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By scanning a QR code with their mobile phone, hotel guests, for example, can get all the important information they need when and where they need it. The information can be about where to park their car, where and how to rent skis and lift passes or general information about the destination the guest is staying at.
- Giving guests the ability to access easily consumed information increases the chances of a better stay, says Johan Falkmarken, co-founder of the platform kollainfo.com, which provides the technology for the Branäs Group.

TEXT: ANNE HAAVISTO By having a QR code with a link to information, both guests and staff save time. Photo: Getty Images

HUMANS generally can't take in a lot of information at once, whether it's safety instructions, package inserts for medicines or assembly instructions for furniture, for example. Instead, making the information more appropriate and accessible with short instruction texts or videos increases the chances of reaching the customer with the information they need.

- For example, if you arrive at a hotel or other type of accommodation, you can scan a code with your phone to see what the hotel and destination offer. So you can quickly and easily get the information you need right there on the spot, without having to read a lot of information that you don't need," says Johan Falkmarken, co-founder with Lars Isaksson.
A normal website, as most companies have, is like a shop window where the company tells you what it has to offer and sell. But the likelihood is that you, the guest, will have to look for quite a long time before you find, if you even find, the specific information you need to make your stay as pleasant as possible.

- Looking for information is time consuming and you want answers quickly to practical things like where to leave your hotel key or where to dispose of your food waste.
Having a QR code with a link to information saves time for both guests and staff. The information then becomes user-oriented.

JOHAN, IS AN INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER and has worked with product development for companies, most recently for the Branäs Group. During his career, he has seen a decline in interest in reading manuals and instructions. This in turn increases the risk of dissatisfied customers and more support cases.
- If the manuals are more easily consumed and targeted to the need, there will be more satisfied customers and less customer service calls for companies, he says.

The Kolla platform, launched in 2020, is aimed at all companies that want to streamline information for their customers. Companies decide what information they want to post and how it should be presented.

- You can post either text, images or moving video. Technological advances in society make it easier than ever to produce video clips without the need for professional help. The Internet is faster, making it easier to get information out there.

- You can post either text, images or motion pictures. Technological advances in society make it easier than ever to make film clips without the need for professional help. The Internet is faster, making it easier to get information out there.

Anyone can now create an introductory film that can be accessed via mobile phone. Most people in the hospitality industry have international guests, so the information needs to be made available in a variety of languages, which Kolla has taken into account.
- The platform detects which language the guest's mobile is using and provides that language. Kolla automatically translates when creating the pages.

What challenges do you have to work on in the future?

- A general challenge is that many companies still think that all information has to be on the website. But we know that customers increasingly want information to be more accessible and often the information they are looking for is not on the website anyway.

ANOTHER CHALLENGE is to keep the QR code alive, i.e. updated and current.

- Websites change frequently. If you have a QR code linked to something on a website, you need to keep track of any changes on the site. Otherwise, it is easy for the QR code not to lead to any content. This is demanding work. With micro-sites on Kolla, this work is reduced to a minimum because the pages are not moved around," says Johan.

The interactive video is something that is in its infancy, that you can use click buttons to navigate through an information video and only see what you are interested in specifically.

- In an interactive video, you can click to choose what you want to know more about and thus speed up the information gathering process.

Evalena Lindstedt is IT manager at the Branäs Group, which runs the Branäs and Kungsberget ski resorts, with a total of 1,500 different accommodations. A few years ago, they started thinking about how to keep the information for their guests up to date. They contacted Kolla and started brainstorming solutions.
"We, like all other accommodation facilities, had an information binder in the rooms, but we realised that some of the information became outdated after just a few days, such as the opening hours of the local restaurants and check-in and check-out times. When we were introduced to Kolla's system, we felt it was something that would suit us," she says.

They tested the QR code system for the first season 2021-2022 on a small scale. The idea was good, but they felt there were some shortcomings, especially administratively. They discussed with Kolla and some changes were made, so they have been involved in some of the development to make the system fit their needs.

-We have picked up many comments and questions from our guest survey, such as where to leave your food waste, where to park, where to find cots and highchairs or how to start the dishwasher. We also get information via Google analytics where we see where guests clicked on links to search for information. It's a constant work in progress to find an appropriate prioritisation of what our guests want information about.

The system saves time, both for the guest and the staff. In the future, they hope to have a system in place that allows cleaning staff to receive information directly from the guest once they have checked out and left the property.

- This way, both check-in and check-out times will be shorter as staff can start cleaning the accommodation faster. But if guests choose to clean themselves, instructions and checklists are already included in the QR code. This way, the guest also certifies that they have actually completed a cleaning before they leave.
Eventually, Evalena hopes to add information via QR code to the privately owned accommodation they provide.

-Each has its own procedures and facilities, and then the guest can find all the information for the particular cottage they are renting.

EVALENA BELIEVES that the use of QR codes is becoming more and more common.

- When I have travelled around I have seen that there is more and more information of this type. I think that in the future people will look for the QR code wherever they travel.

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