DO's and DON'Ts of Hotel Technology v3.0

Since we are firmly into the season of Hotel Technology Conferences and Exhibitions, I believe it's the perfect opportunity to update and re-issue our ever popular Do's and Don'ts of Hotel Technology.

Due to various advances in technology, and general adoption of certain platforms and practices, the list now includes over 100 reference items - almost double since V1.

Not all may apply to your particular business, but they should prove a good reminder as to how important this area is, and just how much it can negatively impact the customer experience and of course your bottom line, if implemented incorrectly.

DO...

1. Use digital signage instead of printed posters
2. Put some free bottles of water in the mini bar so that they are nice and cool
3. Check all the peep holes on guest room doors to make sure they are secure and the right way round
4. Mount irons on wall brackets in closets instead of placing them on the floor or shelves
5. Clearly display broadband charges, if your hotel has any
6. Make it easy to switch off all lights in the guestroom from the bed - especially the bathroom lights
7. Make it easy to plug in a hairdryer, shaver, or electric toothbrush in the bathroom
8. Make the lighting in the bathroom bright enough for doing makeup
9. Have an illuminated make-up mirror in the bathroom
10. Have power sockets easily available for guest-use in public areas, especially Lounges, Dining areas and Poolside - also have adaptors handy
11. Have an emergency torch/flashlight in the guest room
12. Offer free boarding pass printing in Business centers
13. Provide Apple computers in the business center, and not just Window's PC's
14. Have an Apple Notebook power adaptor available for a guest to borrow in case they accidentally forget theirs at home. same applies to iPhone/iPod and Blackberries
15. Use wireless mice at the Front Desk
16. Have a smartphone compliant version of your hotel datafile available for download on your website
17. Work with your system providers so that they produce eForms and not printed reports - especially Registration cards and Folios
18. Make sure excess power and data cables are neatly tied, or cut to the right length. If that is not possible - cover them somehow
19. Have a simple but easy to read digital clock in the bathroom
20. Encourage staff to bring laptops or Tablets to meetings and use them for note taking and not use paper pads
21. Have easily accessible power sockets in Meeting rooms as more and more people bring tech with them and need power
22. Have plenty of power sockets by the guestroom desk, or if not possible, place a small power bar in the desk drawer complete with adaptor
23. Have a CD/DVD/Blu-Ray lending library if you have such a player in the guestroom
24. Have your Concierge know where is the Apple Service Center and also other popular brands like IBM, DELL, Lenovo, Asus, Samsung and Blackberry
25. Have a person or system to monitor social networking sites for mentions about your hotel
26. Have competent front line staff on-property who can deal with Guest TECH queries - make sure they have the requisite social and interpersonal skills as well
27. Monitor what is written about your Hotel on Social networking sites like Trip Advisor
28. Have easily accessible empty power sockets at the LEFT and RIGHT side of the bed - for Guest use only - a USB power socket is a good addition
29. Realize that when you buy technology - you need a support agreement as well - and this often doubles the Tech cost over 5 years
30. Put a notice on your HSIA sign-up screen that your government may block access to certain websites and internet services if they apply to you. Have your IT People know how to workaround this if the Guest asks
31. Check your TV channel reception from time to time and make sure it's nice and clear
32. Make sure the electronic door lock on the guest room door closes quickly when the door shuts
33. Check the speed, noise and effectiveness of the aircon fan coil in the guest room
