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As featured in Lodging Magazine.
At home, work, and on the go, connected devices are revolutionizing the way people live. While the Internet of Things (IoT) is still a relatively new category of technology, many businesses are leveraging tools in this fast-growing space. These modern advancements can help hotel and lodging establishments drive guest satisfaction and preference, as well as to create a “smart building” – and that includes pest control management.
Consumer-facing applications of IoT technology, such as automated controls for temperature and lighting in guests' rooms, tend to get the most attention among early adopters. Among the most discussed IoT applications available to hospitality properties are abilities for guests to interact with hotel amenities and services with their smartphones. Large chains and boutique properties alike are already incorporating technologies that allow guests to personalize their experience before they ever set foot in the building.
However, there are plenty of back-of-house applications of IoT technology that has tremendous potential. Behind-the-scenes applications include functions that allow staff to check on equipment ranging from elevators to HVAC systems, and perform preventative maintenance before issues would normally become apparent.
Recent advances in IoT technology also allow properties to think differently about pest control and preventative pest management programs. Connected devices, such as Rentokil’s PestConnect, can automate the capture and reporting process to provide 24/7 protection against pests such as mice.
By reporting pest activity directly to your pest management provider in real time, these IoT devices offer continual protection, even during off hours for your staff. This round-the-clock, automated reporting speeds up response time by alerting skilled technicians who can identify and treat the source of a potential problem without further action from maintenance staff.
Along with their ability to capture pests and automatically report activity to your pest management provider, data from these connected devices can be uploaded to a database and then auto-generate easy-to-access reports. Pest activity is recorded with exact time, date, location, and species so that analytical tools can track trends, create a historical log, and establish seasonal risk profiles for a property.
Smart devices and IoT technology allow property managers and their provider to review data, identify risk areas for pest activity and deploy customized solutions tailored to address a property's unique pest control needs, and even evolve the program over time as your facility’s needs and risk points change.
This isn’t just a solution for single properties. This technology can scale up to work for brands with multiple properties, creating profiles by location, across a brand, or an entire organization so you can pinpoint problems, identify training needs, make capital expenditure decisions, and more.
As a tool for businesses, the Internet of Things is still in its nascent stages and barely scratching the surface of its potential. Even with many exciting advancements to come, the hospitality industry can leverage connected technologies now to improve a wide variety of processes, including guest services, property maintenance, and pest management. By building a robust IoT platform now, properties will be well-positioned to incorporate additional technologies in the future that shape guest experience and improve hotel operations.