TechOvation Voting Now Open!

The 2021 TechOvation videos are now online for you to watch! HTNG's TechOvation competition continues to grow year after year, proving to be a valuable award within our industry. This year we are proud to have nineteen participants vying for their product to be named the most innovative technology solution in 2021!

Each contestant has created a 90-second video showcasing their new and innovative solution for the hospitality industry. Watch these videos by November 5 on HTNG's YouTube Channel and "like" your favorites! Remember, your "likes" will help a company advance to the next round of the TechOvation Award.

Last year, the TechOvation videos generated over 53,000 views and 11,300 "likes" collectively from dozens of countries across the globe. Help us make this year another success!

Below are 90-second videos from our 2021 TechOvation contestants. From these videos, the three most "liked" videos by the public and the seven videos selected by the judges will advance as semi-finalists.

The ten semi-finalists will present live at HT-NEXT on December 15 where one will be named the 2021 TechOvation Award Winner!

Agilysys - Agilysys PanOptic Kiosk

A prime example of frictionless guest self-service is kiosk checkout for grab-and-go stores, cafeterias and other F&B outlets where packaged items are offered. Agilysys' new PanOptic AI-powered self-checkout kiosk, allows guests to simply place multiple food items on the kiosk tray all at one time. As the guest places items on the tray, our PanOptic AI service uses computer vision and AI to recognize them, initiate a shopping cart and add them to the cart.

Beekeeper - Beekeeper Work

Beekeeper Work is an intuitive app that will transform how your team tends to daily Housekeeping operations. Team members on their feet can get things done with a simple tap of their finger. No training. No I.T. set up. No corporate approvals. Just easy technology rolled out in days. And it's available in every language too so no one gets left behind.

Belden Inc. - OptiTuff^TM Mini Fiber Cables

OptiTuff^TM Mini Fiber Cable utilizes advanced, ruggedized thermoplastic material as a cost-effective alternative to metal armored cable. This all-dielectric armor provides superior durability and crust resistance while maintaining excellent mechanical properties. It's more flexible and easier to handle and install than metal armored cable - with no grounding or conduit. These characteristics make it an optimal solution for projects that involve small spaces, raceways or environments with lots of tight and challenging turns.

CloudFabrix - CloudFabrix IT Operations & Analytics

Modern day IT environments are becoming dynamic, interconnected and complex. Data explosion, siloed tools and manual IT operational decisions are holding hoteliers back. CloudFabrix utilizes AI and ML, to drive automated IT operational decisions at scale across all domains of IT, to reduce tickets, resolve faster, predict outages, improve productivity and cut costs.

DISH Business - SMARTBOX 2

Twice the Entertainment, Half the Size. SMARTBOX 2 is capable of delivering up to 192 HD channels to every room in properties of all sizes and types without the need for costly rewriting. This compact device is easily wall or rack-mounted and includes a 10 gig networking port for the increased integration of IP-based delivery. SMARTBOX 2 also supports customized guides, branded UI, integration of private channels, and 24/7 access to API-based remote management.

Enseo - VERA

VERA, Enseo's Video Enabled Remote Agent, creates a live video connection to a hotel front desk agent. Guests can engage in their hotel experience, asking any question and getting check-in/out help from a live agent through a digital interface. VERA helps optimize employee resources allowing live agents the flexibility to be located anywhere. Completely customizable from the on-screen design to the live agent, VERA is an extension of the hotel personality, representing the hotel brand.

FlowActive, Inc. - FirstDrops Water Monitoring Device

FlowActive FirstDrops water monitoring devices are WiFi-connected IoT devices that monitor water use and recognize possible leaks that would go undetected in tank toilets. Abnormal flows and water use trigger alerts via text or email in real time. Water use is viewable by fixture, data and building via web based portal on desktop, tablets and phones. FlowActive enables customers to efficiently find and stop leaks, saving money and labor while preventing damage.

Hapi/DataTravel - Hapi Guest

With Hapi Connect, your PMS data can be put to work directly in Salesforce. Is your hotel collecting and storing guest data in a closed system? Are you sharing data between the PMS and your CRM through static file uploads? Hapi Connect integrates your guest data into Salesforce in real time, allowing you to innovate faster using multiple Salesforce Clouds to make more impactful guest connections along their entire journey.

INTELITY - INTELITY Mobile Check-in with ID Verification

INTELITY Mobile Check-in with ID Verification enables hotels to verify a guest's identity using Artificial Intelligence technology. Guests can submit both payment and their government issued IDs electronically when they check-in via their mobile devices. Their IDs are verified for authenticity, and then the guest takes a selfie which is matched to their ID via facial recognition. This product provides a seamless guest experience, saves front desk time and reduces the risk of chargebacks.

LG Electronics - LG CLOi UV-C Bot

A service robot that provides a smart disinfection* solution. Ideal for a variety of high-touch environments such as hotels, restaurants, schools, and offices. Autonomous driving comes standard and a mobile app for remote monitoring is also included. Click here to see CLOi in action: https://youtu.be/YzsCl0XqWs8.

