simply integrate with current free-to-guest systems.
Furthermore, OTT content can be set up on your hotel’s television system or guests’ mobile devices.
Thus, to provide interactive entertainment alternatives to your guests, you won’t need to replace your present infrastructure.
Security
To maintain guest privacy and security, use a leading in-room entertainment system in their room.
To allow them to watch leading OTT content without entering their login credentials.
Moreover, the OTT service will deactivate immediately when your visitors check out, so guests need not worry about it.
The employees are also free from burden as they are free from keeping track of information manually.
Transforming the guestroom
The guestroom environment is evolving as new technology in televisions.
And television services allows the guestroom television to turn into a control hub for the whole guestroom.
The guestroom TV may now communicate with many integrated IT devices thanks to new technology.
This integrated solution helps hotels to run more effectively through four core services.
Room management, energy management, in-room control service, and content management are the four core services.
From energy usage to workflow management, the hotel staff has more control over the guestroom environment.
Casting Apps
Guests may use this technology to route streaming content from their smartphones
And tablets to the television in their hotel room.
Major streaming applications like Netflix can send content from mobile phones and tablets
To any cast-capable device on the same network.
Such as Apple TV or Google Chromecast, which can then play on the TV screens to which they are connected.
It not only benefits hotel but also enhance user experience.
For hotels, there is no requirement for content licencing and content administration or distribution at the hotel.
And for guests the benefits include
- No new logins are required.
- Control through their mobile device.
- No need to learn new interfaces.
- Personalized guest content
Conclusion
We finds out challenges like speed, supervision and monitoring issue, requirement of constant updates.
And unclarity in guest preference between casting and embedded apps hotels face with rising in OTT services.
Whereas it opportunities includes transforming guest room experience, delight customers, the integration is simple and more.
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