News Briefs

At its Leadership Experience event earlier this month, Starbucks announced its first generative-AI powered solution to support its frontline employees is being piloted in 35 locations.

Green Dot Assist is a virtual assistant built to help baristas in real time. Instead of flipping through manuals or searching for answers, partners can now ask questions on in-store iPads and receive instant, conversational responses. 

"With this new solution, we’re simplifying access to essential information in the flow of work for partners, making their jobs a little easier while they build confidence and expertise. For example, if a barista needs a quick reminder of the ingredients for a seasonal beverage, Green Dot Assist provides guidance in seconds—helping partners feel confident in delivering exceptional customer service," according to an annoucement on its website.   

Starbucks says this marks a significant step forward in its commitment to streamlining operations, reducing friction, and giving partners more time to focus on crafting beverages and connecting with customers.     

WATCH the Starbucks annoucement.

AVaStar and Electro-Media Design arrive at HITEC Indianapolis today with a bold message for hoteliers: It’s time to stop treating AV as a cost center. In Booth #908 at the Indiana Convention Center, June 17 to 19, the audiovisual partners will show that with the right operational structure and support, in-house AV programs can deliver measurable ROI while strengthening guest loyalty.

“Every hotelier is talking about ROI and loyalty in 2025 — and rightly so,” said Jeff Loether, Founder of EMD. “But what’s often missed is how much of that hinges on audiovisual operations. When AV systems are down or underutilized, it’s not just an operational failure — it’s a revenue and reputation risk.”

AVaStar is changing that conversation. Designed specifically for hotels and event venues, AVaStar is the first AV operations platform that empowers existing staff to take ownership of audiovisual systems, increase efficiency, and capture previously overlooked revenue opportunities.

Here's What ROI Looks Like With AVaStar:

• Improved efficiency from trained, empowered staff translates to faster response times, fewer tech failures, enhanced productivity, and better event outcomes.
• Pop-up and add-on rentals are captured and tracked, increasing ancillary revenue without adding headcount.
• Properly maintained systems stay in service longer, reducing downtime, guest complaints, and capital replacement costs.
• One projector rental per month can cover the monthly AVaStar subscription fee — turning the platform into a self-funding asset.

“For many hotels, AV services is like the wild west — understaffed, undertrained, and under-documented,” said Eric Bracht, Managing Director of AVaStar. “Our platform gives them a playbook. That structure is what generates ROI and loyalty. Meeting planners return to venues that make them look good.”

At HITEC, attendees will see firsthand how a centralized AV operations system can drive revenue and build guest satisfaction across departments — from meeting and event rooms to public areas, food & beverage outlets, and other guest amenity spaces.

AVaStar is also offering a complimentary three-month trial of the program (a $2,285 value) to HITEC attendees who visit Booth #908 or schedule a meeting by July 31, 2025. The trial includes full platform access, onboarding, and live expert support.

VoicePlug, a leading Voice AI provider for restaurants, has been selected by Back of the House Inc., the acclaimed restaurant group founded by Adriano Paganini. The partnership brings VoicePlug's advanced conversational AI solutions to flagship brands including Super Duper Burgers, with plans to extend across the entire Back of the House portfolio.

Back of the House chose VoicePlug for its ability to manage complex restaurant interactions, integrate seamlessly with systems, and enhance guest experiences while improving operations.

"We've always looked to push the boundaries of how technology can elevate the guest experience without compromising on hospitality," said Adriano Paganini, Founder and CEO of Back of the House. "VoicePlug stood out among AI providers with its deep understanding of restaurant workflows and a practical, elegant solution to some of our biggest challenges."

VoicePlug automates voice interactions across phone, drive-thru, kiosk, and mobile, enabling staff to focus on hospitality and guests to receive consistent, prompt service.

"We're honored to be chosen by Adriano and the Back of the House—a group that's known for pushing culinary and service innovation," said Jay Ruparel, CEO of VoicePlug. "This partnership reflects our shared vision of blending high-touch hospitality with intelligent automation."

