Anchors Aweigh! Elevate Your Cruise Experience with Vodia Maritime Communication Servers (VMCS)
Published on:
March 12, 2024
Set sail for unparalleled cruise experiences with the Vodia Maritime Communication Servers (VMCS). As cruise lines navigate the vast oceans, efficient and uninterrupted onboard communication is paramount. Our VMCS guarantees seamless connectivity at sea, offering advanced features like satellite internet access and robust data security. From personalized passenger communication to enhanced entertainment options, VMCS ensures that cruise lines can meet the demands of modern travelers while prioritizing safety and cybersecurity. Elevate your cruise experience with VMCS and embark on unforgettable journeys across the seas.
Vodia Maritime Communications Servers (VMCS) are the first choice of cruise lines worldwide. Cruise ships require efficient, uninterrupted onboard communication, and our VCMS ensures seamless, uninterrupted connectivity at sea. Our feature-rich servers provide satellite internet access and data safety and security, enabling personalized communication and passenger entertainment. Our VMCS is safe and secure, addressing cybersecurity issues and threats with the robustness of any terrestrial system. We’ve beena communications software pioneer and innovator for over a decade. Here’s why you should set sail with us!
Enhanced Passenger Communications for Smooth Sailing
The popularity of cruises is immense and growing. Almost 36 million people are expected to set sail in 2024, almost five million more than in 2023. Luxury cruises promise passengers dream destinations, exotic excursions, gourmet cuisine and the best in entertainment. These are the reasons most people choose cruises for their vacations. But even out on the open sea, drink in hand and feet up in a chaise longue, passengers expect seamless communication and high-speed internet. Our VMCS transforms the way passengers stay connected while on board and facilitates shipboard communication with passengers, keeping them informed about onboard activities, events, safety and onshore experiences.
A Communication Server for Floating Cities
Cruise ships have evolved into “floating cities.”In January 2024 Royal Caribbean International’s Icon of the Seas, the largest cruise ship ever built, left the Port of Miami, FL, on its first voyage. Icon of the Seas boasts seven swimming pools, six waterslides and a total of 20 decks. Built at a cost of $2 billion and about five times the size of the Titanic, the ship can host 7,600 passengers, more people than you’ll find in many small towns. Royal Caribbean International built Icon of the Seas to meet the ongoing surge in the worldwide demand for luxury cruises.
With these floating cities sailing across the seas, efficient, robust, uninterrupted passenger communication is absolutely essential. Passengers expect the same quality communications available at luxury hotels while they sail. Our VMCS acts as the ship’s central nervous system, providing an integrated, secure network to connect crew, passengers and ship systems. It is simply the most reliable maritime communication system available.
Full Sail Connectivity
Once a challenge, high-speed internet is now a given in the cruise industry. Even out at sea passengers expect to keep up with their emails and social media accounts and access their preferred streaming services. Our VMCS makes it so everyone on board has uninterrupted, robust connectivity throughout the voyage: we leverage satellite-based internet access to ensure internet availability regardless of where a ship sails or docks. Our VMCS also enables incoming calls to be routed at a lower cost and ensures reasonable rates for outgoing calls. The convenience and cost-effectiveness we bring to the cruise industry means that crew and passenger communication is a competitive advantage – rather than a burdensome expense – for ships and cruise operators.
Advanced Communication for Passenger Safety and Security
Passenger and crew safety is of paramount importance on every cruise ship, and everyone’s safety is dependent on impeccable onboard communication. Any emergency situation requires real-time communication between passengers and crew, to make sure everyone responds quickly and according to instructions. With dedicated onboard apps, passengers can seek assistance or report incidents or dangerous situations to crew members, both while sailing and while in port. Our VMCS gives cruise lines the functionality they need to ensure advanced communication for safety and security for all persons on board.
Share Information Seamlessly
Beyond luxury accommodation, delicious food and onboard entertainment, cruise ships offer diverse, ever-changing activities and itineraries to passengers. Our VMCS makes it so crew members can provide comprehensive information to passengers, including real-time information regarding activities and schedules, dining, entertainment and shore excursions. Passengers can use their mobile devices while on board to view digital daily calendars, review restaurant menus, schedule shore excursions and make other reservations, all via user-friendly interfaces. The Vodia VMCS gives cruise ships a complete suite of features to personalize communication with passengers on any endpoint, including via apps on their mobile devices and in-cabin tablets.
