ABB and DigiValet have entered into a strategic cooperation to bring together ABB’s KNX building automation technology and DigiValet’s software and hardware for room control.
By combining these two worlds, hotel guests are offered greater comfort and hotel operators greater efficiency. Energy costs can be reduced through automation so that lights and air conditioning will switch off automatically when a room is empty, but will switch on again to give fast and effective room service when the room is occupied.
The products from ABB are based on proven KNX technology, the world’s first open standard for the control of all types of intelligent buildings, from homes through to commercial and public buildings. ABB’s KNX products offer a spectrum of applications for buildings: from lighting and blind control to the heating, ventilation, energy management, security and surveillance. The result is increased flexibility, safety, economy and comfort.
DigiValet’s Guest Room Management Software (GRMS) solution is a combination of hardware and software designed for luxury hotels. With a tablet user interface, available in various languages, hotel guests can control room comfort with ease. The link between tablet and the KNX system is the DigiValet controller.
DigiValet is known for its assimilation of building management systems with point-of-sale systems and other systems for KNX room control. This service is currently used in some of the best hotels in the world. Examples include the Armani Hotel in the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (UAE), the Torch Hotel in Doha (Qatar) or the Oberoi Hotel in Bangalore (India) and the Oberoi Sukhvilas in New Chandigarh (India).
Mike Mustapha, managing director of ABB’s Building Products business, says: “This collaboration enables two leading technology providers to come together to add value to the hotel industry. The solution can help hotel operators to differentiate themselves by offering state-of-the-art automation within guest rooms, while helping them with their overall operating costs thanks to the intelligence gained from sensors.”
Guests of the hotel need not look for switches, they simply use a tablet between check-in and check-out to adjust room temperature, lighting and blind control. They can even operate the entertainment system using the same tablet to select programs on TV, movies and music on demand, they can also use the system to order food, book a spa or the cinema.
DigiValet software allows energy saving in unoccupied rooms and improves service efficiency through greater attention to detail even during periods of reduced staffing levels, resulting in increased profitability for the hotel owner.