34. Print your IM address on your Business card like a Skype ID
35. Put an internet browsing station in the Staff Canteen for Staff to check email during breaks
36. Encourage your Guests to also perform a virtual Check-in to such sites as Facebook and Foursquare when they physically Check-in to your establishment
37. Get your technology vendors to update you twice a year on their roadmap
38. Add CCTV cameras inside your Data Center - one that is directed to the server racks and the other, to the entrance door
39. Remember that guest's trust their mobile phones to wake them up - more than they do your wake-up call service
40. Perform regular complete system backups and store them off-site
41. Consider placing a 'dock extender' cable into the cable pack that you may be placing in your rooms so that a Guest can connect an iPad to the iPod/iPhone dock you are providing
42. Have staff who do in-room check-in, offer to help guests connect their computer to the HSIA/Wi-Fi as well as make them an Espresso if you have such a machine in the room
43. Allow guest's to tailor make their fruit basket if you plan to give them one - not everyone likes green apples and pears - same goes for turndown amenity - not everyone wants or can eat chocolates
44. Offer ePostcards from your website
45. Have a shelf in the toilet cubicle where guest's can place their mobile phone/PDA and maybe a book
46. Work in your own guestroom from time to time and see how comfortable and practical it is - especially the height of the chair in relation to the desk
47. Use a bio-metric reader or PIN pad for staff entrance/egress that is linked to the Time and Attendance/Payroll System
48. Make sure the light inside the wardrobe does switch off when the door is closed
49. Consider [carefully] about moving some of your IT Services to the Cloud - make sure you fully understand the small print on the SLA (Service level Agreement) about 'uptime', 'data ownership' and 'migration' from property based systems
50. Make sure your room safe is bolted down to a floor or wall and cannot be easily removed
51. Monitor the TV volume in the guest room so that it can go down very low and not too high. Some guests like to leave the TV on all night but at a very low background volume
52. Have a very low nightlight in the bathroom/toilet
53. Deploy the very best cabling backbone you can
54. Allow Guests of Residential Conferences to use the same LOGIN ID and Password that they use in the Guestroom for access to the WI-FI in the Meeting Room - don't make them pay twice
55. Encourage Guests to communicate with your Hotel through popular Social Networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter
56. Have air-conditioning auto cut-off in the Guest room if balcony doors are left open
57. Consider using Motion/Presence detectors rather than key cards to control energy in-room
58. Check from time to time in-the-floor power sockets - the metal type which are supposed to lift up when the clip if flicked - most often they stick after a while having been covered with floor polish and dust
59. Talk to your HSIA/Wi-Fi provider about 'roaming agreements' and having pass-thru services to such membership services as Boingo and iPass
60. Consider having a secure place where Guests can deposit their valuables and gadgets at the poolside or beach if they want to take a dip
61. Have Wi-Fi at the poolside and Beach
62. Test your magnetic key cards to see if they de-magnetize when placed next to a mobile phone
63. Encourage Guest contact staff to attach VCF files in emails
64. Consider using QR codes on your printed materials
65. Put your Hotel onto Skype and encourage that as a method of communication with Guests
66. Recycle used laser toner cartridges
67. Think about installing a 3G mobile hotspot in the Airport Limo so the Guest can use the service to/from the airport
68. Have your IT team join such organizations as HFTP and HTNG so that they keep up to date with Hotel Technology - you should also sponsr them as well as have them attend various Conferences and Exhibitions

