Oyo joins hands with Microsoft to launch smart rooms for travellers

Softbank-backed Oyo and global information technology firm Microsoft and have entered into a multi-year strategic alliance to develop travel and hospitality products such as smart rooms. As part of this alliance, Oyo will develop smart room experiences for travellers such as customized in-room experiences. Using Microsoft’s Azure IoT, the experience will include self-check-in supported by a digital register of arrivals and departures and self-Know Your Customer (KYC) along with IoT-managed smart locks and virtual assistance. The hospitality firm will also adopt Microsoft cloud solution Azure. The development happens following a $5 million strategic investment by Microsoft in the company. Moneycontrol had reported about the investment in July It also reported about the rationale behind this late stage bet by Microsoft and how Oyo will use its cloud infrastructure to drive technological innovations in August. The solutions will be geared to benefit patrons who operate small and medium hotel and home storefronts. Earlier this month, Moneycontrol also reported about a self sign up service launched by Oyo which would allow hotel owners to go live on the platform in 30 minutes. The pandemic has brought about massive shifts in consumer behaviors while booking travel, including preferences for platforms that enable social distancing, local travel, flexibility, faster booking and improved customer experiences. Such changes have accelerated the way small and medium hotel businesses operate, leading to a higher tech adoption, which will further shape the future of hospitality. “Our patron app ecosystem provides a 1.4-2.4X lift in revenues for new hotels and homes that join the Oyo network. We do this through our products, and application of machine learning and artificial intelligence, be it running millions of pricing optimizations per day to increase revenues or enabling users to book an Oyo within seconds. This alliance with Microsoft will accelerate the deployment of our products in the hands of small businesses we work with, allowing us to create even more impact through an integrated technology ecosystem available on the cloud for businesses in the remotest corners of the world," said Abhinav Sinha, Global COO and Chief Product Officer - OYO Hotels and Homes. "For our guests, this alliance will mean more personalization, better choices, differentiated experiences and an improved guest experience in the future. Microsoft’s commitment is further strengthened by the equity investment in the company," he added. “Combining the power of Azure with the tech and product stack developed by Oyo, we are looking forward to accelerating innovation in travel and hospitality,” said Anant Maheshwari, President, Microsoft India. Oyo will also begin to share existing workloads to Microsoft Azure, adopt the Microsoft 365 suite for better collaboration and productivity and switch to Github Enterprise for accelerating tech development in a secure manner.