Digital Signage Gives Montreal Hilton Interactive Edge

By Stéphane Morin, director sales & marketing, Hilton Montreal Bonaventure
The Hilton Montreal Bonaventure (www.hilton.com) takes particular pride in engaging our customers and providing them with unparalleled service; as such, hotel management is always looking for new ways to make each guest’s experience more enjoyable. We recently gave our conference facilities a major technological facelift through the installation of an extensive digital signage network. Replacing the posters and paper signs we were previously using, our digital displays allow guests to easily navigate their way to conference rooms, while providing quick and convenient access to information on hotel amenities, conference details, and more.

When our guests and conference attendees arrive, they are greeted with five state-of-the-art 46-inch lobby displays, one of which is fully touch-enabled. Each provides complete information about the day’s schedule of events, in addition to specialized streaming content in HD resolution, such as weather, news, and flight information by airline. The touch-enabled lobby display is unique in that it uses a sensoring device to attract guests’ attention. In quiet mode, the screen displays continuous “screen saver” content. As a guest approaches, the sensor triggers the sign to display a greeting and lets the person know that it’s a touch screen, with indicators pointing to the
conference directory.

To get directions to a meeting from the touch screen display, way-finding allows guests to press the button for their group and see a complete conference and event schedule, together with detailed instructions on how to reach their meeting room from the display’s location. As they enter the main conference area, each of our 29 meeting rooms features a 15-inch electronic door sign that offers relevant information to the conference
taking place there.

For the installation, we worked with PSAV Presentation Services (www.psav.com). As our on-site A/V consultant, PSAV served as project manager, developed the master signage plan, determined size and placement of every sign, and managed all installation and testing. PSAV based the network on X2O Media’s Xpresenter (www.x2omedia.com) platform, which is a complete suite of applications designed to streamline the process of creating and managing content on a digital signage network.

Xpresenter uses “smart templates” in PowerPoint to make creating new content a quick and painless process. This smart template approach was essential in our network conforming to a Montreal city ordinance, which requires all public signage to be bilingual in French and English. This ordinance would normally mean additional costs for our network, as all content needs to be duplicated in a second language. However, with Xpresenter the same templates can be used in both languages with simple changes to the text portions; keeping the duplication expenses to a minimum. In addition to the Xpresenter software modules, X2O Media provided data feeds for the streaming news and weather content on the lobby displays, and all creative design and for each template.

One of the best measures of our installation’s effectiveness has been the reactions of hotel guests. Our lobby personnel report that numerous guests are constantly clustered around and engaged with the two lobby signs, and we’ve also received very positive feedback from the conference sponsors who advertise on them.


Embracing the latest technologies to provide guests with an unmatched experience, all without breaking the bank, is a familiar challenge to any hotel or conference facility. With our digital signage network, we have found the perfect solution.
 
For more education on the latest trends in digital signage technology, check out the 2012 Digital Signage Expo, March 6 – 9, Las Vegas www.digitalsignageexpo.net.