ZigBee sets new bar in hotel efficiency and guest experience

BOSTON and MILLERSVILLE, MD, June 10, 2008 – Bartech, a world leader in automatic minibar systems for the hospitality industry, is teaming with Ember, a leader in ZigBee technology, to provide hotels worldwide with real-time status and charges from in-room minibars. The ZigBee-enabled system helps hotels provide a better guest experience while improving staff efficiency by wirelessly monitoring in-room refreshment centers remotely.

Typically, attendants in hotels have to “blindly” visit every room to check on inventory and replenish minibars resulting in staff inefficiencies and inconvenience to guests. But Bartech’s Web-based dot.net software can now report which products need to be replenished in a specific room. Additionally, minibar doors can be automatically locked and unlocked at check-in or check-out times, and the staff automatically notified of any malfunctioning cooling units resulting in speedier repair. The Bartech system also monitors the shelf life of any products in or outside the minibar for freshness based on expiration dates. All these new features greatly improve the quality of service as well as labor efficiency.

This technology also helps Bartech make minibar systems more energy efficient. Property managers can remotely monitor the system’s temperature and control the cooling units to save cost based on variable energy rates. They can remotely adjust temperature levels in any refrigeration unit according to the status of each room (occupied or vacant).

ZigBee is the fifth communication standard employed by Bartech which also supports both wired and wireless Ethernet (802.3 and .11b/g), and MATV Coax Cable. Bartech implements ZigBee whenever there is a need for wireless communication for monitoring and control in any hotel building.

“Providing advanced guestroom technology that enhances service to the guests and improves staff efficiencies is becoming a competitive differentiator for hotels that are seeking to offer a more up-market experience,” said Marc Cohen, executive vice president of sales for Bartech Systems. “The advantage of Ember’s ZigBee technology is that it enables any hotel to easily get a robust and reliable on-line minibar system without the costly rewiring of their building.”

Bartech ZigBee enabled mesh networking systems use Ember’s EM250 system-on-chip (SoC) and EM260 network co-processor along with the EmberZNet PRO platform, which supports the ZigBee PRO Feature Set. It also implements advanced security features using 128-bit keys (Link and Network keys) to secure all minibar communication throughout its wireless ZigBee networks.

“Since day one, Ember has been providing Bartech with excellent technical support assisting us from designing to testing our complete ZigBee solution” said Vincent Tessier, Bartech’s vice president of research and development.

ZigBee: Wireless Control That Simply Works
The ZigBee Alliance is an association of companies working together to enable reliable, cost-effective, low-power, wirelessly networked monitoring and control products based on an open global standard. The ZigBee Alliance is a rapidly growing, non-profit industry consortium of leading semiconductor manufacturers, technology providers, OEMs, and end-users worldwide. Membership is open to all. Additional information can be found at http://www.zigbee.org.

About Bartech Systems International
Bartech has been providing turnkey solutions of automatic on-line minibars to the hospitality industry internationally for over twenty (20) years. Bartech is installed in more than 250,000 rooms in 49 countries with a wide range of automatic refreshment centers having capabilities from 30 to 75 liters, providing different types of dry sections and three cooling units, Bartech can blend with any room décor. A further system enhancement which assists in the reduction of operational costs and provides substantial energy savings is the use of Bartech’s C. E. S. S. (Computerized Energy Savings System) option. All Bartech’s automatic minibars comply with WEEE, RoHS, ISO, CSA, LEED, FCC and UL requirements. Please visit http://www.bartech.com.

About Ember Corporation
Ember Corporation develops ZigBee wireless networking technology that enables companies involved in energy technologies – enertech – to help make buildings and homes smarter, consume less energy, operate more efficiently, and keep people comfortable and safe. Ember’s low-power wireless technology can be embedded into a wide variety of devices to be part of a self-organizing mesh network. Ember is headquartered in Boston and has its radio development center in Cambridge, England, and distributors worldwide. The company is a promoter and Board member of the ZigBee Alliance and its platform is the “Golden Suite” for 802.15.4/ZigBee interoperability testing. For more information, please visit http://www.ember.com.

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