DO NOT...

1. Use Walkie Talkies in public areas without issuing staff with discreet ear pieces
2. Deploy connectivity aux or connectivity panels without having in-room cable kits
3. Put a bedside clock that makes a ticking sound
4. Charge for local phone calls unless you really have to
5. Make it difficult to use a mouse on the Guest Room desk by using one with a glass surface - put a mouse mat in the drawer
6. Automatically do dynamic currency conversion on credit card transactions - have the customer approve in advance
7. Charge exorbitant rates for printing in the business center
8. Issue replacement room keys without first seeing a valid photo ID
9. Allow staff to use thumb drives in work computers
10. Print reports - circulate PDF versions only
11. Send faxes when you can send PDFs with emails
12. Use worn out ribbons on printers - especially Point of Sale printers in F&B outlets
13. Assume your backup power generator will auto-start if there is a mains power failure. Test it
14. Print folios - email them
15. Use paper registration cards - use electronic ones
16. Install both wired and wireless internet in your Guest Rooms when doing a new installation. Just having Wi-Fi is acceptable by most people and will save you money
17. Assume all guests use an iPod, iPhone or iPad - believe it or not, there are other successful products in the marketplace
18. Put "last updated..." on your website if you don't do it frequently
19. Put the number of visitors to your website - no one really cares
20. Put a chair at the desk which is difficult to pull out or is uncomfortable to sit in - even if it looks nice
21. Just limit guests to connect two items to the Wi-Fi in the guestroom - often guests carry many more devices, especially if a couple are staying and with kids
22. Clutter the desk with collaterals and printed materials - make them digital and multi-lingual - e.g. in Chinese
23. Just believe that by putting loads of technology into your hotel that the guest experience will be enhanced or that the guest will appreciate it
24. Place a loudspeaker in the bathroom unless it has a volume control and the sound quality is good
25. Just rely on the technology to operate your business - it will fail and at the worst possible time. Make sure you have a contingency plan in place for ALL systems and test it periodically
26. Change any configuration on a guest's computer unless they ABSOLUTELY agree and you have a written record of the changes made
27. Have multiple phones in the Guest room unless your really need to
28. Allow iPods, MP3 players or similar devices in the workplace to be connected to your computers
29. Print anything - only have electronic versions of all your collaterals
30. Make it complicated for guests to use your technology - they may only stay one night and have no time to learn how to use all the gadgets
31. Overcharge for IDD calls - see if you can connect your PBX to a VOIN (Voice over Internet) service to reduce the calling costs
32. Lend guest's headsets in the gym unless they have been pre-sterilized
33. Allow social networking connections on workplace computers unless it's for work
34. Have water pipes inside your computer room or data center
35. Just have a single cooling source for your Data Center - have a backup
36. Have so many TV channels that it's difficult for the guest to quickly access what they really want to watch and make sure then it's re-switched on, it goes back to the last channel watched and only re-sets upon check-out
37. Put a CD/DVD/Blu-Ray player in the Guest room unless there is already a disc inside for the guest to quickly listen to or watch
38. Operate a 1-button Call Center unless the staff who take the call are full trained to handle ALL queries
39. Put a 4-in-1 copier/scanner/printer/fax machine in the guestroom with just 2 or 3 sheets of paper inside for the guest to print on - include at least 20 sheets
40. Use a cloud printing service to the in-room printer you are providing - some guests are bound by company confidentiality policies not to send data outside of their network and so cannot use such services, even if they are hosted by a reputable company - just add a USB cable
41. Have electronic curtains/drapes unless they can be opened/closed from the bed as well as via a wall switch
42. Put a hairdryer in the bathroom that is underpowered - and don't hide it
43. Put a reading lamp at the bed which is so powerful and direct that it can burn your Guest's forehead
44. Adjust the temperature in the Guestroom if the guest sets it at a certain level. Only reset it upon check-out.
45. Use Flash on your website unless you really have to - not all popular Smartphones or Tablets can handle Flash
46. Only put a keycard reader on one side of the elevator car if you have floor call buttons on both sides. And from time to time, check they both work
47. Install an LCD TV in such a away that the Guest cannot access the connectivity ports and by doing so, they can directly connect their own devices for playback
48. Create an app for your Hotel just for the sake of it - and all it does is make reservations. Let it be informative about your property and a guide to all the various services and amenities you provide. It will after all be be your Shop window in the palm of someone's hand and directly reflect your brand values.

