Holly B. Smith
How many of us have wondered, “What more can they do with technology?” Let me introduce you to Virtual Concierges, making their way to a hotel, office, hospital, stadium or mall near you.
While the idea of a concierge isn’t new (it stretches all the way back to those helping kings and queens out of royal carriages and fetching things for them) today we think of a concierge as one who tells us what local restaurants are better and helps us hail a cab.
Concierges also expand into the realm of personal assistants. If you shop in a high, high end store, you may be assigned a concierge to bring your clothing options to you in a private dressing room. This often happens at high end wedding gown shops…accompanied by champagne and snacks. If concierges were ever thought of as something for the higher echelon, then consider technology to be the great equalizer.
“(A) virtual concierge is an interactive application that allows you to utilize a digital sign in replacement of or as an enhancement to a traditional concierge or guest service representative. It gives your guests the convenience of finding all of the information they are looking for through an interactive experience much like a blown up version of a smart phone.”
Virtual concierges are popping up around the country, but think beyond the check-in at your favorite airport. Stadiums, hospitals/long-term care facilities, hotels, shopping malls, corporate lobbies and residential complexes are all joining the virtual concierge revolution.
Take, for example, a company like Gee Bo by JCS Enterprises, Inc, and their virtual concierge options. They offer every service from buying your team’s favorite jersey in the gift shop while sitting in the stadium watching the game to paging the on call doctor while in your hospital room to walking into a mall and, using the free Gee Bo app, locating all of the stores with sales for the items you came to purchase.
Image from: http://www.gee-bo.com/jcsNet/jcsNet.html
Gee Bo currently has its virtual concierges in Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida, where patrons can order their concessions from their seat (on their Smartphone) and even swipe a credit or debit card for payment (with a handling fee charged).
From a hospital bed, you can make your meal choices for the day, watch a video on psoriasis, fill out a survey complaining about the quality of your food, and make a donation to the children’s wing. Virtual concierges aim to bring any consumer with a Smartphone or tablet access to more information and options in a quick and convenient format. Virtual concierges won’t bring you champagne, but they can tell you what stores are having sales. And, if you scan the proper QR Code, a virtual concierge will also give you coupons for your purchase.
Finding the CTE Application
If you are looking for a brainstorming topic for CTE classes, present information on virtual concierges to the class; or, have them research the topic. Then, break the class into groups and have each group come up with their own virtual concierge for your school. What would students find helpful with such a system? Teachers and staff? Visitors?
Then, have the groups identify the areas of CTE in which the virtual concierge cover. Guide them to discuss entrepreneurship, business, technology, marketing, etc.
(2012, November 20.) What is a concierge anyway? Retrieved from http://blog.thevirtualconcierge.com/2012/11/what-is-a-concierge-anyway/
Retrieved from http://www.fourwindsinteractive.com/applications/virtual-concierge/
Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaqH2kfW3KU
Retrieved from http://www.gee-bo.com/jcsNet/jcsNet.html
From a hospital bed, you can make your meal choices for the day, watch a video on psoriasis, fill out a survey complaining about the quality of your food, and make a donation to the children’s wing. Virtual concierges aim to bring any consumer with a Smartphone or tablet access to more information and options in a quick and convenient format. Virtual concierges won’t bring you champagne, but they can tell you what stores are having sales. And, if you scan the proper QR Code, a virtual concierge will also give you coupons for your purchase.
Finding the CTE Application
If you are looking for a brainstorming topic for CTE classes, present information on virtual concierges to the class; or, have them research the topic. Then, break the class into groups and have each group come up with their own virtual concierge for your school. What would students find helpful with such a system? Teachers and staff? Visitors?
Then, have the groups identify the areas of CTE in which the virtual concierge cover. Guide them to discuss entrepreneurship, business, technology, marketing, etc.
(2012, November 20.) What is a concierge anyway? Retrieved from http://blog.thevirtualconcierge.com/2012/11/what-is-a-concierge-anyway/
Retrieved from http://www.fourwindsinteractive.com/applications/virtual-concierge/
Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaqH2kfW3KU
Retrieved from http://www.gee-bo.com/jcsNet/jcsNet.html
