Compatibility Key To Connect Hotel Guests To Their Corps.

Last week, Omni Hotels, along with hotel management companies John Q. Hammons Hotels and Crestline Hotels & Resorts, joined Hilton Hotels Corp. and Marriott International in the growing ranks of lodging companies launching wireless high-speed initiatives in their hotels.

The increasing popularity of high-speed Internet access in hotels and the anticipated rollout of advanced mobile computing technology in the coming months has raised the stakes for third-party technology providers, which are working with corporations to ensure that their travelers' laptops are compatible both with hotel systems and their own companies' secure networks.

Technology providers STSN and Wayport at the end of last year began to verify that corporations had the appropriate software in place to allow their travelers to connect from either a guest room or the hotel's meeting rooms and other public spaces. Their aggressive stance comes in anticipation of the launch of Intel's Centrino mobile chip, planned for the second quarter of the year, which is expected to accelerate the usage of wireless Internet.

During the first wave of interest in high-speed hotel connectivity in 1999 and 2000, travelers often were frustrated when blocked by their own companies' internal security systems or firewalls. Usage started to improve last year as more companies installed software in their travelers' laptops allowing them to bypass the firewalls and connect directly. Virtual private networks use data encryption and the Internet to provide transparent and secure communications between two sites.

"What you're doing is extending the corporation's secured network to users outside that environment," said Michael Zane Jones, senior vice president of sales for STSN, which is based in Salt Lake City. Typically, corporate networks contain sensitive information that is closely guarded.

Travelers with VPN-enabled laptops not only can access their e-mail more easily, but are able to attach documents and perform other functions as if they were in their offices.

"When you launch the software, it creates a secure tunnel back into the corporate network," said Michele DeWenter, marketing manager for Wayport, based in Austin, Texas.

"Yet, not all high-speed systems are created equal," Jones added. "Consequently, travelers can't be sure VPN-equipped laptops will work with the system in place at a particular hotel." Since last October, STSN said it has certified 50 corporations and more than 400 hotels to ensure travelers can access their companies' secure networks through a high-speed connection.

"As a provider, if we didn't provide technical support for VPNs, a lot of travelers wouldn't be able to access the information they need via our service," DeWenter said. "In light of this, we've tested the major VPN software to ensure that if a user stays at a hotel associated with Wayport, the high-speed access is going to work."