By Claus Hetting, Wi-Fi NOW CEO & Chairman
Hotel giant IHG Hotels & Resorts is taking a leap ahead in enhancing the ‘hotel digital experience’ by introducing secure Wi-Fi autoconnect for guests at more than 5,000 IHG-operated hotels and resorts world-wide. Wi-Fi autoconnect is ‘a solution designed with guest satisfaction in mind’ and this is the first time such functionality has been deployed at scale for hotels, the company says.
Are the days of open public Wi-Fi networks requiring manual network selection and password entry finally coming to an end? Although industry-driven standards initiatives such as OpenRoaming are arguably gaining ground, at least one major hotel company is now taking things into their own hands. IHG is introducing its own Passpoint-based Wi-Fi autoconnect function via the IHG One Rewards app.
The idea is for guests to automatically (and securely) connect to IHG’s hotel Wi-Fi networks upon entering the properties. They won’t need to select a network nor enter a password but they are required to go through a one-time setup process on the app where they can opt-in to the Wi-Fi autoconnect feature. From then on they will automatically connect to any IHG hotel Wi-Fi network, IHG says.
“For guests, our brand proposition is as much about our booking experience, marketing, and digital experience on-property, as it is about the hotel destination and our brand hallmarks. For owners, our offer is as much about our ability to create revenue advantages through data and technology,” says Vijay Raghavan, Director, Stay Experience Product Operations, IHG Hotels & Resorts. “We anticipate that loyalty members will enjoy this new solution as they will not need to worry about separate login codes or passwords, saving time and allowing them to enjoy a better user experience,” he says.
Passpoint-based technology has been around for at least a decade and is growing in popularity and footprint – but this is the first time (to our knowledge) that a major hotel operator has chosen to adopt the scheme on a property-wide basis. The majority of hotels and other types of public venues still use captive portals and passwords to manage Wi-Fi access and – in some cases – to interact with guests.
But such onboarding schemes are not secure. Most industry experts agree that as Wi-Fi networks improve in terms of reliability and experience, the need for connecting to secure and protected networks is becoming increasingly important. Most believe it to be likely that initiatives such as IHG’s autoconnect or OpenRoaming will become the norm over the next few years.
IHG brands include Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Intercontinental, and many more. IHG Hotels & Resorts logs more than 5.3 million monthly Wi-Fi logins and boasts more than 115 million IHG One Rewards members, the company says.
/Claus.
