In-room device control system

A system for allowing user devices to remotely control in-room devices of a hospitality establishment, the system comprising:

• a control server coupled to a computer network;
• a plurality of hubs coupled to the control server;
• and
• a plurality of controllable devices located among a plurality of guest rooms of the hospitality establishment, each of the controllable devices coupled to at least one of the hubs;
• wherein the control server receives a device identifier of a user device and looks up a device communication token associated with the user device in a device-to-token table;
• the control server sends a notification message to the user device via a message server, the notification message being addressed by the device communication token to an in-room control application on the user device;
• wherein, in response to receiving the notification message from the message server, an operating system on the user device automatically activates the in-room control application and delivers the notification message to the in-room control application;
• the control server receives a state change message from the in-room control application running on the user device via the computer network;
• the control server determines a guest room associated with the state change message, the guest room being one of the guest rooms of the hospitality establishment with which the user device is associated;
• the control server determines a target controllable device according to the guest room and the state change message, the target controllable device being located within the guest room;
• the control server determines a target hub according to the target controllable device, the target hub being coupled to the target controllable device;
• the control server sends a command to the target hub to change a state of the target controllable device according to the state change message;
• the control server further looks up an automation script according to the state change message;
• the control server determines a plurality of target controllable devices in the guest room according to the automation script;
• the control server determines a set of target hubs according to the plurality of target controllable devices, the set of target hubs being coupled to the plurality of target controllable devices;
• and
• the control server sends a plurality of commands to the set of target hubs to change states of each of the plurality of target controllable devices according to the automation script.

A system for allowing user devices to remotely control in-room devices of a hospitality establishment, the system comprising:

• a control server coupled to a computer network;
• a plurality of hubs coupled to the control server;
• and
• a plurality of controllable devices located among a plurality of guest rooms of the hospitality establishment, each of the controllable devices coupled to at least one of the hubs;
• wherein the control server receives a device identifier of a user device and looks up a device communication token associated with the user device in a device-to-token table;
• the control server sends a notification message to the user device via a message server, the notification message being addressed by the device communication token to an in-room control application on the user device;
• wherein, in response to receiving the notification message from the message server, an operating system on the user device automatically activates the in-room control application and delivers the notification message to the in-room control application;
• the control server receives a state change message from the in-room control application running on the user device via the computer network;
• the control server determines a guest room associated with the state change message, the guest room being one of the guest rooms of the hospitality establishment with which the user device is associated;
• the control server determines a target controllable device according to the guest room and the state change message, the target controllable device being located within the guest room;
• the control server determines a target hub according to the target controllable device, the target hub being coupled to the target controllable device;
• the control server sends a command to the target hub to change a state of the target controllable device according to the state change message;
• the control server is coupled to an external network outside of the hospitality establishment and receives the state change message from the user device via the external network;
• the control server is coupled to a plurality of different hospitality establishments by the external network;
• and
• the control server further determines the hospitality establishment to which the state change message pertains according to a location identifier included within the state change message.