Since 2006 I have been building in-stay digital technologies that centered around the concept of a mobile concierge for hotels. When we first started, the iPhone didn’t exist and tablet PCs were just taking off. I cut my teeth on embedded systems and trying make in-room screens. Once the iPod Touch and iPhone were released, the world changed for us. We had a way to get our platform into the traveler’s hands.

From the beginning, our goal was to be hardware agnostic and be available for current and future devices. For this reason, we decided to use a web platform while others were trying to build individual native apps. With our web platform we could creative experiences for multiple hotels quickly and with much less effort. We could also wrap the web view to make the experience native and available in the app stores.

With this philosophy in hand we set out to build one of the most comprehensive platforms that allowed hotels and casinos to provide service based apps that were akin to a mobile concierge. The platform is dynamic and highly customizable. It has served thousands of hotels globally across more than 120 countries. Millions of travelers have used our technology to personalize and improve their journey. Some of the features include:

  • Mobile responsive views
  • Customizable look and feel with a content management systems
  • Request management system with advanced workflow capabilities
  • Real-time content management systems
  • Advanced analytics and reporting
  • Messaging system

There were many more features that were added including pre-arrival check-in, mobile key, in-room control integration, and more. Recently, we also converted many of our apps to a React Native infrastructure that gives us the ability to integration more services and offer more flexibility with customization.

In the process of build and implementing this platform, as well as build a company around it, I have had the opportunity to understand hotel operations in great detail. I’ve also become very attuned to traveler behavior and needs.

To see some of the apps in action, go to the iTunes App Store or Google Play Store and search for Runtriz.