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The Peabody Orlando Proactively Controlling Energy via MTech/Control Green Integration
 
With the opening of its new 32-story tower, the iconic resort is first to implement new technology integration
between MTech's HotSOS guest-response and workflow automation system and Control Green's
energy-management solution to better maintain and monitor energy consumption
and provide proactive guest service


Miami and Orlando — May 03, 2011
—The Peabody Orlando hotel has become the first property to benefit from a new integrating technology partnership between MTech and Control Green that will help facilities better maintain and monitor energy consumption of unoccupied guestrooms, identify when equipment is failing or batteries are low and respond proactively by dispatching staff to address any alerted situation before it becomes a guest complaint. The energy initiative comes on the heels of a recent $450 million property expansion, now making The Peabody Orlando the largest non-gaming hotel in the United States with the Forbes Travel Guide Four Star, AAA Four Diamond and Condé Nast Traveler’s Top 100 Business Hotels distinction.

"The recent addition of a 32-story tower has added approximately two million square feet to our overall property footprint, resulting in our need to develop a measured approach to how we maintain and monitor our operational expenses," said Brian Seays, Regional IT Director, Peabody Hotels. "With MTech's HotSOS solution standardized across all three Peabody properties due to the strength of its product, and our ongoing satisfaction with Control Green, we determined that tying the two systems together will result in a quicker way to increase customer satisfaction and realize a tremendous cost-savings for the property."

Seays said the MTech/Control Green integration communicates five critical messages to hotel staff: 1) Room temperature is too high or too low, 2) The system has been running for an excessive amount of time past its pre-set thresholds and therefore there is a problem with heating and cooling, 3) The room door has remained ajar for an undue length of time, 4) Batteries in one of several guestroom control systems or the door lock itself are low, and 5) The HVAC unit has not communicated with the hotel via Control Green and therefore a hardware issue has arisen from  an in-room device or the Control Green Network and needs immediate attention. When any of these issues are present, a work order is automatically generated in HotSOS and the appropriate staff person is dispatched to correct the problem.

"Together MTech and Control Green will allow us to control and monitor the temperature in our guestrooms, both occupied and unoccupied," Seays said. "Gone are the days when a guest sets a room temperature to 68 degrees and leaves the room and the room remains at that temperature. Through MTech and Control Green, we are able to make certain that an empty room isn't being cooled, but as soon as that guest returns, the room is quickly brought back to the desired temperature previously set. And, if there is a problem with our room controls, a workorder is seamlessly established in HotSOS and staff is dispatched to immediately fix the defect. Developing environmental-friendly initiatives such as this enables us to live up to our daily mantra of being 'good stewards for the environment and the hotel.'"

Efficient Engineering

Luis Segredo, MTech President, said one of the biggest benefits of the HotSOS/Control Green integration is more efficient use of a property's engineering resources.

"Managers and maintenance staff no longer need to generate work orders manually for any conditions that today can be monitored automatically through Control Green and dispatched via HotSOS," Segredo said. "This saves staff considerable time in the data-entry process and proactively prevents guest complaints from popping up.

"We are excited about our new partnership with Control Green and extremely thrilled that Brian and his team are so enthusiastic about this joint solution," he said.

Segredo said Control Green also interfaces to its REX room expeditor solution that works in tandem with HotSOS. With REX, room attendants are equipped with an iPod Touch to instruct them on which is the next most important "vacant" room to clean, based on a collection of variables. Because Control Green is aware of the occupancy status of a guestroom, tying it directly to REX will notify staff in real time when a stay-over room is unoccupied and therefore able to be cleaned.

"The beauty of Control Green is its ability to constantly monitor all guestrooms and create alerts  immediately when certain conditions occur. We are thrilled that our partnership with MTech enables premier hotels like Peabody to use this alert information towards insuring the highest guest level experience anywhere," said Charlie Dunn, Control Green VP of Marketing. "Because we operate in a SaaS environment like HotSOS, we don't require any additional computer hardware to be installed at the property. Management can access Control Green wherever there is an Internet connection quickly  identifying energy usage trends, such as non-critical energy use during peak periods. Today this 'demand management' is critical for overall energy savings."

About The Peabody Orlando
The Peabody Orlando, opened in November 1986, is a staple in the Orlando-area convention and tourism industry and famous for its Peabody Ducks. The hotel has received the prestigious Forbes Travel Guide Four Star rating for 22 consecutive years. Located directly across from and adjacent to the Orange County Convention Center and in the heart of the International Drive entertainment district, The Peabody Orlando currently offers 1,641 ultra-luxurious guestrooms, 300,000 total square feet of state-of-the-art, flexible function space, a 22,000-square-foot, full-service spa, salon and fitness center and ten delectable dining and entertainment options. Peabody Hotels, comprising The Peabody Orlando, The Peabody Memphis and The Peabody Little Rock (all Forbes Travel Guide Four Star rated hotels) is a division within the portfolio Peabody Hotel Group of Memphis, Tennessee. To learn more, please visit www.PeabodyOrlando.com, connect on Facebook or follow on Twitter.

About Control Green
Founded in 2009, Control Green provides instantaneous, real-time web based Energy Management for the global lodging industry. The company's products and services deliver cloud computing or Software as a Service solutions which uniquely address the regional and corporate level desire for monitoring and verifying energy consumption in the guest rooms. In view of today’s increasingly restrictive Smart Grid requirements, Control Green provides the demand-side solutions necessary for the lodging industry customer to respond to these ever more complex energy industry issues. For more information on the company, please visit www.controlgreen.net or http://www.controlgreen.com.

About MTech
Since 1993, MTech has developed and installed solutions to help hotels work smarter — not harder. The company serves more than 1,800 hotels in over 40 countries.  Focused on improving guest service by improving efficiency, MTech offers HotSOS, PMWorks, REX and now Libra OnDemand. All MTech solutions today are enterprise level, SaaS solutions that offer maximum value with limited investment.  MTech also provides consulting and training services to help customers achieve maximum value from their investments.  It serves its customers from data centers in Miami, Las Vegas and Hong Kong, and its company headquarters are in Miami. For more information on the company, please visit www.m-tech.com.

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Contact: 

Alberto Santana
Director of Sales
MTech
Tel: (786) 544-1105
[email protected]

Charles Dunn
VP Marketing
Control Green, LLC
770-493-8928
[email protected]

Barb Worcester
PRpro
Tel: (440) 930-5770
[email protected]
 
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Also See: MTech's REX/Axxess Integration Fulfilling Guests' Requests for Service/No Service / April 2011

MTech / INNCOM Integration Streamlining Room Turns at Bardessono / March 2011

Droid™ Does . . . H2GO; MTech adds Android Device Support to its mobile HotSOS platform / January 2011

MTech Seeking Software Analyst/Developers to Support Growth; Miami-based company is growing its team to better handle its portfolio of hospitality applications, including HotSOS, REX, PMWorks and more . . . / November 2010

Guest Scores Rise for Platinum Hotels with Deployment of MTech's PMWorks; MTech's popular preventive maintenance solution is being used across all Platinum Hospitality Management properties; Since PMWorks was deployed, guest-service scores have soared / November 2010

Premier Hospitality Management Raising Productivity with PMWorks; Developed by MTech, the Web-based preventive maintenance solution maintains and extends the effective life of furnishings, fixtures and equipment at all 17 Premier Hospitality Management hotels / October 2010

Droid Does . . . REX: MTech adds Android Device Support to its Room Expeditor Tool; REX already running on iPod Touch and iPhone / June 2010

REX Room Expeditor from MTech Named 'Most Innovative Hospitality Technology' by HTNG / March 2010
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