Mews Summer Release: New features for smooth hotel operations

Introduction to Mews Summer Release
 
Hey, everyone. Welcome back to another Matt Talk. And this week, I have Adam for the second time. And Adam is the only person who's ever come twice, but it's because he comes with great news, and that's why I invited him back. Hey, Adam.
 
Hello. Good morning.
 
So today's topic is obviously back on product because Adam is a Product Director, and I wanted him because I heard about a release that's up and coming. I said, you must come back, and we must talk about these things because they excite the hell out of me. This Summer Release, it's called, because whilst you've all been on holiday, we've kept working, and we've been building these incredible features that are getting released as a result of the summer. And the summer release is called Smooth Operations, which I love. Why is it called that? And what is, you know, what's some of the highlights that we're gonna talk about today?
 
Look. Smooth Operations. So it's all about, you know, giving the guests an effortless experience and then making sure hotels have the tools that they need, which are just working in the background. You know, we don't want people using the system. We want everything automated as much as we can, you know, and it's not just about efficiency and and automating those tasks, but it's all about the guest experience and making sure that they have an awesome arrival, in-stay, and departure experience at the hotels.
 
Nice. All the things that I talk widely about on the Internet and all the frustrations that I have, and I can't wait to hear some of the stuff that you've been doing. And I in the pre talk, there are several things that's, like, right, we're doing that. That is so exciting.
 
So I'm really excited to start digging in. We've got three themes that we're gonna talk through, so we will break it into little blocks. And the first one is really, how do we perfect that online check-in experience or that smooth arrival at the hotel? The second one is really, how can we help give you more information about your guests and create those really personal experiences?
 
And then the last one is really, how do we improve the back office operations, some of the automations that we've built there to make that experience an even better one? We wanted to start with the online check-in experience and some of the stuff we've implemented there. Do you wanna kick off with that one?
 
Absolutely. Let's start where it begins.
 
You receive your email or your SMS inviting you to do that online check-in. You fill in all the data that the hotel requires, which varies from country to country and also business to business. No two

Chapter
Guest ID and selfie collection
 
hotels are the same here. And the first thing that we added in is the ID or passport and the guest selfie collection.
 
Now in some hotels, you know, they're required to send this passport number to the local police or the authorities every night. Some hotels operate, you know, mixed accommodation and have staffless environments. So to keep their guests safe, they want to capture that information, even though it's not legally required. So now the hotels are able to configure whether they optionally require this information or whether they make it a hard requirement for you to do your online check-in for me.
 
Why this is so important is because the online check-in needs to replace that staffed experience at the hotel. There is nothing more frustrating as a guest of going and doing your online check-in, filling in everything. And then you arrive at the hotel and then they ask for your passport information and you have to go through your bag.
 
And this happened to me yesterday when checking in and I'm staying at a hotel from a very, very big brand. And I completed all my online check-in through their app. I didn't, wasn't asked for any passport information. The moment I got to the hotel, she takes it, swipes it through the keyboard.
 
And I've already put that document away.
 
If the data is already in the system, why do they still require the passport, do you think?
 
To make sure that, you know, you made the reservation, to make sure it's your card that paid for it. And also in the hotel I'm staying at, they require it for reporting it to their authority. So they want to make sure the data rendered is correct. And that's why, so now in the online check-in flow and also the kiosk in flow, using the guest camera, they can take a photo, it extracts the data.
 
Meaning, I just put the passport in front of the camera and it just captures it?
 
Yep. Exactly. And it's really, really fast as well. The cameras in phones now are so nice with all the auto focus.
 
It happens really, really quickly. The hotel set their deletion period, so we can make sure that the hotels are only storing that information for as long as they need. Soon as you leave, that gets automatically deleted, so it's never accessed there. And, of course, it's all protected through two-factor authentication, passkeys, Single Sign-On. Right.
 
I actually think this is gonna be such a big solution. In some countries, they're not that strict, but in some countries, they are. And it really ruins that online check-in flow because we try and do all of that stuff beforehand, and then they get to their cell, and they still have to whip out their passport. So I'm really excited for countries like, for example, the Czech Republic where we have our head office, where we always end up checking in, but you have to always take out your passport. So it's gonna be a massive solution. There is one thing that you're adding also there, which I like, on your passport, you have got a photo, but you're also adding a selfie mode into the online check-in. Right?
 
Yeah. Absolutely. So, that selfie is, you know, meant to pair with that verification, but we have hotels who are using it just as a standalone. And they have it optional for the guests.
 
Really nice high-end boutique hotels, small amounts of rooms with lots of staff there. So by requesting that selfie, then the guest can be treated like a rock star. There is nothing nicer than rocking up to the hotel, and they already know who you are because they can see your smiling face there on their arrivals list. There's an airline that I constantly fly who does this really, really nicely, and they extract it from the passport.
 
But when they come over and give you that greeting because you know you're a high-end loyalty member, they've got that photo of you on their tablet, which is super nice. So that's where the inspiration for this came from.
 
It's so good. Like and I remember from when I was working at the front desk and we were on POS, so we had a blue screen. So there was definitely not gonna be any graphic image of a guest, but it really is important. Right?
 
If you're a large hotel to recognize your regular guest or how do you make sure that the next shift if I've checked you in, I'll remember you. But my colleagues that have checked in the next shift, they won't recognize you, but these are loyal returning customers. So, you know, you'd go to the morning meeting and you'd normally, you'd have a printout. That it's a perfect way to print out some of your regular guests and what they look like and what their, like, preferences are.
 
And we'll get to the preferences later. But recognition of the guest is one of the most important thing. And if you've never met them, that is really, really difficult. Super, super nice.