(c) Terence Ronson ISHC

Life can be full of (pleasant) surprises

The Hotel business never ceases to amaze me - especially when a property sets their mind and hearts into doing it right - instilling a great service culture into the operation. And no more obvious and pleasing is this, than when you encounter staff delivering service beyond ones normal expectations. I hope you read an earlier BLOG of mine, when I wrote about the great Disney Institute course I attended (Delivering Quality Service), and how their philosophy is to create a series of little WOWs, rather than just one big one - impressing their customers at different touch-points during exposure to the brand. How obviously simple and important I thought that was at the time, and wished the businesswould pick up and follow this great, yet modest philosophy. Well let me tell you how delighted I was to experience such a Hotel when I recently stayed three nights at the Marina Bay Sands (MBS), Singapore, as part of my participation in the HICAP Conference (4-5 May). I must preface this by saying - they knew I was coming - so it was not an entirely incognito stay - having said that, I really don't think, from a practicality point of view, that they went to the extent of circulating my photo and briefing every employee about me - unlike a certain Shanghai Hotel did on a re-visit. After all, MBS has 2,561 rooms and a suitably sized team to support this.   Yes, I got upgraded to a Suite complete with a spectacular City view, in addition to which it had many of the accouterments I have come to look for and enjoy like Bananas in the fruit basket, bottles of mineral water and a Nespresso machine. Thanks! But more importantly, it had a few extra niceties that I want to point out. Firstly, the hairdryer was easy to find - it was attached to the wall next to the double vanity and not hidden like one often finds, and has to be hunted for. This is a pet peeve of my wife - who has been known to say to me on the rare occasions when we travel together on a trip, "I wonder where they have hidden the hairdryer this time?" There was a big shower cubicle - one in which I could easily spread my arms and turn around in - stepping out of the water spray to soap up, and then back into to rinse off. And, in one corner, an alcove with a built-in seat to either sit on, or lift ones leg/foot for ease of cleaning. But, the crème de la crème were the shower amenities where one could easily read the description of the contents without putting on ones glasses. GREAT! Each day the room (OK Suite) was serviced, with the Room Attendant kindly and caringly taking time out to tidy up the wires/cables I left on the desk - neatly coiling them into little bundles. These were my iPod cable and the cable of the power adapter to my Notebook. Very Good!   I should also mention that the TV stayed on BBC when switched back on, rather than going again and again to the Hotels' promo splash page of their IPTV system. I know why we do that, but honestly, it can be annoying. Then there was the fact that my Bathroom toiletries were also tidied up - placed in straight rows, and in descending height order - big at the back, and small at the front. And running perpendicular, was my razor. Nice! Photo Slideshow can be found here  Each evening at turn down, there was a different "turndown goodie" including Macaroons, local cakes and sweets, and some delicate chocolate cups filled with fresh fruits and berries. I had to exercise very strong willpower to avoid nibbling them all. Outside of the room, I tried the Breakfast Buffet at the Roof Top Club Lounge - which if you have seen or know of the MBS is their pièce de résistance - complete with an infinity pool perched on top of the building spanning all three towers. Very good standard breakfast fare supplemented with many goodies to include Gravlax, assorted fresh berries, lots of fruits and nuts, and some very interesting jams and compotes. Overall, I must say that the Staff were friendly and helpful with a few requiring a special mention: Firstly there was Sebastian my Butler who upon coming to my room for collecting the luggage said, "Mr. Ronson I note you are returning on the xxth and can you please let me know your arrival time so I can make sure everything is ready for you." No one told him I was coming back - he had used initiative and flagged that himself. Next was Andrew a Bellman from the Guest Services Dept. He saw me queuing up to check out - came over - made a small bow - and out of the blue offered his services with my luggage and a car to the airport (my luggage was in storage). I said thanks, but I was organized for these - and he proceeded to give me his name card offering any assistance I may need - and to just call him. Lastly, there was Indah the Front Office Clerk - I believe that was her name - who firstly apologized for keeping me waiting to check-out (not so long maybe 5 minutes), and upon noticing I had dined at one of the restaurants in the adjacent Mall - Osteria Mozza, inquired as to whether I had enjoyed the meal. She said she had heard about the place and i think seen it on TV, but not yet had the chance to visit and was curious how it was. She sounded genuine (rather than mechanical) in asking if I enjoyed my Hotel stay - and too also noticed I was shortly to return -  saying she looks forward to welcoming me back. In life, it's definitely the small things that count! Photo Slideshow can be found here   (C) Terence Ronson ISHC

