 May 20, 2009 - Knowcross Solutions today announced the launch of SKIGEE, a first of its kind SMS application designed uniquely for the hotel industry. SKIGEE allows hoteliers to use SMS messaging effectively to enhance guest experiences, conduct marketing campaigns and provide an alerting system for use in emergencies. More than 5.4 billion SMS messages are sent every day. While less than 5% of mobiles globally can receive email, 100% can receive text messages. Industry studies have shown that 99% of text messages are read within 15 minutes of receipt. This makes SMS the lowest cost and highest penetration method of communication available today. “Hotels rely on email to communicate with their guests. However, research has shown that the majority of mobile users do not have mobile email and a majority of those that do turn off their roaming data services due to the prohibitive costs. This means that less than 1% of guests actually get their emails while they are travelling,” said Stephen Burke, VP Product Development at Knowcross. About SKIGEE SKIGEE seamlessly reads guest contact details from Property Management Systems, Table Management Systems, Spa systems, and Loyalty systems and automatically sends messages, such as upsell offers, reservation confirmations, airport pick up information, welcome messages, and thank you messages. SKIGEE is simple to use. To send a message, users click on the guest name and type out a message or use one of the many message templates. Users can also send group messages to guests or staff with a single click. “I’ve heard too many hotel industry CIOs say that they are tired of ugly software. So are we. One of the first things you’ll notice about SKIGEE is its attractive and intuitive user interface,” says Burke.  Many hotels today use bulk SMS services for F&B promotions. SKIGEE is different from bulk SMS services in a number of ways. For example, SKIGEE can automatically send messages based on events in other hotel systems, it has features to safeguard branding, and can deliver messages worldwide to over 700 mobile operators in 200 countries in any language. Further, SKIGEE is a multi-user application and can be installed on multiple PCs on a hotel network. Commenting on the launch of SKIGEE, Nikhil Nath, CEO of Knowcross said, “People love SMS, especially when they’re travelling! If the online travel agency can SMS my flight details, the airline can SMS flight delay notifications, why can’t my hotel SMS airport pick up details? It doesn’t cost me anything to receive an SMS, but I do pay high roaming charges when I switch on mobile email while travelling.” SKIGEE has no license fee, no annual maintenance fee, no support fee and no charges for software upgrades. “We set out to change the hotel industry’s paradigm for software. While OTAs and airlines have spent millions to get into the SMS game, SKIGEE lets hotels get started in minutes at no cost. With SKIGEE, users can simply go online, buy some credits, download the software, and be sending their first SMS in less than ten minutes,” said Burke. About Knowcross Solutions Founded in 2002, Knowcross Solutions develops cutting edge mobility and workflow products for the hospitality industry. Knowcross products are deployed at leading hotels across the world such as Hyatt, Shangri-La, Sofitel, Swissôtel, Oberoi, Radisson, Raffles, Intercontinental, and Kempinski. Knowcross is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, BlackBerry ISV Partner and Sun Java Partner. Through its active participation and leadership roles in HTNG (Hotel Technology Next Generation), Knowcross is helping to define standards for the next generation of hospitality technology solutions. For information on SKIGEE please visit www.skigee.com. |