Hotels of all sizes opt for cost-effective, scalable and future-proof IPTV systems to deliver TV and entertainment to guests

London, 7th November 2008: The hospitality industry is reaping the benefits of building IPTV, as Exterity, a specialist in this sector announces that it has deployed its equipment at a range of hotels across the UK, including The Birmingham Ramada, Days Inn Hounslow, the Megaro Hotel in London, Castlemartyr Hotel in Ireland and the Pembroke Hotel in Blackpool. This illustrates the growing trend for IPTV technology to replace traditional analogue delivery systems as a cost-effective, future-proof, scalable and customisable means of delivering guest entertainment.

Hotels can exploit their (often pre-existing) IP networks to deliver video, freeview, digital and analogue TV stations over a network  - without the need for expensive and intrusive re-wiring - to any end point - including bedrooms, restaurants and reception areas. Effectively, an infinite number of channels can be provided, offering guests a wide spectrum of content to suit their interests. This can include news information from where guests are from, foreign language channels and channels broadcast in multiple languages.

IPTV is ideally suited to the hospitality industry, and can offer hotels benefits to support their business, including the following:

• The highest picture quality can be transmitted over any sized site, without any risk of signal degradation (a common problem with coaxial networks)
• The investment is future-proof,  as IPTV systems are inherently flexible and will allow access to the on-demand services of the future without further cabling systems
• Content can easily be customised, offering a personalised guest service, as well as an advertising opportunity to promote the hotel’s services and features

Colin Farquhar, CEO of Exterity comments: “Exterity has many years of experience working with hotels to help them provide cutting edge guest entertainment systems.  In today’s economic climate, hotels must work harder to attract guests and retain loyalty.  Offering a wide range of entertainment and business internet facilities can help achieve this.  Exterity’s IPTV systems mean that whatever the size of hotel, it can provide an excellent standard of in-room TV, overall improving the guest experience.”

Francisco Ventura, General Manager at the Megaro Hotel notes: “When looking to fit out our new hotel, we found IPTV to be an excellent alternative to the traditional coax networks.  Problems with coax include signal degradation on long runs across sites, causing ghosting and break-up of selected channels and the inability to add further channels over and above the set numbers supported by RF modulator set ups.  Opting for IPTV removed all of these restrictions, making Exterity’s solution the ideal choice.”

Rashunally Hardoyal, General Manager of Days Hotel Hounslow comments: “When looking to fit out our new hotel, we were presented with an option to install an enhanced TV solution by RivaNET™; a total solutions integrator for hotel developments throughout the UK.  They presented the Exterity IPTV solution to overcome the problems of signal degradation over the long cable runs associated with traditional coaxial systems.  This setup also allows an unlimited number of channels and TV displays to be connected via the data cabling network infrastructure, making the Exterity solution the ideal choice.”

Using an IPTV system rather than a conventional broadcast set up allows hotels to easily personalise content sent to each room to display individual guest welcome messages.  The system can also be used to stream promotional videos to each room, enabling hotels to utilise the system as a selling medium to promote the hotel’s features, such as spa and event facilities, thus increasing potential income.

Exterity provides hotels of all sizes and class with IPTV technology, and its most recent deployments have been within boutique, luxury and 5* hotels, with an average of 100 rooms.