ADB introduces vuTyme, a new iTV platform

ADB introduces vuTyme, a new, 4th generation end-to-end, managed-services iTV solution for hotels. vuTyme delivers a complete set of services like live TV, VOD, PPV, concierge, digital signage, and targeted advertisements plus features such as searchable interactive program guide, over-the-top services access like Screencasting from BYOD, direct-to-guest messaging through the TV, local attractions map with QR code, pause/rewind/record/fast-forward live TV, and more.

vuTyme operates in the cloud, requiring no hotel head-end equipment and featuring minimal in-room devices. The only hardware on-site is a compact set-back box which is discretely mounted behind the TV.

“For 20 years, ADB has been committed to offering the best and most useful interactive features for its customers,” said Peter Balchin, CEO at ADB. “As the provider of 100 million at-home television set-top boxes and broadband gateway systems around the world, we are intimately familiar with what guests have, what they use, how they use it, and what they want. This gives us the technical and behavioral experience that no other supplier has when designing, developing and deploying the next generation of iTV for the hotel environment.”

ADB set out to reinvent the iTV experience because hoteliers and guests said they want a better and more cost-effective interactive TV experience. Through a neutral, independent study commissioned by ADB via The Prism Partnership in cooperation with the Consultancy at Pointer’s Ridge, ADB learned exactly what guests and hoteliers want in an in-room entertainment solution.  

The “2016 In-Room Entertainment Preference Study,” which involved hotel industry executive interviews and consumer focus groups, revealed that hoteliers want a solution that is simple to install and quick to manage, features current content and capabilities, and can be made personal with branded content and interfaces. vuTyme goes far beyond just offering basic television for guests. Its two-way interactivity, robust line-up of guest-demanded applications (especially among millennials), hotel branding and customization capabilities gives hoteliers the service benefits they need and the revenue and communications opportunities they expect and require in terms of entertainment, marketing, staff efficiency and more.

The study also revealed that guests want iTV to entertain in a way equal to or better than they already experience at home. They want to be able to access their stuff the same way they access it at home. They expect the interactive TV platform to provide them with the types of information they want to know, and they want information delivered directly to them that they need to know relevant to their stay. Finally, guests want a voice to let the hotel and the rest of the world know if it delivered on their expectations.