InfoPanels in the Hotel InterContinental Prague
This well known five-star hotel in the centre of Prague, at the bench of the Vltava River and only several minutes walk from Old Town Square is an ideal location for organising various conferences, presentations and important meetings. The original static orientation system did not fulfil the current trends, did not provide the required information and required the maximum manual installation of printed information blocks. The solution provided by InfoPanels was developed within common cooperation and delivered by the companies ELVAC and Mikenopa, provided options for a dynamic display of information regarding running events, including navigation to the location of the event, the provision of the functions needed for multimedia presentations as well as the display of actual messages and many other useful services. Construction of the display panels and the graphic concept of the content is suitably complemented by the environment of a top hotel in the technological era of the 21st century.
Situation
The Hotel InterContinental is one of the most important accommodation and conference facilities in the Capital City of Prague. Its clients are mainly foreign tourists and traders who often use the conference services. The hotel offers 372 rooms, 89 apartments and 12 flexible conference rooms. For orientation in the hotel and the navigation of clients to the conference rooms or boarding facilities, the system of static information panels previously used were located either on the walls or in the form of portable stands. The main disadvantage of static displays is the difficulty of adding information regarding currently running events. Some panels enable the insertion of a slip with this information whereby the efficiency and reliability of this solution is very low irrespective of the aesthetical impression from such inserted strips. This manner is also very restricted in terms of the possibility of a detailed presentation of the client who is hiring the conference premises.
Business Objectives
The key requirement was to replace the static panels with an electronic information system with options for of dynamic navigation, display of presentations and video. The servicing of the system must not excessively overload the user, must be simple and intuitive and the arranging of events must be performed automatically according to the time schedule.
Solution
For the resolution of the stated objectives it was necessary to select such HW and SW means which would ensure reliable permanent operation of the application with the support of standard technologies and data formats. Designers from the company Mikenopa, which as the system integrator of this solution for the hotel, used a reliable technological base – the InfoPanels system. Both these companies have recently tailored this system for the hotel market to such an extent that it now represents a real top product in this field.
The HW platform of the system is based on plasma LCD displays complete with built-in PCs, communication is performed through the Ethernet network in whose centre there is a high performance server. SW InfoPanels is developed on Microsoft Net technology, the key data storage location is Microsoft SQL Server. The built-in PCs for the displays work on an MS Windows XP Embedded operating system, client computers of service staff on MS Windows 2000 and higher.
The main reason for the selection of the Microsoft Windows platform was the wide support for standard data formats and multimedia. The use of Net technology, available components and development tools from the MS Visual Studio package enables the effective development of the application within the standard user environment. A particular disadvantage resulting from this comfortable factor is the higher performance and memory demand which must be taken into consideration during selection of HW.
Either the HW or SW is divided into three blocks – client stations, server and displays. All data services run on the server (SQL, media and web). Client applications from users are connected to this server who enter the time schedules of presentations and store media data. The control units for the displays periodically check requirements and ensure displays according to the adjusted graphic diagrams – layouts. For creation of layouts and connections of dynamic elements to data sources, a graphic design module is used – LayoutEditor.
Contributions
The implementation of the InfoPanels system fully met the stated requirements. The latest technology and professional appearance of the resulting solution moved the hotel to a higher level in terms of the view of the clients, in particular the organizers and conference participants. In addition to the improvement of the orientation and the informing of clients, the system also provides areas for presentation of other services offered by the hotel or its partners which can bring a secondary financial advantage.
What They Said about Us
“The installation of InfoPanels in our hotel is actually the best solution in hotel orientation and information systems in Prague and throughout the whole of the Czech Republic”, Petr Statečný, IT Department Manager.
Products and Technologies
Microsoft .Net 2.0
Microsoft SQL Server 2005
Microsoft Windows XP Embedded
InfoPanels Server
InfoPanels Player
InfoPanels Explorer
InfoPanels LayoutEditor