AHTEC@HOFEX 2011 - UPDATE

We just under two weeks to go until this fantastic Conference takes place on May 12th and 13th at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, below is an updated list of our International Speakers, Panelists and Moderators. Carmen Lam - Leisure and Brand Marketing and Sales - Melco-Crown (Macau) Charles Reed - CEO - DOCOMO Intertouch (Singapore) Chris Gribble B.Bus., CPA - VP and General Manager - Hospitality Solutions - Infor-SoftBrands, Asia Pacific (Australia) Dale Johnstone - Partner - Xione Group Limited & Vice Convenor ISO/IEC JTC1 SC27 WG1 - (Hong Kong) Daniel Lam - Business Development Executive - General Business - IBM Greater China - (Hong Kong) Dirk Dalichau - Vice President Operation & Development, Miramar International Hotel Management Corp. S.A. - (Hong Kong) Dirk Dumortier - VP GMO and Verticals Business Development APAC - Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise (Singapore) Eric Du - General Manager - Dragon Hotel (PRC) Eric Tsui - Professor of Knowledge Management, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Hong Kong) Frank Wolfe - CEO - HFTP - (USA) Gerhard Zimmer - Hotelier (Philippines) Grahame Tate - Managing Director - Asia Pacific, IDeaS a SAS Company (Australia) Henri Roelings - CEO - Hospitality Net (Netherlands) Howard Field - President - Howard Field (UK) Howard Tse  - Regional Director, Business Development, Enterprise Systems  - Micros-Fidelio Asia Pacific - (Hong Kong) Ingvar Herland - General Research Manager of the Electronic Services Department - Hong Kong Shanghai Hotel - (Hong Kong) Les Spielman - Founder - HACL (Hospitality Automation Consultants Limited) (USA) Mark Keith - HVS - (Hong Kong) Mark Page - Director of Sales - Enterprise System - Micros-Fidelio (Australia) Matt Mitchell - Vice President - Global Accounts - iBahn - (Hong Kong) Michael Levie - Founding Partner - citizenM - (Netherlands) Michael Sacks - Managing Director - Micros-Fidelio, Hong Kong - (Hong Kong) Oliver Winzer - CEO - at-visions - Asia Pacific (Singapore) Rajagopal Gampa - Corporate Director of Information Technology - New World Hospitality - (Hong Kong) Rudi Leung - Director - AGENDA - (Hong Kong) Sean Seah - Director of e-Commerce with Langham Hospitality Group (Hong Kong) Tat Meng Chee - Regional Sales Director - Hospitality, Asia Pacific - Avaya, (Singapore) Ted Horner - Founder - Horner and Associates (Australia) Terence Ronson - Managing Director - Pertlink (Hong Kong) Terry Price - Chief Information Officer - Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa (USA) Apart from the great content that will be covered by the Conference, there are numerous Networking opportunities to include Coffee and Tea Breaks, Lunches and a unique Welcome Reception at the newly opened Hotel ICON - of course, you can also visit the many TECH Exhibits in HOFEX which runs from May 11th - May 14th.  Sponsors include: at-visions DOCOM Intertouch Micros-Fidelio Alcatel-Lucent Avaya iBahn IBM IDeaS Infor - Softbrands Square-i International  Supporting Organizations:  HFTP  Pertlink       If you have not yet booked a place - please do so NOW - by contacting:Winnie Leung at Hong Kong Exhibition Services. For more details about AHTEC@HOFEX 2011 - click here     Follow AHTEC@HOFEX on Twitter #AHTEC

