2006-06-27

June 27, 2006 (San Antonio, Texas) - At an awards ceremony in San Antonio, Texas honoring the most successful corporate adopters of M2M (machine to machine/man) technology, The Ambassador Conference Resort of Kingston, Ontario was awarded Gold in the Retail/Hospitality category.

M2M Value Chain Awards, San Antonio, Texas, USA - June 26-28, 2006

 

Ambassador Conference Resort wins prestigious M2M Gold Value Chain Award for Implementation of cStar's Cashless Vending Technology, Vending Genie™ Hospitality

 

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 27, 2006 (San Antonio, Texas) - At an awards ceremony in San Antonio, Texas honoring the most successful corporate adopters of M2M (machine to machine/man) technology, The Ambassador Conference Resort of Kingston, Ontario was awarded Gold in the Retail/Hospitality category. 


The cashless vending system implemented at the Ambassador allowed guests to either swipe their hotel room key card through the vending machine's card reader or use any mobile phone to purchase a variety of Coca-Cola beverages. Guests had applicable charges appear on their invoice at final check-out. The wireless connectivity was based on cStar's easily deployable wireless LAN technology that eliminates the cost of running dedicated cables and provides the flexibility in vending machine locations within hotels.


The Value Chain Awards, chosen by a group of industry analysts along with editors of M2M Magazine, honor the most successful adopters of M2M technology and the team of solution providers that made their success possible. The award was presented to the Ambassador for demonstrating the process of combining multiple technologies to improve operations, reduce costs and enhance customer service. Results from the 90-day trial showed 99.9% system reliability, no instances of attempted vandalism to the vending machines and, most importantly, extremely positive feedback from the guests themselves.


"This award is the crowning achievement on what has been an extraordinary experience for the Ambassador Conference Resort," commented Venicio Rebelo, General Manager, Ambassador Conference Resort. "The cashless vending technology has been a tremendous success both from a business and customer perspective, and we look forward to further applying this technology in other areas."


Stella Yoon, President of cStar Technologies added, "The M2M Gold Value Chain award in Retail/Hospitality category is the industry recognition of our innovative cashless wireless vending solution, Vending Genie Hospitality, which has delivered tremendous business values to both the hotel and the vending operator. Due to the growing enthusiam from all parts of the hospitality industry, we expect the cashless wireless vending to be the defacto offering in all hotels."


Bell Canada spearheaded the cashless vending machine technology trial which was the first in Canada to combine both mobile phone and key card technologies operating over a wireless network in the same trial period. Bell Canada also provided the web hosting and system integration, which was achievable through strategic partnerships, industry expertise and technology collaboration with the following companies:

Bell Canada - Bell Canada is Canada's national leader in communications with 28 million customer connections across the country. Bell offers integrated information and communications technology (ICT) services to businesses and governments, and is the Virtual Chief Information Officer (VCIO) to small and medium businesses (SMBs). Bell is proud to be a Premier National Partner and the exclusive Communications Partner to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Bell is wholly owned by BCE Inc. For information on Bell's products and services, please visit www.bell.ca; for information on BCE, visit www.bce.ca.

Coca-Cola Bottling Company - Coca-Cola Bottling Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Coca-Cola Enterprises, is a recognized leader in innovation for the beverage industry and is committed to finding new, progressive solutions to meet the needs of consumers.

cStar Technologies - A global provider of wireless (LAN/WAN) data communication solutions for M2M (Machine-to-Machine/Men) and mobile commerce applications. Protected by multiple patents, its core solutions include cashless, wireless vending complemented with remote data management tools and RFID Invisible Tags for cross-border security management. www.cstartech.com.

 

Kaba Ilco Inc. - Kaba Lodging Systems, a member of the Kaba Group, provides guest and staff access control at the Ambassador Conference Resort and used its new ATLAS web based system to interface with the RSI property management system, remotely hosted 3,000 miles away. www.kabalodging.com


RSI International Systems Inc. - RSI International Systems Inc. - RSI web-based Property Management Solution RoomKey(tm) handles the vending transaction from credit authorization to transaction billing to hotel guest's room folio. www.welcometorsi.com.

The Cashless Vending System continues in operation at the Ambassador Conference Resort delivering the new found values to the hotel and to Coca-Cola Bottling Company.

More information on cStar's cashless wireless vending solution, Vending Genie™ Hospitality:

Stella Yoon - cStar Technologies, Inc.
(416) 739-8484 Ext 111


For more information on the Value Chain Awards: 

http://www.specialtypub.com/article.asp?article_id=3657&SECTION=3