Anoto Group AB Unveils Digital Pen Application Simplifying Hotel Check-In

Published 5th January 2009

BOSTON, MA – December 30, 2008, Anoto Group AB, the company behind and world leading in the unique technology for digital pen and paper, announces a groundbreaking successful implementation of a creative registration solution in Hawaii. Guests at Royal Lahaina Resort in Hawaii no longer have to queue up to check in to their hotel rooms. Instead, a digital pen is used to record their handwritten information and signatures electronically and then this information is securely routed via mobile phone to the hotel’s reservation system. This can be done anywhere. There are no more lines at the front desk for hotel guests, and no more manual data entry for hotel staff.

The innovative, easy to use, electronic registration system increases pleasurable travel experience was developed by Anoto partner, ExpeData, the system developer with successful teamwork between several other players: Sprint - the US wireless telecoms provider, Aircharge - credit card processing services, and of course, the Royal Lahaina Resort. After a long journey, the last thing anyone feels like doing is standing in line at the hotel’s front desk. Now, guests at the Royal Lahaina Resort can be checked in wherever they choose, and not necessarily at the hotel itself.

“Our guests feel like royalty with this a very personalised, convenient service. The entire check-in can occur in the comfort of their room in a matter of seconds, allowing them to start their vacation immediately, by-passing the front desk all together”, says Melody Jones, regional director of information systems for Hawaiian Hotels & Resorts. “If you were going on holiday and you could choose to go straight to the beach instead of waiting in line to check-in, wouldn’t you? That’s the freedom guests at the Royal Lahaina Resort in Hawaii now have!”

The solution selected by the Royal Lahaina Resort, and which is now in operation at the hotel, consists of several components that combine to make checking guests in a much smoother process. It includes a digital pen and a registration form printed on paper with Anoto functionality and a Bluetooth®- enabled mobile phone with a credit card swiping device. The resort is the first in Hawaii to use this creative registration solution.

Visitors to the Royal Lahaina Resort are impressed with the personal attention, efficiency and interesting use of technology. “The customer experience is greatly enhanced and, at the same time, the resort’s operations are more streamlined and efficient,” comments Doug Patterson, Vice President and General Manager of ExpeData.

Anoto Group AB is the company behind and world leading in the unique technology for digital pen and paper, which enables fast and reliable transmission of handwritten text into a digital format. Anoto operates through a global partner network that focuses on user-friendly forms solutions for efficient capture, transmission and storage of data within different business segments, e.g. healthcare, bank and finance, transport and logistics and education. The Anoto Group has around 110 employees, offices in Lund (head office), Boston and Tokyo. For more information: www.anoto.com

ExpeData, LLC is the global leader in enterprise digital writing through the use of the ExpeData® Digital Writing Platform and Anoto Digital Pen and Paper technology. The ExpeData Digital Writing Platform allows immediate capture, transfer and interpretation of handwritten data from mobile users and routes it back to the company’s back-end systems. www.expedata.net

Royal Lahaina Resort is owned and operated by Hawaiian Hotels & Resorts, a division of Pleasant Travel Service, a family-owned company headquartered in Newbury Park, CA. Pleasant Travel Service has helped over five millions guests create unforgettable vacation memories in Hawaii since 1959. www.hawaiihotels.com

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