Innocent until proven guilty

Innocent until proven guilty Just over a year ago, the life we once knew, and to some extent had come to grips with, was thrown a huge curve ball and has never been the same since. This time it was called 'iPad'. Other curve balls have been thrown at us over the years like iPods and iPhones, but this one was so dramatic in its intensity, that it metaphorically shifted the earth off its axis. The iPad is the Swiss Army knife of the second decade in the second century of the second millennium. Before it, we were like Neanderthals wielding tools that were clumsy and archaic in nature - much like our closest relatives - the Chimpanzees in Planet of the Apes. The invention and ultimate proliferation of the iPad - has seen planet wide domination like no other thing before it. The steam engine, the radio, telephone, TV or even the motor car has not experienced such early adoption rates and by such a wide and previously unsuspecting audience, as the iPad has experienced - its scary! So prolific has this been, that forecasters predict it could propel Apple into being a trillion dollar Market Cap Company in just a few short years from now. Whist many may say this is part of human evolution, and has brought with it a great many positive things, there are those who live in fear of it. Not just because it can be out of reach financially, and is sought after like no other piece of TECH, but because expectations are so high as to what it can, and sometimes can't do, they have made it the unofficial benchmark by which all others - and by that I mean followers, are benchmarked. Believe it or not, the iPad actually became a victim of its own success. For the first few months you would hear very little negatives, but slowly and surely, criticism started to flow because it didn't have a camera, nor could it be used as a phone. So what did Apple do? They released iPad2 complete with two cameras, and instead of giving it a phone function (although you can make it so with Skype), they instead released Face Time on the device, enabling the user to make proprietary video calling between certain Apple devices, such as iPhones, iPod Touch and MAC computers. You could say they listened and reacted - but one may speculate why they did not do it for version one, unless they believed version one users would become version two users, and therefore buy a second machine - just twelve months later. Whatever your thoughts, the fact is iPad is now the de facto Tablet or Slate computer. Sure they've sold millions of them - no one disputes that. In fact one can easily tell the adoption rate by just looking around. Go into a Starbucks and people are using them. Wait in an Airport lounge, people are using them.  Go into a Classroom, and kids are using them. Go into a Meeting, people are using them, enjoy a relaxing moment in a Hotel lounge and people are using them - they are omnipresent on a global scale. But hold on a moment - is it really fair to judge competitors in this way? Do we do the same thing for Notebooks? If we follow the same rule of thumb, then the majority of Notebook users would be MAC users.  In reality, it is not the case - the world still revolves around Windows - whether you love or hate it - it's a fact. You may argue the point that MACs don't have the same level of software applications as do Windows - and so following that argument - why is it we condone Android and RIM's new Playbook in this way? The iPad can't run Flash while other Tablets do - but iPad users accept it. The iPad can't really multitask but the Playbook can  - but iPad users accept it. The iPad can't fit in your pocket but the Samsung Tablet can as well as the Playbook - but iPad users accept it.  A strange set of rules we play by... Then there is the argument against the Playbook for example, that it's being launched with little or no apps - but the iPad has access to 80,000 to choose from. So what if it doesn't have a lot of apps right now? My first Notebook back in the early 80's - an Epson HX-20 only ran Basic - it had no software for a long while, and that caused me to start the first Epson HX-20 Users Group. Did that stop me and many others paying around GBP300 for it? NO! it was not until FFosswriter came out that is was remotely usable as a Word Processor. The Psion Organizer was not much different, nor was the ZX80 or Sinclair Spectrum. Some of us seem to have short (and convenient) memory loss. Or are we so spoiled that this kind of practice is unacceptable in this modern era we love living in? And oh yes, one more thing - the first release of Playbook has a missing piece - 3G/4G Connectivity - it only comes with Wi-Fi - so what I hear myself saying. Most people (me especially) don't use Tablets while in 3G coverage, only at home or places where they can hop onto free Wi-Fi networks. It's an interesting thing, because most Tablet users are also Smartphone users, so when mobile, they can tether the two devices and so you only need one SIM - and one account. More importantly, the Playbook has a Bridge function that lets you mirror the functionality and apps on the BB and so go out over the same connection - you can even tunnel through your BES to the Corporate LAN (with relevant permissions) and browse files that way. I see that as a great plus, especially for Corporate users - you can't do that with an iPad - whether its V1 or V2. As many of you may know, I got my iPad1 less than a week after release thanks to a great US based friend who helped me secure it and the same one who is helping me get my Playbook.  I blogged about it - and continue to use it - although for more specific purposes now that a year has passed, and I have found a special niche for it. No longer am I app hungry downloading everything I can get my hands on - many of which have been relegated to folders or removed from the main screen - to make way for the handful I regularly use like Facebook, Zite, Pulse, Notes, Good Reader, Currency, BBC, AP Mobile, Instapaper and a few others. I don't use it for Games, but I very much enjoy watching movies, and surfing the net. My intrigue with this form factor has not waned. In fact, it is as intense as ever, knowing full well this is a handy and useful tool for certain purposes. For me, it most definitely is NOT a Notebook replacement. I find it cumbersome to type using the on-screen keyboard, and much prefer my Mac Book Air. But, having said all that, I have pre-ordered myself a Blackberry Playbook - regardless of all the negative pre-release press it has attracted. I anxiously await its arrival in about 10 days.  Why did I do that you may well ask? Quite simple really - I'm a happy BlackBerry user and more importantly, I want to judge for myself as to the usability of this new generation device and see why many of the well know TECH press seem to be so biased. The Hospitality industry has latched on to the iPad like no other TECH item in history. They are scratching their heads very hard to make them into a utopian device - a kind of one-size fits all - the Holy Grail. Current uses include: ·       Menus and Wine Lists ·       Point of Sale units with Credit Card processing ·       In-Room Control panels for Lighting, TV, Audio and Environment Controls ·       eRegistration Cards ·       Housekeeping Room Inspection devices ·       Training manuals ·       Meeting Room A/V Controllers ·       Guest Questionnaires ·       Concierge Assistants ·       Mobile websites with hooks to booking engines ·       Electronic Books and Newspapers ·       Controllers for Gym Equipment ·       Second Screens for IPTV systems ·       Remote viewing of CCTV ·       Business Information portals ·       Presenters for Sales Teams For me, the jury is still out  - I will let you know soon enough once I get my hands on the Playbook - so watch this space!  (c) Terence Ronson ISHC