I have taken a year off from blogging but behind the scenes have had a year full of exciting progress with the Virtual Concierge application. Introducing the next KILLER App……
The Virtual Expert
Reinventing the way we work, play, the way we live our lives today!
Help at the touch of a finger
Search engines have revolutionized the way we work. As a concierge, looking back a few years, I would refer to my rolodex for recommendations and information. All the information in my rolodex was either through years of contacts, knowledge and first hand experience. The rolodex was the equivalent to the little black book! Search engines have replaced the trusty rolodex with making the little black book public. It is the port to all secrets and shared knowledge, all at my finger tips. How great is that! I just go to my favorite search engine, type in my request, and print out, fax, text, or email, all the information my guest would need. Streamlined and seamless!
My top favorite search engines and why:
I love the candidness and on the spot reviews.
I like the ease of search and familiarity. There is a glitch however in their map feature where they have posted the wrong business name to the wrong address. This is a big glitch that I hope Yahoo would fix. If not, I may stray away to the other!
I like the accuracy of this search engine. I do wish they would simplify their Google Maps and not have as much graphics and interactive apps. I know, sounds like the opposite of what they would want to do. It just takes boat loads of bandwidth for me to download a simple map and print out to my guest standing in front of my screen, 80 miles away. The more simple, the better. By the way, I do have boat loads of bandwidth, (T1) but on the other end which is my remote computer, the bandwidth is not as robust.
This site has answers to anything and everything!
If you want to ease drop on all the nitty-gritty of the travel world this is the site to go to. You get the inside scoop of what all the frequent travelers are saying about all Hotels and Airlines. It is a true learning experience.
This site is for the real foodies out there! Their slogan is, “For Those Who Live to Eat”. Chow down!
This is a post where I am asking for Guests to share their experience with my Virtual Concierge service. Thank you in advance for your time in sharing your thoughts and feedback!!
A concierge is no longer just found in a hotel lobby but can be seen at car dealerships, in shopping malls, at airports, in corporate buildings and even hospitals. A concierge is added service and can create loyalty to businesses and brands. It use be that offering a Concierge is something that a company can offer to differentiate themselves from the rest, but nowadays, it is just what a company needs to keep up with the Jones’. Do you take advantage of concierge services available to you through your credit cards, hotels, work? If you had to pay for Concierge service, would you use it and how much are you willing to spend?How do you feel about the Virtual Concierge and the idea of “at your service” at your point of need, anytime, anywhere?
While ringing in the New Year, I look back at the abundant opportunities that I was blessed with within this last year and for the many years before. I have to say first and foremost how very fortunate and thankful I am!
It was about 8 years ago January 2000, I was pregnant with my 2nd child and faced with an 80 mile commute to work every morning. I was not on the road by myself doing that daily grind but driving along side many thousands of other road warriors. I felt like I was being pulled in different directions ready to snap and yearned for that work life balance solution that many strive for.
This morning January 2008, I make my short 2 minute commute to work, my home office down the hall in my house. But I feel for the millions of others still caught in the daily grind of the commute while I read in the local paper about crude oil touching $100 a barrel.
“Necessity is the Mother of Invention”
The Virtual Concierge was my re-invention for my necessity, to be close to home with my children and at the same time be close to my guest at the Hotel. I was given a tool which was your traditional video-conferencing system and used it to create a solution for myself and possibly for many others. For 2008 I hope to create the tool for millions of others to create their own work life balance solutions. Stay tuned!
When I was first introduced to blogging, I was not sure how it would fit into what I do as a Concierge and the Hospitality Industry. But blogging has come a long way and has become a great resource for many industries. The first blog I use to read religiously was FlyerTalk.com I would listen in on the top “road warriors” comments, feedback and advice about all hotel groups. It was like having a direct window into guest’s top concerns, thoughts, and advice about our Hotel. I compared it to people watching 101, in a crowded top notch restaurant with all the who’s who of the business travel world. With this new perspective, I was armed with insight which helped me become a better Concierge. Now Blogging has arrived and the hotel industry has rolled out the welcome mat:Tracking Tourism – Thoughts from the first ever travel industry bloggers summit, found in eHotelier
Videoconferencing my way to work is my normal practice and my biggest luxury. I’ve traded my car in for a videoconferencing system which literally allows me to travel, anywhere in the world, with a public IP address. I refer to it as my modern day,
Getting in my car and driving on the long, congested highway now feels somewhat foreign and surreal. I’ve been living the Virtual dream for 7 ½ years. I am at the point of no return and cannot go back to my old routine…
I have been working in Virtual longer than I have worked at my Concierge desk in real life (physically). I realize that my day to day experience may be a very unique one and I would like to give you a glimpse of my perspective.
What is it like to be a fly on the wall? Just a glimpse…….
I meet people everyday approaching me as if I may be a video. When I greet and respond to them, I get reactions of amazement, awe, shock, laughter, sometimes even fright, but now, many, many more reactions of, but of course!
Like watching a seed germinate and sprout into a flower, the reactions have changed and evolved, right before my very eyes. I can see that now is the time for this Technology. For others soon to live the Virtual dream…..
This is a post where I am asking for Guests to share their experience with my Virtual Concierge service. Your thoughts and feedback are greatly appreciated!
Millions of people travel on a weekly basis and stay at hotels that they call, their home away from home. What criteria does one look for to become loyal to a hotel or brand? Besides the special corporate rate and the reason of, “My employer has me stay there!”, what are the subtle traits, qualities or characteristics of an establishment, that keeps you coming back? For those who have that special home away from home, please do share their secret.