The initial rollout will begin with Super Duper Burgers, a beloved Bay Area burger brand known for its high-quality ingredients, sustainability, and local charm.

"Super Duper is all about fast, quality service with heart," said Edmondo Sarti, CEO. "VoicePlug's AI lets us handle more orders without losing the personal touch. It's a smarter, better way to serve our guests."

This partnership marks VoicePlug's continued growth as forward-thinking brands adopt conversational AI to meet evolving guest expectations and boost efficiency. 

Hotel Internet Services (HIS) has officially rebranded as Touchstone 1. The rebrand is being revealed at HITEC 2025 in Indianapolis at Booth 1400, where the company is debuting its new name and visual identity. The rebrand reflects the company’s evolution over the last 22 years and its expanded focus across multiple industries, including hospitality, multifamily, senior living, student housing, healthcare and more.

Founded in 2003 at the dawn of hospitality Wi-Fi, the company quickly emerged as a pioneer, introducing industry-first solutions that set the standard for connectivity, network security and guest entertainment. Over the years, it has developed proprietary IPTV systems, advanced streaming platforms, cutting-edge Wi-Fi hardware and software platforms, and IoT-based integrations—all designed to enhance the user experience.

“The name ‘Hotel Internet Services’ has been a successful brand, but no longer captures who we’ve become or where we’re going,” said Gary Patrick, CEO of Touchstone1. “Touchstone1 encapsulates everything HIS has always stood for: raising the bar not just for technology, but for experiences—making them more human-centric, reliable and future-forward. ‘Touchstone,’ a tool once used to test the purity of gold, symbolizes the high standard we set for ourselves and the industry. And the ‘1’signals our mission to be the first choice in innovation and service.”

Touchstone1’s new identity is anchored in the tagline: “A Higher Level of Connection.” It reflects the leading-edge technology the company delivers as well as its core goal of building stronger, more human-centered digital experiences.

At HITEC the company will showcase the next evolution of in-room entertainment. Attendees will get hands-on demonstrations of HIS’s most advanced solutions, including the Smartroom guestroom entertainment platform with seamless, secure TV Casting. 

Duetto launched The Revenue & Profit Operating System: a platform designed to bring together all revenue and profit tools in one place.

Powered by automation, advanced algorithms, artificial intelligence (AI), and both hotel booking and third-party data, this represents a major move beyond traditional revenue management systems (RMS) thinking, putting revenue and profit at the heart of the hotel ecosystem.

"We have always prided ourselves on being at the bleeding edge of revenue management, and that innovation is not slowing down. We believe it is time for an entirely new category in hotel tech. One that puts revenue and profit front and center,” said David Woolenberg, CEO at Duetto. “We’ve built an operating system designed to help hoteliers move faster, think smarter, and unlock growth in every part of their business.”

A Shift in the Industry

The Revenue & Profit Operating System is a platform that brings together every part of the hotel revenue and operations – pricing, forecasting, reporting, group optimization, loyalty, and profit insights – all under one roof.

This means hotels unifying every revenue stream, not only rooms. It means optimizing across transient, group, and events. It means connecting F&B, meeting, and ancillary services into one single revenue strategy. It means making faster, smarter decisions with less manual work by using smart automation and AI. It means using a connected platform that can break down silos across data, departments, and decisions.

It means that revenue and profit won’t be managed but optimized.

Alongside the launch of The Revenue & Profit Operating System, Duetto unveiled several product innovations:

• GameTime: A streamlined RMS built for select-service chains and enterprise hotel brands with limited-service properties, GameTime simplifies rate updates, automates pricing, and delivers portfolio-wide visibility – unlocking more revenue with less manual work.
• Advance, reinvented: Duetto’s dynamic pricing recommendations got sharper. Now powered by AI, Advance detects unusual demand patterns, identifies high-opportunity stay dates, and automatically recommends the best pricing to maximize revenue – all in a sleek new interface.
• Profit insights with HotStats: With the strategic acquisition of HotStats, Duetto now includes in-depth benchmarking and market intelligence across the full P&L, offering a holistic view into the topline revenue along with strategic profit-driving actions.

