Cegeka and NEC transform guest experience one check-in at a time

In today's competitive hospitality industry, providing a seamless and efficient guest experience is important to have success. Long check-in lines and outdated systems can leave a negative impression to customer satisfaction. Recognizing this challenge, NEC, a global leader in technology and innovation, partnered with Cegeka to create Kiosk, a revolutionary smart check-in solution that has transformed the hospitality landscape in Asia and Middle East.

Before the introduction of Kiosk, hotel check-in processes often involved long queues and time-consuming procedures. This not only frustrated guests but also created a logistical challenge for hotel staff.

“With long waiting times during the busy hours, hotels wanted to improve the guest experience from check-in through check-out including payment systems. We needed a complete packaged solution that integrated with different hotel systems, with a world-class user interface that is easy to use by the hotel guests. At the base, we had to build a product general enough to be customizable and specific enough to fit every request of our customers, the hotels. Cegeka enabled us to do all of this and helped us form the basis of our new smart workspace tool by leveraging their expertise and comfort working with devices and cloud” said Bob Nupp, Senior Director for Software Development at NEC Corporation Technologies.

The Solution: Kiosk, a smart check-in 

NEC and Cegeka set out to address these challenges by developing Kiosk, a user-friendly and customizable smart check-in solution that seamlessly integrates with various hotel management systems. Kiosk empowers guests to verify their identities, confirm their reservations, purchase additional services, and receive their room keys all on their own. This eliminates the need for waiting in long lines and streamlines the check-in process, providing a more efficient and enjoyable experience for both guests and hotel staff. 

The solution is based on new technologies and uses the cloud when it’s needed to serve the customer better.

Challenges

Although there were challenges along the way, our engineers were quick to respond, enabling seamless cross-training to ensure the right talent was always on deck.

“Security had to be tightened as we got more feedback from customers, so we had to develop a step-by-step process. Fortunately, the team at Cegeka were very responsive to this. Then, as it happens with big teams, timelines can be tough and deadlines hard to meet, especially with so many stakeholders. We were all under immense pressure to deliver in Singapore. That is where Cegeka stepped up and helped us deliver on time and meet all our deadlines. And lastly, we had to make sure we had access to the right resources. Sometimes that meant cross-training engineers to ensure proper coverage or support. The teams communicated well and Cegeka engineers were very open to sharing their expertise” added Bob Nupp.

In close cooperation

The software Cegeka developed for Kiosk is the easiest to understand and tangible solution in the market. This means a user-friendly front-end and easy connections to hotel management systems across the world and other benefits. What’s more, Kiosk is a leading product of the transformation of the NEC offering and a basis for their new intelligent workspace solution.

"In the beginning, we didn’t know which system the hotels would want us to integrate with, or their security requirements. The team at Cegeka supported us through their agile approach. As we found more information, we would piece it together into the project backlog. This means more guests benefit from smart management of their hotel stay."

 

Bob Nupp, Senior Director for Software Development at NEC Corporation Technologies.

Teams in the USA and Europe worked together to develop a solution for Asia and the Middle East. This project had a large hardware footprint and required very complex integration and flexibility. Cegeka proved to be a reliable partner for NEC in this journey. "They were professional and innovative. Furthermore, they introduced new technology in this project. Their familiarity with cloud concepts guided us on our adoption journey. Cegeka has always done a great job finding people with the right skills and ideas for our project. This one was no different. Most importantly, business is done through people and collaboration between teams is crucial.

We developed a successful workflow between us at NEC, Cegeka, and our hardware partners, working together for our end customer, the hotels. With this level of integration, you need to aim high for win-wins, and this is why we are looking forward to our next project at Cegeka", mentioned Bob Nupp, Senior Director for Software Development at NEC Corporation Technologies.