Personalized Entertainment and Services
Outstanding entertainment, including casinos, concerts, shows and nightclubs, are one of the reasons people cruise, as are the many amenities available on board. The Vodia VMCS enhances passenger experiences by making it possible for them to schedule spa treatments, view entertainment schedules and reserve seats at shows, all from their smartphones or tablets. What’s more, the server’s data analytics enable personalized recommendations for activities, amenities, dining and excursions.
Cybersecurity and Onboard Privacy
Vodia is known for keeping user data secure. Our VMCS is the best choice for any cruise ship IT department looking to mitigate risk and protect the ship and its passengers from potential cybersecurity threats. Privacy and security features are core to our design-by-concept principles. We also provide professional services to support certifications as required.
The Evolution of Cruise Communication
The cruise industry will continue to rely on best-in-class communication options to meet passenger needs and maintain onboard safety. The Vodia VMCS features integrated interfaces that give passengers and crew a cutting-edge, robust, connected user experience. We leverage our built-in integration framework for the seamless integration of top-tier applications such as AI and augmented cruise features. We continue to innovate and look toward the horizon, toward enhanced connectivity and augmented reality experiences, toward improved passenger experiences regardless of their chosen mobile devices. We continue to refine our VMCS to bring greater convenience, enhanced communication and immersive experiences to the cruise industry.
Make the Vodia VMCS Part of Your Voyage
Whatever a cruise ship requires, be it a modest river cruise vessel or something closer to the Icon of the Seas, our VMCS revolutionizes onboard passenger communication. Our server ensures ships are connected worldwide while ensuring crew and passenger safety, providing personalized content to passengers and streamlining activity and entertainment information for passengers to enhance their cruise experience. Put our VMCS at the helm for the most feature-rich communication solution available to the cruise industry:
Check-in and boarding, cabin device (tablets) provisioning
Communication service health status
Disembarkation, check-out
Event-based communication
Network Security/Administration
Personal device activation for onboard services
Personalized paging
Port management
Security monitoring
Service portal, message boxes
Service requests, call center management
VLAN support
Anywhere your ships sail on the seven seas, you need the Vodia Maritime Communication Server, the gold standard for onboard communication. With our VMCS, every trip is a bon voyage. Let us welcome you aboard – contact us today at sales@vodia.com or call us at +1 (617) 861-3490.
About Vodia Networks, Inc.
Vodia Networks, Inc. is a pioneering provider of B2B Cloud Communications Solutions catering to enterprises, contact centers and service providers. Vodia's PBX software boasts an extensive suite of business telephony features for on-premise and cloud-based systems and operates seamlessly across Windows, Linux or Mac platforms. Fully compliant with SIP industry standards, the Vodia phone system integrates effortlessly with a wide range of SIP-based devices and trunking providers, granting ultimate freedom in telephony. Vodia’s multi-tenancy platforms are compatible with an unprecedented number of technologies, including desk phones, softphones and APIs, for myriad third-party software and CRM systems. Our mission is to empower our partners and end-users with the world's best cloud PBX and personalized support to ensure their success at every turn. Visit Vodia on LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.
This document details the beta version of the Vodia PBX that connects to the OpenAI realtime API, enabling users to interact with a chatbot via telephone. The backend JavaScript code facilitates the connection, handling audio input and output, and the WebSocket connection to the OpenAI API. The setup requires a Vodia PBX version 69.5.3 or higher, an API key, and a license with an IVR node. The demo can be accessed by editing the ivrnode.js template and creating an IVR node in the tenant. The system supports various VoIP devices and offers good voice quality. Future improvements include voice activity detection and the ability to take actions based on OpenAI responses.
Vodia’s cloud PBX system enhances the Do-Not-Disturb (DND) function for hotels, allowing guests to manage their privacy through buttons in the room or on the phone. The system syncs with PMS for seamless functionality, enabling hotel operators to manually override DND when guests struggle to disable it. For critical situations, like room service follow-ups, the system allows specific extensions to bypass DND, ensuring guests are reachable when needed. VIP guest management features, guest-to-guest call restrictions and automatic resets upon checkout ensure privacy, security, and convenience, improving the guest experience while maintaining operational efficiency.
As businesses increasingly adopt Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), understanding its impact on Voice over IP (VoIP) is essential. While WLAN offers flexibility and mobility, it can lead to call quality issues due to packet loss and bursts during access point switching. To combat these challenges, organizations can utilize robust codecs like OPUS which are designed to handle packet loss effectively and employ Session Border Controllers (SBCs) to enhance jitter buffers. By incorporating these solutions, companies can ensure a more reliable VoIP experience that meets the demands of modern workplaces, allowing seamless communication without interruptions.