Hospitality television leader LG Electronics is once again redefining the role of the hotel television with the debut of Pro:Centric+, the next generation of its award-winning Pro:Centric hotel TV platform that turns in-room displays into powerful business tools. Unveiled at HITEC 2025 (June 16–19, Booth #3805), Pro:Centric+ enables easy and seamless integration of third-party services and dramatically simplifies installation and management – requiring far less technical expertise.

“With Pro:Centric+ the TV becomes more than a piece of glass. It shifts the conversation from in-room TVs as guest amenities to essential business infrastructure,” said Jake Benner, Senior Director of Hospitality at LG Electronics North America. “This platform helps hotels reduce operating costs, increase safety and unlock new revenue streams through the addition of easy to install and manage third party services – while simplifying deployment and support.”

Unlike supervisory apps that sit atop traditional platforms, Pro:Centric+ allows for multiple best-in-class third-party services to run natively within the system. Once vetted by LG, services can operate independently but harmoniously, opening new possibilities for operational efficiency, guest engagement and cost savings.

Examples of services that can be integrated onto the Pro:Centric+ platform include energy management where the Pro:Centric device is aware of the guest room status and manages the temperature based on the status to improve energy savings, client-side advertising insertion where the service dynamically inserts advertising into the linear content for monetization, casting services like Google Cast or AirPlay, location services where the Pro:Centric devices are location-aware and can aide in asset tracking like luggage and service carts, and Wi-Fi monitoring where the Pro:Centric devices continuously monitor the guest network within each room to proactively identify problems.

Energy and Safety Solutions Showcase Platform’s Versatility

At HITEC 2025, LG is demonstrating integrations with Anacove and TraknProtect to showcase the platform’s versatility. Anacove brings AI-enabled smart thermostats, toilet leak detectors, asset tracking and staff safety alert tags – all monitored through a single interface that ties directly into the hotel’s property management system. TraknProtect enhances employee safety with wearable buttons that allow staff working alone to send alerts when needed. Together, these integrations illustrate how Pro:Centric+ can help hotels save energy, improve efficiency, streamline operations and create safer environments for guests and employees.

“Anacove’s AI-enabled energy and operations management solutions can reduce energy waste and costs while improving the safety and operational efficiencies of a hotel’s operations,” said Benner. “And TraknProtect’s safety buttons provide a new level of safety for hotel employees who are working alone. Both demonstrate how the Pro:Centric+ platform can be leveraged to benefit hoteliers. We expect many more third-party service providers to take advantage of the Pro:Centric+ platform’s capabilities.”

New Web Interface Means Simplified Setup, Smarter Management

The new Pro:Centric+ Web Management Interface eliminates clunky remote-control-based configuration. Instead, hotel staff can use smartphones or tablets to wirelessly provision devices, enter setup details and perform maintenance – often without stepping inside the hotel room.

“Provisioning can be done remotely, even from the hallway,” said Benner. “This is a major advance in ease of use and labor efficiency.” Pro:Centric+ is backward compatible with LG commercial TVs running webOS 5.0 and newer, extending the value of hotels’ prior investments.

Advertising and Monetization Programs Benefit Owners and Brands

In addition to the launch of the Pro:Centric+ platform and the first third-party service integrations at HITEC, LG is highlighting a range of advertising and monetization programs that can benefit hotel owners and brands, including Client-Side Ad Insertion, Banner Ads, and LG Channels.

“We’re committed to being a long-term business solutions partner to hoteliers,” said Benner. “Pro:Centric+ makes in-room TVs smarter, more connected, and easier to install and manage, and our monetization programs aim to help make hotels and brands more profitable through the creation of new revenue streams. This commitment to providing everything a hotel needs to grow in today’s hospitality market is what separates LG from every other commercial display provider.”