In-Room Entertainment (IRE) has become more and more important in recent years. From free Wi-Fi and smart TVs to wireless screen sharing devices and gaming consoles, technology has revolutionised the way guests spend their time in-room and has become a necessity for every hotel. In fact, with guests becoming more technologically savvy, they want to access the streaming services they use at home, in their hotel room — like Netflix, YouTube, Spotify and more.
As apps, such as Netflix, are illegal in commercial environment due to the risk of guests’ personal information being accessed by others, in-room screen sharing is the right way to go about allowing hotel guests to access Netflix in a safe way.
Guest Data Privacy & Protection
In-room screen sharing is a great way to keep guests happy, letting them share media content to the big screen. Screen sharing devices are becoming more and more popular in hotels. These clever little devices allow Screen mirroring and casting for Windows, Apple and Android.
However, with the introduction of GDPR and the widespread demand for personal privacy, simply plugging a Chromecast to your guest TV can expose your hotel to great risk of data breach and/or raise concerns over your guests’ privacy. For instance, imagine that a guest from room 101 tries to connect to their room’s Chromecast. If the hotel is not using a hospitality grade TV and a secure screen sharing solution, as each room would be on the same network, they can connect to other rooms within range too, and cast any content they want on that room’s TV. To avoid this and safeguard your hotel, you need to make sure that your screen sharing solution is provided by a hospitality AV supplier and is specifically designed to offer safe screen sharing in each hotel room.
One such solution is SCRIPTCAST. With SCRIPTCAST, guests can use their device to connect to the TV and share any content they like. This is without ever inputting any personal information, payment or login details on the TV directly. All information is stored on their personal device and the TV is only there to receive the casting/mirroring request. Therefore, the risk of guest information being stored and accessed by others is eliminated.
Variety of solutions for every budget
Screen sharing devices can range from £30 to £100+ per device depending on their capabilities, features and applications in a hotel. For example, SCRIPTCAST offers a range of screen sharing sets, utilising Chromecast‘s capabilities. These allow hotels to choose the right solution for their guests in accordance to their budget & requirements. From simple casting-only to more advance casting & mirroring solutions, all SCRIPTCAST Sets work safely in a commercial environment.
However, the cheapest devices are not always the most effective solution to go for. For example, a small hotel or B&B with limited budget can greatly benefit from a simple casting-only device, provided it is installed on a hospitality TV by a trained hospitality solutions provider. Such solution can be relatively affordable and easy to use, but casting-only devices have limited capabilities in regards to what content can be sent to the TV.
On the other hand, more advanced screen sharing solutions can allow for both casting and mirroring, and are compatible with most devices. In other words, guests can both mirror everything that is on their screen to the room TV or switch to casting multimedia apps, such as YouTube and Netflix, for better video/audio quality. Offering casting & mirroring is much better suited to hotels looking to give their guests the ultimate screen sharing experience without any restrictions.
And if this is not convincing enough…
It’s simply what guests want
Do you know that guests use in-room streaming services more often and for longer periods of time than other similar services? Statistics show that casting is used on average by 40% of hotel rooms, whereas only about 1% of guests use pay-per-view video on demand. Furthermore, typing in your credentials directly on the TV using a remote control to access a video on demand app is much harder than simply using your phone to cast whatever content you like.
To make it even easier, hospitality solutions providers offer integrated TV Systems that, besides offering hotels to show their guest directory and up-sell on the TV, also allow hotels to add a page with quick instructions on how to screen share seamlessly! All guests need to do is follow 3 simple steps and their content is on the TV.