*Disinfects hard, non-porous surfaces. Demonstrated 99.999% efficacy in testing against staphylococcus aureus and pseudomonas aeruginosa on glass and stainless steel surfaces.

Nonius - Nonius Hub

Leveraging Nonius's 16 years of experience in systems integrations, Nonius Hub is at the center of all Nonius solutions, serving as a communication broker and protocol adapter between major hospitality technology industry vendors and covering 100+ hospitality products. Hotels can now integrate products from different vendors to create a truly integrated platform and ubiquitous experience for their guests. Join all your hotel systems and put them working together to dazzle your guests!

Oracle Hospitality - Oracle Hospitality Integration Platform

Drive collaboration and accelerate innovation with the Oracle Hospitality Integration Platform. The OHIP offers hotel operators and integrators unprecedented access to all of the capabilities that OPERA Cloud has to offer. By making available over 3 thousand REST APIs and a full self-service experience end to end, operators and integrators can now design, build and release their integrations in matters of days rather than weeks or months thus accelerating time to market and reducing costs.

Thynk - Thynk.cloud

Thynk is a multi-property Sales & Operation solution powered by SALESFORCE. It covers hotelier use cases out-of-the-box including: corporate and agency management, bundle services, sales and operation management, bundle services, sales and operation management, and unified guest profile. It includes Price, Quote, Plan, Contract, Schedule, Deliver, and Invoice any hospitality service. It is data driven and customer centric to focus on agility, productivity, and automation. Time to market, and Cost of Sales are key.

TigerTMS - iPortal

iPortal is the exciting new mobile guest services solution. Available on a competitive monthly subscription, iPortal incurs NO developmental costs for the hotelier and NO App download by guests. Accessed easily via QR code, iPortal is reframing guest engagement. Costs are saved on printed material, and revenues increase through greater use of hotel amenities. iPortal is the next generation mobile guest solution to do everything that an App can do - and more!!

TipYo - TipYo Mobile Tipping

TipYo is a full-service mobile tipping solution built for the hospitality industry to enable travelers to express their gratitude to non-point of sale service staff using their phones. TipYo's platform has multiple tip acceptance channels including our stand-alone app, integration with hotel partner apps and web solutions. TipYo manages the complex backend tip matching process and integrates with hotel payroll software. Free to the guest and employees, our partners pay TipYo a nominal monthly fee.

TranslateLive, LLC - ILA-Instant Langauge Assistant

TranslateLive's ILA solves language and disability communication challenges by allowing people to have real-time conversations in their native language. ILA is the only solution to combine HIPAA compliant and private AI, organization specific processes pre-loaded for 100% accuracy, backed with the ability to access live interpreters via audio or video. Users can be in the same room or connect remotely via the web from the other side of the world.

UniFocus - Odin

Odin is a powerful intelligent assistant ensuring that property managers can always make the best possible staffing and scheduling decisions every day. A fully automated process, Odin generates actionable insight on service demand projections, past labor performance and critical issues that are key to meeting today's expectations for enhanced service quality. Odin also features instant alerts for any open shifts or shift change requests and offers the industry's latest capabilities in determining forecast demand accuracy.

UniFocus - ShiftGenius

ShiftGenius allows managers to target whom they want to send open shift(s) to, based on rankings or groupings like seniority and skills or cross-utilization across one or multiple properties. Managers have real-time visibility into availability, overtime, and other work rules as employees pick up and swap shifts within boundaries set up to control costs and keep employers compliant. Managers can plan for higher demand and see issues early while employees benefit from schedule flexibility.

Virdee - Virdee Virtual Reception

Virdee Virtual Reception is designed to accommodate 100% of arriving guests via either mobile app or kiosk self-service technology. We deliver mobile keys to the mobile guest, and all arriving guests can obtain physical keys at the kiosk. VVR includes upsell/cross-sell opportunities and room preferences with room selection from a floor plan of the hotel. With the revenue enhancers, the system offers hoteliers ROI on day one.

About Hospitality Technology Next Generation (HTNG)

Part of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), HTNG the premier technology solutions association in the hospitality industry, HTNG serves members from hospitality companies, technology vendors to hospitality, consultants, media and academic experts. HTNG's members participate in focused workgroups to bring to market open solution sets addressing specific business problems. HTNG fosters the selection and adoption of existing open standards and also develops new open standards to meet the needs of the global hospitality industry.

Currently more than 400 corporate and individual members from across this spectrum, including world leading hospitality companies and technology vendors, are active HTNG participants. HTNG's Board of Governors, consisting of 22 top IT leaders from hospitality companies around the world, itself has technology responsible for over 3 million guest rooms and world-leading venues. HTNG publishes workgroup proceedings, drafts and specifications for all HTNG members as soon as they are created, encouraging rapid and broad adoption. HTNG releases specifications into the public domain as soon as they are ratified by the workgroups.