Seeking to improve customer service and streamline the process for ticketing, food orders, table management, and payment, The Improve Comedy Club is earning applause with a well-timed investment in wireless mobile computing and e-commerce.

Patrons in Dallas, who already enjoy the Improves live performances by nationally recognised comedians and a comic-relief traffic school, now spend less time waiting for reserved seats and meal service—thanks to Web-based pre-ordering and faster, more accurate wireless communications between waiters and the restaurant kitchen.

Symbol business partner Ameranth Wireless, who developed the Improve solution, assembled a creative mix of applications and technologies that eliminates pen, paper, and the old laminated seating chart. Ameranth, a software developer that design solutions to facilitate data exchange between mobile devices and fixed information systems, co-operated with the Improve to implement a system that has greatly improved its business performance.

A Solution Designed for the Club Environment

"Like most restaurants, we have a lot of people handling different tasks to support seating guests, ordering and delivering food, and managing tickets, among other things. It was clear from the beginning that we were going to need wireless," said Tom Castillo, owner of the Improve. "While our main focus is entertaining customers, we couldn't ignore the need to use the latest technology to deliver the highest level of customer service."

The Ameranth solution was centered on two efforts — devising the appropriate information and data management infrastructure and choosing the right wireless device and integrated mobility application. To meet the first challenge, Ameranth deployed its 21st Century Communications middleware on the Microsoft Distributed interNet Application platform, which includes a Windows NT Server with SQL Server 7.0, and Web-site hosted on a Windows 2000 Advanced Server. To meet the Improves mobility needs, Ameranth installed Symbol's Spectrum24 wireless LAN connected to Symbol's PPT 2700, a ruggedized Windows CE based mobile computer with an embedded bar-code reader, which runs the 21st Century Restaurant client application.

It was critical for the Improve to make it as easy as possible for people to get in the door. Based on this new information management platform, customers use the Web to register for traffic school, purchase tickets for upcoming shows, and pre-order their favourite dish. The system also handles ticketing and reservations by phone.

The next step is to ensure that customers have a positive experience getting to their seats and receiving food and beverages. Servers greet guests with the wireless PPT 2740 to confirm seat assignments. The product, designed by Symbol, easily fits into shirt or apron pockets and is ideal for the fast-paced restaurant environment. This device, ergonomically crafted for easy handling, is splash proof and can withstand a four-foot drop to concrete.

Customers who have pre-ordered are identified by using the device to scan the barcode on the ticket or by inputting a telephone confirmation code. They can then be seated as quickly as possible.

One of the biggest complaints in any restaurant experience is waiting. Based on the new wireless system, the Improve has enabled both faster food and seating service. Since the PPT 2740 is continuously connected to the network, staff has a real-time view of seating to help them manage the 275-seat theater. This is especially important when accommodating last-minute changes, cancellations, and new reservations for three shows a night.

Achieving a Multi-Level Return on Investment

The Dallas Improve has improved its overall business process and profitability. The club now has a system designed to track customers in order to adjust resources to meet varying demand. It also has a better means for managing food inventory and updating its menu accordingly.

"The investment we made in this effort to enable e-commerce, data management, and wireless mobile computing has turned out to be very minuscule in comparison to the improvements we have made to our profit margins and staff efficiency," said Tom. "I would recommend this configuration for any restaurant owner interested in providing the highest level of service."

• Wireless communications around the restaurant enable faster, more affordable, and easier access to the information network.
• Restaurant staff productivity is improved since multiple people simultaneously have access to the same information.
• The customer experience is improved through faster customer service.
• Business process is streamlined leading to greater profitability.

Application:  E-commerce and restaurant wide wireless ticketing and table management system

System:  Microsoft Distributed interNet Application platform—Windows NT Server with SQL Server 7.0, Windows 2000 Advanced Server, Symbol's Spectrum24 Wireless LAN, Symbol PPT 2740, and Ameranth 21st Century Restaurant and Communications middleware.

Environment:  A 275-seat theater restaurant

Business Partner:   Ameranth Wireless

OVERVIEW
• Choice Hotels needed a customer satisfaction system that would be integrated with a new client/server reservations system running on an Informix server.

• Delphi was chosen to develop the new system because it is the fastest and easiest Windows development tool and includes native database drivers for Informix, Sybase, Oracle, DB2, InterBase, and MS SQL Server.

• The system enables an appropriate response to the customer, from any property, within 24 hours.

RETURN ON INVESTMENT
• The new system has saved staffing costs with its faster response time, and by allowing more calls to be handled by fewer agents.

• Standardising reservation and customer satisfaction systems on a single database platform enables greater efficiency by eliminating manual data transfer.

• Rapid response to customer concerns and comments gives Choice Hotels a competitive advantage and increased customer satisfaction.

COMPANY BACKGROUND
Choice Hotels is one of the largest hotel franchising companies in the world, with more than 3,700 hotels, inns, suites, and resorts open or under development in over 30 countries. Its widely known franchise brands include Clarion, Quality, Comfort, Sleep, EconoLodge, Rodeway, and MainStay. Choice Hotels' Phoenix data center houses the reservation and customer satisfaction systems for the entire network.

