Samsung LYNK REACH

Digital TV (DTV) displays enhance a hotel or resort’s reputation for uncluttered, relaxing guest rooms. Hospitality businesses want to improve guests’ experience by providing convenient, on-screen hotel information and user-friendly electronic program guides accessible by remote control. Yet, hospitality managers need efficient ways to manage multiple TV sets and their displayed content, without having to update or adjust each unit individually.

Typically, property managers enlist personnel to visit every guest room to perform system upgrades, set changes and other maintenance. Manually updating each TV throughout the property consumes valuable labor and operational costs. A manual process requires additional equipment and maintenance, contributing to continually rising costs associated with DTVs on properties.

Samsung LYNK Remote Enhanced Active Control for Hospitality (REACH) is a software and hardware solution for better managing and maintaining room display content. The solution comprises two integrated hospitality options that can be tailored to meet individual property requirements:

• LYNK REACH. Designed for ease of use, LYNK REACH is a software solution provided with REACH Server that helps hospitality properties manage and deploy content on guest room TVs.
• REACH Server. REACH Server and the remote controller enables the updating and adjusting of DTVs over radio frequency (RF) signals.

LYNK REACH is designed exclusively for hospitality businesses to help create more cost-efficient room display management. LYNK REACH can help hospitality facilities:

• Eliminate the manual labor involved in room-by-room visits to each guest room by using a single-location remote solution that saves resources.
• Offer guests a way to rapidly access content with an intuitive interface.
• Deliver information automatically with a headline-style ticker.
• Lower total cost of ownership (TCO) by eliminating the need for extra equipment and staff.

LYNK REACH is designed so that property managers and technicians can manage multiple TVs from one central location. REACH Server delivers updated firmware and other settings to TVs through RF signals. With remote upgrades using REACH Server, staff members can eliminate service limitations and interruptions, leaving them more time to deliver customer services.

SPEED ACCESS TO CONTENT WITH INTUITIVE INTERFACES

LYNK REACH comes equipped with familiar, intuitive user interfaces (UIs) for hotel staffers and guests. The REACH solution contains a simplified tree hierarchy of settings that resembles a desktop folder system. Enhanced visual contrast between the list of settings and the working window helps employees find the setting or element to be modified without delay. The UI provides a live preview of the element to confirm the setting has been adjusted as desired.

LYNK REACH simplifies the process of customizing and applying designs on TVs to match brand images, locations, amenities and audiences. When design and content are applied, menus are displayed transparently on top of an editable background image. The UI can include welcome and other messages based on events occurring on or off the property, nightly restaurant specials and other communications.

Guests can access services and find information with a UI that fills the DTV screen and functions like displays in most in-home large-format TVs. Using the service and information menus is straightforward so that guests can more easily access the resources they need.

The LYNK REACH ticker feature gives properties an additional way to deliver messages and other information. The ticker feature provides a crawl of data of special interest to guests, such as local weather or event information. In addition, property managers can create and update targeted promotional content or marketing messages that display in the ticker’s scrolling text interface. For example, a resort or hotel known for its cold-weather amenities might display slope conditions, available spa times and discount ticket packages. A hotel with on-site restaurants can advertise new menu options, or special local promotions, such as food or event discounts that are available to guests. These messages can be scheduled to run at certain intervals to increase guest attention. Property owners can increase revenue by providing and servicing paid ticker advertisements and information about neighborhood shopping, restaurants and attractions.

Optimize TCO by reducing the need for extra equipment and staff hours

Many hospitality businesses already receive conventional analog and digital TV programming using RF signals. For those establishments that have RF infrastructures in place, LYNK REACH is an ideal way to provide TV content more efficiently. With LYNK REACH, these establishments can provide advanced features without the expense of purchasing additional set-top boxes (STBs) or installing IP networks. Room-by-room updates are unnecessary, because employees can upgrade firmware and software from one place. Information can be customized and refreshed using desktop PCs. This flexibility enables employees to conveniently edit content in near-real time as conditions change. For example, if an on-site restaurant runs out of a special dish, a property manager can delete or change promotional messages relating to the menu item. Hotel information, logos, images and more are updated to each TV with customized templates