Seeing is believing

As more hotels invest in video conferencing technology, Harriet Sinclair questions whether face to face meetings will become a footnote in history

Business technology has come a long way. From the launch of the first Macintosh in 1984, to the development and global use of Microsoft Windows; technology now dominates the way businesses communicate. Letter writing and faxing are a thing of the past, and as social networking increases, even email is in danger of becoming obsolete.

This is just as true in the hotel industry, where provision for meetings was once as simple as deciding which tea and biscuits to provide; it now refers to wireless, video conferencing, LCD projectors and mini sound systems.

And as more hotels are gaining business from the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions market (MICE), the meetings technology that hotels provide for businesses is more important than ever.

With this in mind, hotels are aiming to keep up to date with the latest trends in meetings technology. From providing wireless internet access to installing LCD projectors in meeting rooms, hotels are anxious to remain attractive to business customers.

According to Rosewood Corniche director of sales and marketing, Shamel Droubi, the latest trend in the area of meetings technology is video conferencing.

“The main technology innovation for meetings, which has been introduced to the market only a few years ago and has been upgraded several times since, is video conference. The ‘noughties’ have been all about improving communication and connecting people around the world. For the business community, the introduction and development of video conference facilities have been a real revolution which allowed them to save both time and money by reducing travel commitments,” Droubi explains.

It is the potential for businesses to save money that many hotels will capitalise on during the financial downturn and it is the high demand from business customers which will keep hotels interested in meetings tools developments.

Droubi believes that hotels investing in such technology will pave the way for further developments in video conferencing.

“I believe that future innovations will be about improving the existing technologies and optimising the use of video conference facilities. 3D projections may soon be introduced,” Droubi adds.

Video conferencing seems to be the meetings technology product of the moment, with several hotels citing it as the current most popular development in the MICE market.

Ritz-Carlton, Bahrain director of catering and conference services, Eman Abela, says: “Video conferencing is becoming more and more popular with businesses, and we are now hosting these kind of events at The Ritz-Carlton, Bahrain.”

The cost of saving

Yet he raises a point which hotels must not ignore; that video conferencing may provide a cheaper alternative to holding international meetings, but it cannot provide the same networking opportunities as that of an in-person meeting.

“A face to face meeting and engaging with your business partners directly will always play an important role in strengthening relationships and ensuring successful communication”, Abela argues.

The opinion that video conferencing will not altogether replace face to face meetings is one which is supported by Droubi.

“These technologies might have reduced personal meetings, especially in companies’ internal communication, but when it comes to establishing first contact and new business relationships, a personal approach and face to face meetings are important. Business deals and relationships are based on mutual trust, and personal contact is required especially in international and multicultural deals. Until it is possible to shake hands through a screen, face to face meetings will still be on the agenda,” Droubi maintains.

It is this point which raises the question of the real cost of video conferencing to businesses.

Although video conferencing has the potential to save companies money through lower expenditure on flight costs, hotel stays and expenses claims; it is not be possible to put a price on the value of networking, and with this in mind, some hotels are looking to facilitate face to face meetings to a greater degree than they are incorporating video conferencing.

Rosewood Corniche recently held a ‘businessman gathering’; an event which was designed to bring together Jeddah’s senior management across different industry sectors. Although the event did not utilise video conferencing, choosing instead to place the emphasis on face to face meetings, it is not something which the organisers would rule out for future ‘businessman gatherings’.

“The event didn’t require the use of special meeting technologies, but this is a point we might change as the event grows,” says Droubi.

“We might integrate video conference facilities, which will allow senior managers from across the Kingdom or even the Middle East to participate in our quarterly Businessmen Gathering.”

Are hotels doing enough?

If face to face interaction remains an important factor in the MICE market, it is important that hotels are providing all the technology necessary to facilitate the needs of such business meetings.
Audi-Pack Middle East managing director Hans J van den Berg believes that hotels could be doing more to encourage their customers to make use of the meetings technology available to them

“I don’t think hotels are doing enough to incorporate meetings technology. In my opinion, they are looking too much to the investment and not selling the possibility to the customer of using these new ‘in house’ techniques,” says van den Berg.

And with hotels competing to procure business from the MICE market, it is not only van den Berg who feels that hotels should be stepping up their game.

TeleAdapt regional manager, Middle East and India, Inam Haider says that hotels must concentrate more on their meetings technology provision if they are to stay ahead of their competitors.

“Hotels need to be more focused on meetings technology as this can be a feature that helps to sell rooms, meetings, and increase business. More attention does need to be paid to this technology,” Haider maintains.

“Many hotels have good fittings and furnishings, but are ill-equipped when it comes to technology. The international trend in meetings is that people are becoming more tech-savvy and they want to have products available in the hotel to connect to for their meetings to be successful and professional. Hotels need to invest in products to do this.”

Beach Rotana area director of information technology, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, Mehmet Akdeniz, feels that there is still the same demand for meetings technology as before the financial crisis.
“The demand for new technology has not changed in terms of requests, due to the nature of meetings still being the same”, Akdeniz says

As a result, devices such as LCD screens with microphones, media hubs for in-hotel entertainment and wireless technology such as mobile device registration are all being incorporated in to hotels, to cater for the increasing demand from guests for accessible technology.

Room to coexist

But while other available technology is developing the way in which meetings are conducted, video conferencing could potentially change the face of meetings entirely — yet with a large number of businesses unconvinced at this step away from face to face meetings, will hotels want to adopt video conferencing at all?

Swank audiovisuals director and onsite partner at Park Hyatt, Scott Kellogg believes the two can coexist.

“Video conferencing can take many forms and serve many functions, and it has a place in hospitality and live events. Travel time and cost are a constant factor for those planning events. If a person can present an idea or concept to multiple locations at once, there isn’t just a cost saving, but there can be value in distributing that message all at once,” Kellogg argues.

“While a video conference will never take the place or maintain the same impact as someone in person, it can be a tool for communicating to those who may not have been able to participate locally.”

And it is the appeal of physically seeing someone during a business meeting which 3dve chief operating officer, Richard Scorsa, believes makes video conferencing such an attractive proposition.

“The ongoing drive to the ubiquity of video communications is often seen as a technology play. User based services such as You Tube and UStream; the technologies of industry leaders such as Cisco and Polycom’s TelepPresence; and, the eventual video access of the IPAD certainly have the wow factor that piques our interest,” Scorsa says.

“The real driver though, lies not in the picture but in the very human need to remove the barriers to understanding — it is the never ending quest to approach the reality of same space interaction. Video — in ways audio alone cannot provide — allows us to duplicate more closely the visceral experience that drives our emotions, which in turn moves our perception and therefore it ultimately moves our decision making.

“The video genie is out and as the world’s infrastructure continues to evolve visual communications will change, in unforeseen ways, how we see the world and our roles in it.”  

And as video conferencing continues to adapt and upgrade to suit the needs of business travelers, hotels will certainly need to think about including it as part of their meetings package if they want to remain at the forefront of meetings technology. And then it will be for the customer to decide if saving money on travel will cost them in networking.

Top 5 products recommended by suppliers

1 Media Hub HD by Teleadapt —allows guests to stream their audio through the in-room TV.
2 Chargehub by Teleadapt — a compact, mobile device charging station.
3 BeoVision 7-55 by Bang & Olufsen — 55 inch television for rooms and luxury suites.
4 BeoVision 4-103 by Bang & Olufsen — 103-inch television for conferencing.
5 Retractable LCD screen with built in microphone by Audipack — for conferencing.