VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Business travelers at the Pan
Pacific hotel here can join a videoconference without leaving their
room.
The 506-room hotel hooked up with Calgary, Alberta-based Guest
Tek Services to equip 20 rooms with Compaq computers last month.
For $30 a day, guests can perform any number of business tasks,
such as checking e-mail, surfing the Net and sending their video
image via Microsoft's Net Meeting software.
The hotel took its corporate clients through a demonstration,
finding that meeting planners were especially interested in the
videoconferencing feature, said director of rooms David Curl. "They
tend to arrive in the city three to five days prior to the event
and work around the clock," he said. "Having this facility right in
their room as opposed to having to go down to a business center is
so convenient for them."
Other road warrior clients said they'd use the feature to say
goodnight to their children, Curl said.
Guests also can work on the same document with anyone who has
compatible software -- all while their face appears on one side of
the monitor. With a click of the mouse, they can send documents to
the hotel's business center for black-and-white or color printing
or transparencies.
The Pan Pacific chain most likely will add the rooms, dubbed
Global Office Rooms, to some of its other hotels, Curl said.