All messages could reach you immediately via your mobile phone.

Comanche International, a local software company, has developed a new mobile module to add to hotel and serviced-apartment software to offer hotel guests mobility features.

Somboon Sukheviriya, president of Comanche International, said that based on its nine-year experience in hotel and serviced-apartment software development, the company had developed a new mobility feature to add to its existing software to allow hotels and serviced apartments to provide mobile services to their guests.

The company's hotel-management software is in use by more than 300 hotels in nine countries throughout the region.

Under the concept of mobility, the guests will be allowed to get any message left for them at the hotel whenever the message comes in. The mobile-module software allows hotels to pass on the message, whether it be a voice message left at the room's telephone or a text message left at the hotel reception counter.

Once the message is left, the hotel can inform the guest by sending an SMS to the guest's mobile phone.

"Then if they need to listen to a voice message immediately, guests can just follow the voice instructions or call back to the hotel's voice mail. If it is a text message, guests will not need to do that because the hotel will send that message for them in the form of an SMS," said Somboon.

With this application, hotel guests will not miss any important message and will never lose contact, even if they are outside the hotel.

The mobile module will also help hotels offer mobile check-in services at the airport via a personal digital assistant (PDA) device. This application will facilitate both the hotel and guests who may have a busy schedule to do a quick check-in wirelessly. Their baggage will be delivered to the hotel room, while the guest can go to a rush meeting without needing to go the hotel first.

The launch of the mobile module is the latest step in the company's software development.

Previously the company provided software for hotels and serviced apartments with core modules including Front Office System, Point of Sales, Call Accounting System, Accounts Payable System, Accounts Receivable System, Inventory Control System, and General Ledger System.

Since Comanche is 100-per-cent owned and managed by Thai people, this gives its products more competitiveness over international software.

Comanche is able to reduce the large cost of royalty fees paid to international software providers. "For example, for a 100-room hotel, without Comanche, the hotel owner would be forced to purchase international software and a software licence at an estimated cost of Bt400,000 per hotel," said Somboon.

The company stepped out to the global market three years ago and has customers in Hong Kong, China, Macau, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, India and Korea. Next year, it plans to move to Europe.

The global market is the goal of company's business expansion. By 2009, it aims to have 40 per cent of total revenue from aboard, instead of the present 20 per cent. This year revenue was targeted at Bt30 million, an increase from Bt20 million last year.

The company also won the first prize in a software competition in the tourism and hospitality category at the Asia Pacific ICT Awards last year.

Asina Pornwasin

The Nation