HiJiffy launches Aplysia, the first Guest Communications Operations System

Aplysia OS from HiJiffy is a first-of-its-kind technology uniquely developed for the hospitality industry. It uses the most powerful AI to create better communications between hotels and their customers across all stages of the guest journey, from pre-booking to after-stay.

The innovative communication system is able to identify the emotion behind each customer conversation, and then prioritise and automatically escalate the request to the right department.

Also, Aplysia has self-learning capabilities, being able to analyze raw and unlabelled data and classify it on its own, making the learning processes incomparably faster when compared to human-trained solutions.

A new era in guest communications

Emerging as a game-changer for hotels, this technology is formulated from the  4 Cs: 

CONVERSATIONS

• Proprietary AI specialised in Hospitality: Aplysia is powered by a robust proprietary AI that has undergone six years of training, and responding  to millions of queries exclusively related to hospitality. Consequently, the knowledge supporting Aplysia OS is incomparable to generic communication solutions - being a travel specialist makes a significant difference to the quality of the product on offer. As the same questions arise, the answers are learned.

• Self-learning capabilities: Aplysia can analyse raw and unlabelled data and classify it on its own, allowing the AI to learn almost autonomously, making the learning process much faster than training hotel staff. Aplysia is constantly learning with every new interaction. Over time, this results in quicker and more accurate responses - ultimately providing a better guest experience.

• Understanding emotion: Aplysia is able to address a variety of human language challenges related to syntax, semantic analysis, and emotion. By understanding the associated emotion, conversations are prioritised and automatically escalated to the relevant department. If the conversation appears to be taking a negative turn, Aplysia can detect and automatically transfer to the relevant department, helping prevent a negative customer experience. The tech’s ability to understand the tone of chatbot messages significantly enhances the customer experience.

CONNECTIONS

• Connectivity between guests and hotels: Aplysia OS brings together the guest’s favourite communication channels, allowing the customer to communicate across a variety of social media platforms / messaging apps (WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Google for Business and more). This technology connects guests to the different hotel management systems, from booking engines to PMS (Property Management System) or CRM (Customer Relationship Management) databases.

• Full guest journey: Aplysia OS covers the entire guest journey, from the pre-booking stage to in-stay and post-stay, meaning that the scope of the technology is significantly broader than existing solutions that only focus on a specific element of the customer journey. 

• 24/7 instant interactions: Aplysia OS fully connects guests and hotels in a quick, simple and 100 percent digital way wherever they are. Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and without the need for human interaction.  

The technology can facilitate the booking process, an early check-in, or a restaurant reservation, and much more. Who doesn’t want a 24 hour concierge? The technology also has the capacity to share location-specific offers. For example, if rain is forecast, the system will be able to send a message via the customer’s preferred messaging app suggesting alternative activities such as spa days or excursions, to increase the customer experience and impact the hotelier’s bottom line.

CONSOLE

• Easy management via all types of devices: Aplysia OS features a powerful Console, accessible via desktop, browser, or the Android or iOS apps, allowing hotels to manage, automate and measure all aspects of their guest communications. Within one single platform, all channels are unified and accessible to all teams, with any tasks available for everyone to view. For the customer, this eliminates the need to repeat the same information to staff from each department. The hotel manager can effectively control the “personality” of the HiJiffy chatbot from this Console, applying any nuances they require such as specific brand tonality.

CLOUD

• No limitations to scalability: As Aplysia OS is a cloud-based solution, it gives hoteliers the flexibility to connect their business anywhere, at any time, avoiding additional investment in expensive systems and equipment. It allows hotels to easily scale operations with total security.

More than a technology, a vision

“Aplysia OS is being developed to solve today’s problems while already thinking about the challenges of tomorrow. The lab style setup of the OS allows hoteliers and the team at HiJiffy to anticipate customer requirements and trends in real time, noting new trends and responding appropriately.  That is why Aplysia is more than a technology; it is a vision which will allow the industry to adapt and evolve far faster than has ever been possible previously,” states José Mendonça, HiJiffy’s CTO.

Rather than building tech that serves a current specific product or use, and is restricted to a single purpose, all aspects of Aplysia OS are developed to be flexible and adaptive to new functionalities and products.

“Aplysia is different from most current approaches regarding the development of new hospitality-focused technologies. It is not static, it is a ‘living technological being,’ meaning it will never be finished. Because both the hotel and guest needs are constantly changing, there will always be new improvements to be added every day,” adds Mendonça.

The innovative guest communications solution is meant to work exclusively as the “fuel” for HiJiffy’s products. Therefore, the technology itself cannot be bought to be used for other purposes.

Aplysia OS is already available for existing and new HiJiffy clients, with most features already fully functional. Others are in Beta testing in a restricted number of hotels and will soon be made available for roll out across all clients.  Further new ground-breaking features will be announced in the coming  months.

Doing more, with less

“Aplysia OS is the right solution for hoteliers looking to increase automation, guest satisfaction and, of course, revenue,” underlines Mendonça.

• Automation - Increase productivity with powerful automation, including custom escalations;

• Guest Satisfaction - Improve customer satisfaction with better (and digitaled) guest experiences;

• Revenue - Generate more revenue with increased direct booking, upgrades, and upsell opportunities.