Marriott Hotel Guest Computers secured by SiteKiosk
Access to a secured self-service Internet connection is something most travelers expect from the hotels they choose. In fact, access to the Internet can be a consumer’s deciding factor; it can shape the customer-service experience not only at a hotel but an airline, apartment complex, healthcare facility and other service-oriented businesses. Hotel guest kiosks can not only let your customer access information about travel plans and local resources but also automate guest interactions.
The Challenge
Hotel guests in particular demand Internet access that not only protects against viruses and identity theft but also prevents children from being exposed to adult content. Most hotels seek to offer secure Internet kiosks as an option that can reduce liability and provide a consistent, branded service throughout all of its properties. However, many don’t have the IT staff required to offer and maintain public Internet services as a competitive, cost-effective marketing advantage.
The Solution
The kiosk software, SiteKiosk, enhances hotels’ established franchise standards for managing and securing public computers or hotel guest kiosks, including all customary security protection protocols, as well as PCI compliance. The core of Marriott’s secured guest computers is PROVISIO’s complete secure Internet kiosk browser software with a custom user interface, hardware, deployment services and help-desk support which is provided by a PROVISIO partner. The customized user interface allows hotels to leverage their franchise-branding standard to further the hotel’s in-house amenities as well as point users to local restaurant and entertainment information. PROVISIO has more than 100 resellers around the world marketing the kiosk software and digital signage software products to provide solutions for customers who require front-end browsers and back-end technology to manage their kiosk terminals. SiteKiosk software is engineered with features and functionalities easily modified by Web developers in myriad industries. Resellers with basic computer skills simply walk through the configuration wizard to choose the browser, user interface templates, and layouts appropriate for the industry and kiosk application. Once installed, the visual components may be customized further by customer administrators using JavaScript. SiteKiosk provides numerous templates and layouts designed to fit various needs. The software allows interface customization with commonly used buttons and features. Additional templates and skins are available for download at no additional charge. The integrated browser displays the same content as Chrome, such as Web pages, images (.gif, .jpg, .png and .bmp), videos, Flash and PDF fi les, etc., while protecting against any manipulation by the end user. SiteKiosk Cloud server allows administrators at a single remote location to monitor, manage and configure multiple kiosks that run SiteKiosk. Users can define a job task and assign it to an individual machine, groups of machines, or even all machines at once. SiteKiosk Cloud server is based on the Microsoft .NET Framework and runs on Windows Server in combination with the Microsoft SQL Server database. The communication architecture provides constant communication between a local SiteKiosk client machine and a SiteKiosk Cloud server, even from behind firewalls, and automatically sends an alert by email in the event of an error. Secure communication between client and server is established via an encrypted protocol similar to HTTP (TCP Port 8086).
The Result
The result is a turn-key hotel guest kiosk software solution for hotel guests. The SiteKiosk software package provides several features such as strong software defenses against user fraud on which hotels can confidently base their Internet kiosk service offerings. To prevent children from exposure to adult content, an Internet content filter scans in real-time and blocks Web sites that contain suspicious content. The PROVISIO filter includes
a database of more than 600,000 forbidden domains and several thousand allowed domains. Free updates are automatic, and hotel network administrators can expand both lists to block or allow any domains they choose. The session-based refresh feature in the bundled PROVISIO software removes all previous hotel guest user data after each session and resets the Internet kiosk to starting state without a reboot. The reset also removes temporary Internet files, usernames, passwords, cookies, and any other files saved by a guest on the hard drive. It features strong antivirus and anti-spyware tools on a regular and automatic basis, updated to prevent known threats. Hotel customers state that one of the biggest benefits to them, besides strong Internet kiosk security, is their ability to perform quick, easy, custom modifications for their specific properties.
