Conference Internet | Part I: Bandwidth Allocation

Hotels around the country are seeing strong demand for meeting rooms with high-performing networks, and these conferences are generally highly profitable. Even if you offer free Wi-Fi in other parts of your hotel, charging for Internet usage at conferences and meetings can yield high margins.

Historically, large conference hotels have relied on their third-party network provider or banquet staff to sell and provision group Internet. This is where Conference Services Management Software comes in (for the purpose of this blog series, we’ll shorten this to CSMS). CSMS is a software tool that allows hotels to offer self-service guest Internet access (GIA) in their conference spaces.

Over the following week, we will explain how to successfully incorporate Conference Services Management Software into your hotel in this three-part series.

Conferences Demand Great Internet (and Are Willing to Pay For It)

In order to win (and keep) conference business you must provide an exceptional Internet offering. CSMS allows hoteliers to follow step-by-step instructions to schedule conferences, create custom branded welcome screens, designate the appropriate amount of bandwidth for both individuals and groups, and generate a login and password for each event.

Hotels must also adapt quickly to changing conference demands. Should the event organizer need to add more connections, increase bandwidth, or have access in other parts of your hotel you, or they, should be able to change these settings immediately. Prompt event managers to increase capacity on the fly with real-time notifications telling them they’ve reached the maximum number of connections. These alerts are not only a service that event managers will appreciate; it also allows the hotel to capture additional revenue.

Under Promise and Over Deliver on Bandwidth

Since conferences typically generate more revenue than standard guests, it’s crucial that events get allocated the appropriate amount of bandwidth. If you oversubscribe bandwidth, “something’s gotta give” and someone else in your pipe will suffer; be certain that you can deliver a stellar Internet experience at your conferences; repeat business surely depends on it.

In Session Bandwidth Upgrades

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To learn more about Eleven's Conference Service Manager, call (503) 222-4321, Option 2, or email sales@elevenwireless.com.