CANTON, MA – AUGUST 7, 2012 – The benefits of offering an exciting in-room interactive TV experience for guests have never been in question.  An Electronic Programming Guide (EPG), a branded TV experience and interactive features is something virtually every hotel would like to offer.  Unfortunately, the cost of such a system has been a barrier for most hotels.  The “free” business model has recently been resurrected by some providers, if you call signing up to a multi-tiered  5-7 year agreement with technology sure to be dated within a year being free.  However, now, thanks to KoolConnect and their new VU solution, interactive TV is within the reach of every hotel at a small fraction of the cost of traditional systems.
 
VU turns a regular hotel TV into an Internet-equipped “Smart TV” and includes an EPG with direct channel tuning from the programming grid as well as a large array of enormously popular TV “Apps” such as Netflix®, Pandora®, USA Today® and many others.  VU’s design can even be customized for the hotel and additional property-specific Apps can be added including TV Concierge, TV Check-out, TV Room Service and many more. 
 
In addition to offering an amazing guest experience, VU can also provide a solid ROI.   Savings are substantial as Hotels no longer have to print costly Directories of Guest Services and can save on labor via VU’s TV check-out feature.   Plus, VU can drive incremental revenue as the hotel will receive a generous percentage of the guest Video on Demand revenues and studies have shown that interactive room service can increase in-room dining orders by over 15%.  And since VU can run over WiFi, hotels may not even need to upgrade their infrastructure.

“VU really allows hotels to catch up on the type of technology and TV experience guests have at home,” said KoolConnect CEO Dave Tahan.   “An EPG is really a must-have with hotels having such large channel line-ups.  And with VU being fully Internet-equipped, guests can also access Web content such as Netflix and Pandora as well as hotel services on their TV in a multi-media manner that really delivers the ‘wow’ factor.  Perhaps best of all, VU is up to 70% less in cost than other interactive systems which makes it affordable for all properties,” he added.
 
“The entire in-room entertainment industry is in a state of flux and has been for the past several years.  KoolConnect has broken out of the pack with technology designed to stay current as users demands change, and has targeted the entire hotel industry with this product, not just the elite few that either have the means to pay upwards of $1000 per room, or those that have to mortgage future technology requirements to get a ‘free’ system now” Tahan added.   “I have yet to meet one hotelier that has been happy with his “free” system more than a year later,” Tahan concluded.
 
VU has just been installed in the Residence Inn in Framingham, MA.  And with Tahan describing VU as the biggest release in KoolConnect’s 13-year history, they already have several other properties set to install the solution in the next few months.

Founded in 1999, KoolConnect Technologies Inc. provides interactive TV and other services to the hospitality industry – including free-to-guest TV, network services, High-Speed Internet Access and hospitality-grade Televisions.  As the longest-running fully digital provider of interactive TV services to the hospitality industry, KoolConnect was the first company to offer HD VOD in the hospitality industry and today, the company serves over 20,000 rooms in prestigious properties in the United States, Japan, Hong Kong, Dubai, and the Caribbean. To learn more about KoolConnect, visit www.koolconnect.com.