HOTELS Asks . . .

Q What are you doing to provide ongoing IT training throughout your hotel(s)?

Kirby D. Payne, CHA, American Hospitality Management Company, Tiverton, Rhode Island:

A For technology, you really have two issues that you need to train

on: One is the conceptual experience. Where does the technology fit in the overall operation and why? We are getting some of the training for this from the Educational Institute of American Hotel and Lodging Association (AH&LA).

The other part of the training is how do you use the specific tools that we have bought to do the jobs. For our properties that are affiliated with hotel chains such as Holiday Inn, they are the ones that specify which PMS to use, and we leave the training up to them.

For independent properties, we can select whatever system we want. If we go with a less sophisticated or lower cost system where they don't have training other than the initial installation, we will supplement the vendor training by putting a training manual on our own internal Web site. The reason we do that is so we only load the manual once and updates are easy to distribute. Generally, the vendors for higher-end systems have excellent sites for training. Fortunately, this saves us time and money.

In addition, all of our manuals and procedures are online and staff can look it up at home if they want. We also provide the entire AH&LA Educational Institute courses free to all of our employees using the CourseLine product. We are working on putting our employee orientation online. There will be a video speech from me introducing employees to the company—available in English or Spanish. We think the Internet really leverages what you can do as far as training, and it saves money.

Lynda Edsall, director of distance learning, Hilton Hotels Corp.:

A Hilton's OnQ technology includes both an intuitive Microsoft Windows® design and an online training program. In a typical scenario, new front desk employees are able to learn up to 80% of what they need to know to perform their job after just a couple of days of training. The built-in online training tutorials are customized for each type of hotel job position. The tutorials—along with the hands-on practice—and knowledge support tools ensures a comprehensive interactive experience every time, resulting in a better-trained employee.

OnQ technology is deployed across more than 2,100 hotels regardless of brand. The platform enables the introduction of new features and enhancements without compromising the flexibility required of the individual hotel—from the smallest Hampton Inn to the largest Hilton. This flexibility and standardization allows us to (quickly) support new brand programs and initiatives. The training program is updated automatically as new versions of software programs are introduced.

The focus of our Distance Learning Team is to develop training and support tools primarily for the end users (rather than IT managers) that will help ensure the technology is being used to its greatest potential.

Sara Kearney, director of rooms, Hyatt International Corp.:

A This is a challenge due to various systems and telecom/ network access used in different countries. We maintain a group of systems trainers that travel the world keeping the employees current and well trained. Additional training is provided for regional and divisional specialists so there is information easily available to hotels as needed. For some systems, we use interactive training tools via CD Rom or the Internet, such as the central reservations system since it is standard globally. The property management systems, revenue management, and sales and catering systems are standard to the extent they can be, and then local issues must be taken into consideration. All of these tools are vastly improved in their ease of use and adaptability of the staff, so while there are now more systems to manage, they are easier to learn. We do our best to retain regional and divisional expertise in these tools so we can maximize the investment at the property level.

Q How have you ensured that your wireless and wired high-speed Internet network is secure?

Fraser Hickox, general manager of research and technology, The Peninsula Hotels, Hong Kong:

A We have to be vigilant with the upkeep of our system as the hacking activity is a dynamic one. Within our network, we have the ability to detect if a guest's machine is carrying unknowingly any spamming software and the network will automatically disconnect.

Essentially, the first line of security depends upon the individual PC. As can be imagined, we have no control over the issues of [the guests'] firewalls, the possibility that the guest may have been already affected prior to his or her arrival by a hacker that has created a backdoor entry to their computer.

What is provided is a means for our guest to connect to the Internet as an extension of the existing Internet provider, and as with the Internet provider we have little control over what our guest downloads, although we have a means of constantly looking out for unusual transactions.

The same situation prevails with wireless. As with the earlier cellular phones it is possible for a determined hacker to intercept a wireless transmission, which could be overcome by an encryption system requiring the guest to set a new parameter on their PCs every time they check in at our hotel, however, some guests may find it fairly inconvenient.

Every level of security limits the guest's use of our facility. We have to maintain a fair balance between guest security and freedom for them. We recommend our guest to undertake the following three steps: Keep anti-virus software up-to-date and check to ensure the latest patches are in place in the software being used and ensure that there is no potential for a backdoor hacker. Check the firewall, and hide the connected PC's identity.

Vineet Gupta, vice-president of Technology, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, Toronto:

A At Fairmont, each of our hotels leverages Cisco networking products to ensure a secure and reliable connection for all of our guests. From a security perspective, all of our Internet gateway servers and switches are software secured, and continually upgraded to ensure our guests are protected with the latest in networking technologies. Fairmont also has deployed real-time traffic monitoring across all HSIA entry points and enforces stringent access controls to lock-down known virus ports. As a result, Fairmont has the ability to find and shut down hosts posing security or virus threats across all of our guestrooms, meeting rooms and wireless hotspots. These capabilities provide our guests with peace of mind as well as an unparalleled online experience.

We also recognize that some of our guests may be uncomfortable with working online while traveling. We have taken steps to set their minds at ease. The Fairmont Virtual Assistant, a 24/7 technical support hotline manned by Fairmont's IT department, is a service intended to serve anyone who has questions about our service, from generic connectivity issues to detailed analysis of supported protocols. Adding to this, the majority of our hotels have on-site staff equipped to answer questions or provide technical assistance.

Carlos Baruki, area director of sales and marketing, Latin America, Inter-Continental Hotels Group:

A In order to ensure our HSIA network is secured, we provide the hotel owners with requirement documents detailing the factors to be considered when evaluating HSIA suppliers. For example, key questions will enable them to evaluate if the supplier can provide future scalability, commitment to HSI product, knowledge of hotel industry and brand standards. We equip guests with port-to-port security—such that no guest can access or view the computer data or network of any other guests using the high speed network. An Ethernet VLAN switch is typically required. Port-to-port security is ensured for all combinations such as: room-to-room security; user-to-user security; public areas and V-LAN access; private network capability; network intrusion; and wireless intrusion.

Although these basic security requirements are highly encouraged, we are aware that some wireless applications might open the airwaves to hackers who are not on the hotel's HSIA network; therefore, our hotels have an obligation to notify our guests of the risks associated with accessing the HSIA network by disclosing the user risk through 'terms and conditions' notifications.