SITUATION
Choice Hotels' reservation system was one of the first three-tier client/server systems in the industry. In establishing the reservation system, Informix was selected as the corporate standard database. An existing DOS-based customer satisfaction system ran against a Brief database, but it was relatively primitive and not compatible with the new reservations system.

As LAN Administrator, Michael Scotece was asked to evaluate available Windows development tools that could be used to create a new Customer Satisfaction System that would be fully integrated with the Informix corporate standard. Ultimately Scotece recommended Delphi. He says that Delphi was chosen because it is the fastest and easiest Windows application development tool to use, and it included a native Informix driver. He was able to do everything he wanted "the first time out."

SOLUTION
The new customer satisfaction system captures guest feedback, gets it to hotels the same day, and assures that the hotels in turn respond promptly to guests, updating Choice's database at the same time. The system has streamlined printing and automated many functions that make customer satisfaction agents' work more effective. By relieving the "paper chase," the staff is free to deal with customers, not administrative details. Existing staff can handle more calls, a true improvement in return on investment. And agents say their jobs are more fun, which carries over positively into their contacts with guests.

Bernice Beaini, director of customer satisfaction for Choice Hotels, reports that the new system is recognised by the hotel industry as state-of-the-art, because it is so responsive to guests and so well integrated into the total Informix-based Choice Hotels reservation system. The new system gives Choice Hotels a strong competitive advantage in quality and customer service, key success factors for today's hospitality industry.

Subsidiary of Starwood Hotels and Resorts

• The Boston-based Sheraton subsidiary of Starwood Hotels and Resorts needed a sales information system to equip their mobile corporate travel sales team with fast response capability.
• Sheraton selected Apogee Information Systems, Inc. of Marlboro, MA, to build an enterprise-wide sales force automation and customer care application.
• As well as linking the mobile sales force to a central reservation system, the new Corporate Travel Information System enables sales offices worldwide to transmit data to a central database server, ensuring that sales representatives always have current data.
• Apogee's Delphi-based solution is making corporate sales representatives more productive at Sheraton and Westin properties worldwide.

• Delphi's ability to interface with Paradox meant that Sheraton was able to preserve its existing investment in technology.
• With CTIS, the sales team delivers proposals more quickly. Sales proposals are more accurate because the information is always current.
• Data-entry cost-savings alone amounts to several person-months of effort.
• CTIS and CTIS/Web improve the quality of Sheraton's business data, reduce operating costs, and give the sales team a competitive advantage during the bid process.

COMPANY BACKGROUND
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., through its Sheraton, Westin, Luxury Collection, W, Four Points, and Caesar's subsidiaries, offers more than 650 hotels in 70 countries, has 125,000 employees, and is one of the leading hotel and gaming operating companies in the world.

PARTNER BACKGROUND
As a Borland Premier Integrator Partner, Apogee Information Systems, Inc. delivered extensive application design, development, and education services, using Borland products to deliver enterprise solutions to their corporate clients. In December 1998, Apogee became a part of Borland's Professional Services Organisation.

SITUATION
Starwood's Sheraton subsidiary approached Apogee for help with its corporate sales IT systems. A mobile sales team spread among 10 offices negotiates volume-based preferred rates with large clients worldwide. To make these negotiated rates both competitive and profitable, the sales team needed better access to information. Sheraton wanted to leverage its existing Windows-based technology without a lot of additional hardware. Sales reps wanted Web access to data so that they could respond with proposals to corporate clients more quickly. Existing systems were paper-based, required manual data entry, had limited reporting capabilities, and did not always reflect current data.

SOLUTION
Apogee replaced a paper-based system that required manual data entry with an automated Corporate Travel Information System (CTIS) that reduced operating costs for data entry and improved data quality and access. CTIS enables the sales staff to be more responsive. Faster data updates make faster, more accurate, more competitive bids possible, resulting in increased customer satisfaction overall.

Apogee delivered CTIS in two parts. The first version, CTIS/Windows, gave sales representatives access to property information. An extranet-based version, CTIS/Web, makes information available to Starwood properties and clients worldwide. Properties can enter or update their data electronically in an industry standard format. Corporate clients can get information about properties, using a variety of search criteria. In addition, the production reports are available anytime; anywhere-no more calling a sales team member and waiting for either a FedEx package or an e-mail reply. CTIS/Web uses the same cc:Mail-based data exchange and update process deployed with CTIS/Windows to keep both the Web database and the central database in synch.

Starwood is extremely pleased with the results of the project. The sales team delivers proposals more quickly-and the proposals are more accurate because the data is current. Sales personnel, production personnel, and Sheraton clients now use the same set of data, in an industry-standard format. The project consistently met development budgets. CTIS/Windows and CTIS/Web have improved the quality of Sheraton's business data and reduced operating costs. The savings in data entry alone from the old system amount to several person-months of effort. Furthermore, now the data is available on-line. Customer satisfaction has risen measurably and customers benefit from having access to information about properties worldwide. In addition to the Sheraton subsidiary, Starwood's Westin subsidiary is now also using CTIS. For Starwood, the ability to distribute updated information about properties quickly gives the sales team a competitive advantage during the bid process.