229 | Panic Buttons: Hospitality Workers Sound the Alarm (Hotel Safety Part 2)

When Robb Monkman was a college student, he and his roommates were robbed at gunpoint. The home invasion and hostage taking rocked Monkman to his core and determined the course of his career.

Monkman is founder and CEO of ReactMobile, which provides electronic security devices, or panic buttons, for businesses, including the hospitality industry.

ReactMobile is among several technology companies included in the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s Five Star Promise, a pledge by major hotel companies to establish and implement best practices to protect their employees. The promise includes the deployment of hand-held technology, hospitality workers can use to summon help in times of crisis for themselves or guests.

In this episode, Part Two of Lodging Leaders’ report on hotel safety and security, we explore panic button technology and trends. We interview advisers on what’s available to hotel owners and operators as they work to come up with methods to protect their employees. We also review AHLA’s Five Star Promise and what it is calling the hospitality industry to do. And we talk with Unite Here, the labor union that got the whole thing started.

Resources and Links

• Elie Khoury, executive vice president of operations resources at Interstate Hotels & Resorts
• Robb Monkman, founder and CEO of ReactMobile
• Angelo Lombardi of Lodging Controls
• Paul Frederick, co-founder of Hospitality Security Advisors
• Rachel Gumpert, press secretary for Unite Here office in Washington, D.C.

To view the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s Five Star Promise news conference on Sept. 6, 2018, click here.