The Introduction of Google Chromecast
Launched in July 2013, Google Chromecast was developed to satisfy increasing demand to watch streaming services (such as Netflix, Hulu, YouTube etc) on television displays.
When connected to WiFi / ethernet and a TV’s HDMI port, the small, dongle-shaped device, as if by magic, would offer viewers a treasure trove of on-demand media content.
No longer a slave to scheduled programming, no more missing the start of your favorite show, no more aimless channel hopping - sounds like a bit of a game-changer, right?
Reshaping the TV experience…
Indeed it was. Google Chromecast offered an affordable, watch what you want, when you want vehicle, to a smartphone-obsessed, content-addicted market.
Naturally, hotels were quick to see the potential - no more reliance on expensive, opex-draining VOD platforms, and perhaps best of all, aging, huffing and puffing hotel TV systems could be turned into all-singing, all-dancing entertainment platforms overnight!
As is often the case with new technology, it wasn’t all plain sailing - network security issues, bandwidth overload, privacy concerns, rogue software updates, interference between rooms, and the theft of hardware all caused problems. However, as specialist providers of hospitality-certified Chromecast advanced their platforms in line with the modernisation of hotel network infrastructure, Chromecast’s future became increasingly robust.
Doesn’t this all sound great?! A robust future, cost-saving for the hotel, and a better experience for guests?
The home-away-from-home experience?
‘Better’ is the operative word here. Chromecast undoubtedly provides a better experience than the traditional pay-to-play hotel VOD system. But does it really provide a premium guest room entertainment experience? And more importantly, does it provide a home-away-from-home television experience?
Absolutely not.
This home-away-from-home experience is the holy grail of a hotel’s service policy, and a hotel that can offer this (especially in the guest room) positions itself at the forefront of a searingly competitive hospitality industry.
So, when we hear of Chromecast being labeled as a home-away-from-home hotel television experience, it troubles us a little…
Pre-chopped vegetables…
To be very clear, ROOMNET recognise the value of Chromecast and its role in the evolution of the hotel TV platform. It serves a purpose, ticks many boxes and caters well for the value-driven hotel market. We have many positive things to say about it.
But…
…it doesn’t provide a home-away-from-home TV experience!
Let’s face it, many of us human beings are intrinsically lazy. The average person wants life to be as easy as possible (a concept that underpins the design of almost every technology). So, in a world that caters for our whims and fancies with pre-chopped vegetables, self-stirring mugs and motorised ice cream cones, why would a hotel willfully ask its guests to jump through hoops, to watch their own content on the hotel TV?
Don’t reinvent the wheel…
Perhaps the highest hoop to jump through is Chromecast’s requirement to use a portable device as a remote control.
Naturally, this renders navigation cumbersome and fiddly, often even complicated and confusing. Watching Netflix and a call comes in? don’t bank on Chromecast pausing the TV for you; indeed don’t even rely on there being a standard pause procedure across all apps, and / or operating systems.
Daydreaming? missed an important plot development? Quick! unlock your phone, find the right app, open the app, work out where the pause button is (again, it won’t be standard across all apps), pause the app, rewind the app…….
Other niggly complications occur when more than one person wants to interact with the TV; and what about the small percentage of people that don’t own a smart device? An increasingly rare occurrence, admittedly, but a top draw hotel has to be seen to tick every box, not most boxes..
So, you get the picture? (or not, as the case may be!). In a world when immediacy, convenience and speed is king, Chromecast is not the right solution for hotels looking to provide a first-class hotel TV experience.
ROOMNET TV
So, what is this first-class experience?
Fundamentally (as mentioned above), this should at least replicate that of the home environment.
ROOMNET take the very same Apple TV 4k box (used in the home environments of millions of consumers across the globe) and augment it with a proprietary app, offering hotel specific features such as fully customisable hotel branding, and an intelligent reset feature - clearing down all user details at the end of a guest’s stay. ROOMNET’s management system offers full visibility and (remote) control over every TV point deployed, providing fast and easy updates, analytics and status checks - and of course, an assurance that the TV performs at all times...just like at home.
Just like at home (take your living room with you)
…ROOMNET TV offers native apps, and is based on streaming (rather than casting) protocol, operable via a bespoke designed remote control.
And if we're talking icing on the cake, Apple TV is super-powered by the A15 Bionic chip, offering industry-leading, lightning-fast performance and seamless interaction. No more clunky channel changes, no more five second waits for menus to appear, no more sluggish remote control interactions - and no more excuses. It's 2024 - guests should expect their hotel TV to perform....just like at home.
Find out more
Keen to find out more? Click here, or the link at the top of this page for an online demo.
