WIRELESS. IT’S ABOUT TO BE UBIQUITIOUS
Though wireless electrical charging has been around since the days of Nikola Tesla, it hasn’t been widely adopted until recent years. Now that mobile phones are ubiquitous, both Samsung and Apple (the two leading phone manufacturers) are putting their considerable muscle behind this technology.
And last year, when the wireless charging standard Powermat joined the Wireless Power Consortium, well, it appeared as if the technology business finally has an industry wide standard supercharging adoption of this exciting new customer friendly technology. Now the Qi standard (pronounced chee) is quickly becoming ubiquitous.
For the hotel industry, this means the end of days worrying about significant cash outlays to buy a new charging technology that’s quickly outdated. For example, when traveling around the country we sometimes still see alarm clocks with 30pin connectors. Does anyone still have gear for those? This subtlety warns guests the hotel they’re staying in potentially cuts corners when servicing customers. That’s not the message any hotelier wants to send customers.
Plus, rooms with only Apple lightning connectors tell nearly 40% of room guests, the hotel is not looking after their device charging needs.
Fortunately, wireless charging is the last stop on a technological journey unifying all mobile cellphone users behind a single charging technology. According to TechNative, more than 500 million wireless charging enabled devices shipped in 2017 (most recent numbers available), representing a 40 percent surge.
The technology now works on all new Samsung Galaxy and latest iPhones, for example, as well as devices such as wireless headphones, Apple Watch, and many more.
That means after investing in wireless charging, hoteliers can be confident another technology won’t be supplanting this any time soon. That saves hoteliers money over the long term, while also improving the customer experience since guests no longer must hunt for appropriate connectors or dig through their bag hoping to find the right cables. Instead, guests simply set their mobile device down and charging automatically begins. Plus, in public spaces, wireless charging eliminates ‘low battery anxiety,’ which could cause customers to leave, rather than spend money at your property.
Public areas that include wireless charging stations such as the Hotel Charging Station with Qi Wireless Charging And Dual USB Outlets from Nonstop can actually increase food and beverage sales as the above mentioned survey notes 22 percent of those running low on power will order something simply for the right to charge up. Anecdotally, this improves customer service scores while simultaneously appealing to all generations, especially millennials and Generation Z.
Plus, we’re at the point where wattage delivered to charge devices makes it so wireless or the old-fashioned way takes about the same amount of time to fuel up.
There’s no longer any reason not to install brand new alarm clocks with wireless charging in your hotels. Your guests will think about how thoughtful you are when they wake up with a fully charged device right next to them.