Being the Virtual Concierge in the middle of the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara lobby is a little like having a store front on a very busy avenue or boulevard. You come across many people from all walks of life and industries. Some walk right past me thinking I could be a picture on the wall or an on going video. For those that are very observant, they stop and engage. What can be a very normal trip across a hotel lobby, becomes a unique and memorable experience, that some are even compelled to blog about it……
It’s not often that you meet someone listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. It’s unthinkable to think that I actually met this person over a wide-screen monitor in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency, Santa Clara (Silicon Valley)!
Her name is Anna Mariano-Morris (a.k.a Virtual Anna) and she’s been a virtual concierge for over 7 years!
What began as a trip through a hotel lobby became a feeling that I was being watched by the ‘video’ on the wall behind the concierge desk and the realization that that ‘video’ was an actual person that could see me!… in the end, it was an amazing 1 hour conversation about how we have reached a time in history when all the subtle nuances of a human conversation can be captured by a high speed connection, a wides-screen, and some cameras and speakers. It was no less than a glimpse of the future… today.
June 15, 2007 by Patrick Barnard TMCnet
We’re staying at the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara, Calif. this week, going around and making our “pitch” to the various software vendors and other companies in the call/contact center space located throughout the Bay area.
The other night, me and my co-worker wanted to get the lowdown on which area restaurants we should go to (oh, yes, ahem, and which ones were “affordable” too), so we asked the girl at the front desk, who in turn said we should ask the concierge, who also has a desk in the main common area, across from guest services. When we asked what the concierge’s hours were, the girl at the front desk said “she works 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.,” but when we looked at the concierge’s desk and saw no one there, we asked “well … where is she?”
“Oh she’s there … she’s a virtual concierge,” the girl said.
We looked again, and lo and behold there was the “virtual concierge,” on a large flat panel mounted on the wall right behind the concierge desk (at first we thought it was just a TV). So we went over to meet her.
It turns out that the concierge, “Anna,” has worked at the hotel for more than 10 years, but when she recently had to move about 80 miles away, she came up with the idea of “virtualizing” herself through a videoconferencing solution. She explained that it was no longer practical for her commute to work, so she proposed the idea of “virtualizing” herself and handling guests remotely from her own home (in other words, becoming a home agent) to her bosses. Well, apparently her bosses liked the idea – and being the call-center-technology-junkies that we are, we like the idea too!
Anna was as pleasant as a concierge can be – and her presence was almost as strong with this videoconferencing solution as it would be if she was standing right there, serving us in person. With a good microphone, speaker set, monitor and camera in place, Anna both looked good and sounded good too. The conversation flowed well and the video kept pace with the audio quite nicely, thus creating a truly “personalized” experience. I must admit I was impressed.
Anna said she is trying to work with some call and contact centers to help develop her idea farther. She explained that one the main advantages of using this system is that it helps save on transportation costs (as you know, gas isn’t cheap these days) – plus it helps save the environment as well (a good tie-in here for TMC’s First Annual Green Technology World Conference, which is to be held in Los Angeles this fall). She pointed out that there are many occupations out there where a “virtual” person could easily perform all the duties necessary without having to physically be on the job – and of course, right away I thought about how many banking organizations are soon going to be using “virtual tellers” to conduct routine transactions at branch banks. Although these “virtual tellers” will probably be working in large centers either here in the U.S. or abroad – they could, in theory, be home agents. And if you think about it, that alone could mean thousands less cars on the road every day in the U.S. and elsewhere. Multiply that times a dozen other occupations which employ thousands of people, where virtualization could be applied, and you just might end up reducing carbon emissions by a measurable amount!
Anyway, after our nice discussion, Anna recommended a restaurant where could get a “good burger” and then printed out a set of directions for us on the printer which was right underneath the monitor. Pretty neat!
Later, when we got back from the restaurant, we saw Anna again as we walked through the front common area. Amazingly, even though we were about 25 feet away, she saw us too, and gave us a polite wave and smile – again, just as if she was standing right there! Amazing!
Even though I have my doubts that “virtualized customer service reps” will work in every industry, this experience gave me confidence that in certain industries it is going to work a lot better than any of us realize.
Now, the next step is for Anna to find a way to present her self as a hologram, instead of on a flat panel … hmm, maybe that is coming sooner than I think!
Between two of the sessions at the TechMart yesterday, I slipped next door to the Santa Clara Hyatt to snarf some wi-fi in their lobby, as well as ask for directions. Following the script I’d used a million times before, I went up to the front desk to ask for directions to the restaurant where we were supposed to meet for dinner. The helpful gentleman at the front desk said: “I’m not sure where the restaurant is…but you can ask our virtual concierge across the lobby.”
Virtual concierge? Huh?
I walk across the lobby to see this:
(click to enlarge)
A little bit disconcerting to say the least. But, rolling with it, I walked up.
“Hello, how can I help you?” the woman in the screen asked. (The concierge is real, not an avatar. It’s a video-conference setup.)
I gave her the name of the restaurant.
“They have a number of restaurants in the area. Do you want directions to the one on Santana Row?”
“Yes, please,” I said to the screen.
The fax whirred, and out came my directions.
“By the way, there are two sets of directions printing; you should use the ones for ‘during traffic’ because it will save you some time. Will there be anything else?” she asked, pleasantly.
“No, thank you.”
An interesting exchange all around, but now I’ve got a bunch of questions. Where is the concierge physically located? Is this just for the Santa Clara Hyatt, or does one concierge handle multiple hotels? What was the business driver for doing this?
Anyone know the answers?
February 3, 2006 | Permalink
