July 6, 2006 (Montreal) - At an awards ceremony in San Antonio, Texas
honoring the most successful corporate adopters of M2M (machine to machine/men)
technology, The Ambassador Conference Resort of Kingston, Ontario was awarded
Gold in the Retail/Hospitality category.
 The
cashless vending system implemented at the Ambassador allowed guests to
either swipe their hotel room key card, (encoded with Kaba�s ATLAS system),
through the vending machine's card reader, or use any mobile phone to purchase
a variety of Coca-Cola beverages. Guests had applicable vending charges
appear on their invoice at final check-out. The ATLAS system from
Kaba Lodging Systems enabled guest room keycards to transmit the transaction
directly to the hotel�s remotely hosted PMS system.
The Value Chain Awards, chosen by a group of industry analysts along with editors of M2M Magazine, honor the most successful adopters of M2M technology and the team of solution providers that made their success possible. The award was presented to the Ambassador for demonstrating the process of combining multiple technologies to improve operations, reduce costs and enhance customer service. Results from the 90-day trial showed 99.9% system reliability, no instances of attempted vandalism to the machines and, most importantly, extremely positive feedback from the guests themselves. The technology trial was unveiled as part of a larger makeover for the
Ambassador including a new Executive Floor, indoor water park and reception
area.
Bell Canada spearheaded the cashless vending machine technology trial which was the first in Canada to combine both mobile phone and key card technologies operating over a wireless network in the same trial period. This was achievable through strategic partnerships, industry expertise and technology collaboration with the following companies: Bell Canada � Bell Canada is Canada�s national leader in communications with 28 million customer connections across the country. Bell offers integrated information and communications technology (ICT) services to businesses and governments, and is the Virtual Chief Information Officer (VCIO) to small and medium businesses (SMBs). Bell is proud to be a Premier National Partner and the exclusive Communications Partner to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Bell is wholly owned by BCE Inc. For information on Bell's products and services, please visit www.bell.ca; for information on BCE, visit www.bce.ca. Coca-Cola Bottling Company - Coca-Cola Bottling Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Coca-Cola Enterprises, is a recognized leader in innovation for the beverage industry and is committed to finding new, progressive solutions to meet the needs of consumers. Kaba Ilco Inc. - Kaba Lodging Systems, a member of the Kaba Group, provides guest and staff access control at the Ambassador Conference Resort and used its new ATLAS web based system to interface with the RSI property management system, remotely hosted 3,000 miles away. www.kabalodging.com cStar Technologies - A global provider of wireless (LAN/WAN) data communication solutions for M2M (Machine-to-Machine/Men) and mobile commerce applications. Protected by multiple patents, its core solutions include cashless, wireless vending complemented with remote data management tools and RFID Invisible Tags for cross-border security management. www.cstartech.com/ RSI International Systems Inc. - RSI International Systems Inc. - RSI web-based Property Management Solution RoomKey(tm) handles the vending transaction from credit authorization to transaction billing to hotel guest's room folio. www.welcometorsi.com/ The Cashless Vending System continues in operation at the Ambassador Conference Resort delivering the new found values to the hotel and to Coca-Cola Bottling Company. More information on Kaba Lodging System�s ATLAS System and how it functions as a key component in this system is available from: Alastair Cush Product Manager (ATLAS System) - Kaba Ilco.
Inc. (514) 735-5410 Ext 236
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�Kaba
Lodging Systems was excited to participate in the development of this multi-vendor
solution to demonstrate the flexibility and unique interoperability of
our ATLAS system,� said Alastair Cush, Product manager for ATLAS. �We are
always willing to cooperate and integrate with other hotel systems and
as ATLAS offers web services connectivity, our solution is not only cost
effective but easy to deploy. ATLAS had no problem integrating to the Ambassador�s
remotely hosted property management system 3000 miles away.