With restaurants, bars, pubs and hotels now legally required to collect customer details, it’s never been more pivotal for hospitality IT to be connected, productive and secure.

Earlier this month, the UK Government outlined new guidelines which would see hospitality venues face fines of up to £10,000 or even closure, if they fail to comply with Covid-secure regulations. These restrictions involved social distancing of one metre plus, table service, and obtaining customer details including names and telephone numbers, as part of the NHS Track and Trace system.

These requirements meant that several businesses needed to improve or update their hospitality IT infrastructure in order to comply. At Timico, we’ve supported a number of customers, from national pub chains to takeaways, who found themselves having to adapt to a new way of working fast.

Improving hospitality IT

Certain hospitality businesses chose to capture data by using portable smart technology such as a tablet, as it is an easier and systemised process. However, acquiring confidential information in this way means that a secure and flexible IT infrastructure is needed.

Utilising public or private cloud allows some or all of a business’ network capabilities and resources to be hosted securely. This is paramount as hospitality venues need to ensure they are GDPR compliant in their storage and protection of data. With pubs, bars and restaurants now required to only offer table service, a cloud infrastructure with reliable connectivity will also ensure that card payments taken at the table are secure and available, and contact details can be stored safely and effectively in case tracking and tracing is required should any cases arise.

Reliable connectivity

Slow Wi-Fi or network servers will slow down the process of collecting data and often leads to a less than desirable customer experience. When it is peak time for a venue, this could directly impact the level of customer service. Hospitality IT requires reliable and intelligent connectivity.

Some hospitality businesses have relied on a mobile app which enables customers to provide contact details, place food and drink orders and pay for services, without leaving the table. In fact, recent research by KAM Media found that the availability of mobile phone ordering in a hospitality venue has become more important to 41% of UK adults over the past six months.

To optimise results, the venue needs to ensure it has a secure guest Wi-Fi connection, so the customer can easily download the app and use it. If there are connectivity issues, this will only cause frustration for customers, who are already cautious and precious about where they spend their time during Covid-19.

While it’s clear that the hospitality sector is going to be facing Covid restrictions for some time, technology will be vital in easing any burden or challenges the industry faces.

If you would like Timico to help you with your hospitality requirements, book in your free consultation today and speak with the experts about your IT infrastructure requirements.