IPTV solution helps maximize guest experience onboard Silversea cruises
The value of good communication between the crew staff and passengers is in most cases even more important than between a hotel and its guests. A modern TV system for maritime environments should serve not just as an entertainment channel but as the main communication portal between the cruise operator and the passengers. A communication portal in the form of an interactive TV in the privacy of the passenger’s suits has to combine all the information related to the passenger’s stay on the cruise ship and continuously inform him/her about the happenings on the ship or any other information related to a particular passenger.
Silversea - all-inclusive ultra luxury cruises
Silversea Cruises offers intimate all-inclusive ultra-luxury cruises across 900+ fascinating destinations. Their 10 ships offer tours all over the globe and have utilized Nevron’s IPTV solution for more than 5 years. Nevron’s solution enables each guest room to have the broadcast of TV and radio channels over an IP network, as well as on-demand access to movies and music, interactive entertainment, communication, and informative applications. Every guest gets access to the system on their TV screens and via a mobile application. Silversea reports that the solution has flexibility, rock-solid reliability, automation, and lower costs which all translate into great customer satisfaction.
The challenge
When asked about the reason why Silversea decided on Nevron IPTV solutions, said,
Silversea offers around-the-clock, dedicated Butler service in all suites. With a staff-to-guest ratio of nearly 1:1, the product is built around human interaction. However, technology is important in everyone’s life and continues to become more prominent. The last years and the sanitary context proved once more that the digitalization of services and processes helps to support changes, and maintain or even improve the experiences of the users. The challenge is to re-invent existing technology and push the boundaries to meet new expectations.
While the mobile stays the most popular communication device, the TV is a redoubtable competitor in the hospitality industry. Especially while traveling, having a device easily accessible by all visitors, regardless of their demography, equipment or reluctance to technology is a fantastic opportunity to make a difference with extra services and increase the guest’s satisfaction.
In the cruise industry, we saw recently, for example, a common interest for mustering using TV allowing guests to experience a smoother, quicker and sanitary point of view and a safer introduction to the safety measures of the ship.
Sébastien Dor, Director onboard automation, Silversea Cruises
The solution
To tackle this challenge Silversea and Nevron made a partnership based on several aspects.
Nevron proposed an all-included solution but also the possibility to support 3rd party developed applications. With the support of web technologies, it’s a great way to focus on a tailor-made frontend while relying on a solid platform. It also allows using existing development teams for a platform that usually requires specific, reduces drastically the time to market, and simplifies deployments of new features.
For the backend, Nevron is developer friendly as well. With many tools at disposal, covering automatic ingestion or device management it’s an open door to various automation allowing to manage with ease any size of the ship. In a brand like Silversea, the time crew is fully dedicated to our guest service so any improvement increasing the reliability of the system of the time maintenance task has an effect on the service. We focus on what matters and let the system manage the rest.
The benefits
Last of all in a world of constant change and where technology and the possibilities are in constant evolution it’s important to have a supportive and innovative partner. We have a lot of ambitions and ideas to improve our guest's digital experience and when it comes to entertainment systems Nevron always provided a solution to tackle new challenges. This covers software adaptation to even custom-designed remotes.
The outcome - reliability with added value
Silversea has also seen an increase in productivity and a reduction in costs. Sébastien Dor adds,
The way all content is managed is much better than with our previous solution. For example, we can now automate the uploading of movies to the system, which ultimately reduces the workload of each site. As a result, there's only one person left to maintain the installation, so we have dramatically reduced the amount of work needed to maintain the system's content, and therefore the associated costs.
Sébastien Dor, Vessel Application Manager at Silversea, cites three main criteria they measure to maximize the guest experience:
- Guest profiling - "With the solution, we can see how often our guests watch a video, how long they watch it, and whether they watch it to the end. When we correlate this information with the guest's profile (such as nationality, travel profile, etc.), we can better understand our guests' tastes, order content they like, and suggest content they might enjoy."
- TV usage - "We offer a lot of functionalities and a lot of information about the cruise and the stay on board. Collecting data on the usage of these different functionalities gives us a great opportunity to better understand usage and needs. Thanks to the data, we can improve and expand our offerings and maximize the guest experience."
- Guest Satisfaction Survey - "Over the years, we have noticed that guests are less inclined to complain in person to staff. Nevron's IPTV solution is interactive, and once we move to a paperless operation, guests will be able to comment or rate their overall experience in the privacy of their own room at TV. This will allow us to directly access and respond in real time to the collection of guest expectations or frustrations, etc."
Moreover, and this is quite technical because Nevron’s solution runs also on Android, it’s quite easy for us to develop an application and to automatize tasks. The solution’s flexibility makes it possible to improve the system’s reliability, which reduces part of the workload, so in the end, you have a system that is fully automatically driven. Peace of mind is important, it’s just one less thing to worry about because we don’t have to be concerned with the robust reliability of the system. Also, and this is big as far as costs go, we have all the keys to help the system evolve with our customers. We’re pleased that these challenges have been solved with Nevron’s IPTV/OTT solution.
The service and the experience Silversea is offering is tailored for each individual guest. While Nevron can offer a turnkey solution they were also able to support all the specificities of our products. With this high level of quality and flexibility in our brand, it was important to find a reliable partner who is sharing the same values.
Sébastien Dor, Director onboard automation, Silversea Cruises
