Tech

Spread music throughout your Inn without running wires

I thought that a good first tip to share in our new format was one that relates to the tip I shared at the recent PAII conference. So for our first project together, lets wirelessly spread music around our inn using your existing FM radios. This is a great way to create a professional and welcoming atmosphere for your guests, and to provide some music signal when you may not have great radio reception in your rooms.

The best part is that the only thing that most people will need to add to their existing stereo or equipment to make this work is what is called an FM modulator. Some of you may already have one of these (albeit on a smaller scale) if you have an “iPod” dock for your car. What an FM modulator does is take an input signal (which can be anything, CD player, Satellite radio, etc) and rebroadcast it over an empty FM station.

So here are the simple steps to setting this up in your Inn as well as links to the equipment you will need to make it work.

1. Find yourself a good FM modulator. Due to FCC rules, the size of the unit you need is often only sold as a kit, but you can often find these pre-assembled on eBay which saves you a lot of trouble. Look for quality units from a company like Ramsey.

2. Find an empty spot on your radio dial. If you are like us in Vermont that won’t be a problem at all. But for you urban innkeepers, you may have to hunt for a small piece of the radio dial to use.

3. Set the station on the modulator to the empty spot. Connect a source to the modulator. We use Sirius satellite radio, but you can use an existing CD player or whatever you have. You can either use the “RCA” style outputs from the stereo or even the headphone jack of a portable unit. You may need an adapter or special cable for this connection, but they are easily found at your local Radio Shack for under $10.

4. Once you power up the modulator and start the music, tune a nearby radio to the station you picked earlier. You should hear the music you are broadcasting. Use a portable radio to walk around and see the coverage that you are getting with the position and the channel you selected. It may take some tinkering to get things just perfect and to ensure that you cover the whole inn.

5. Set a preset button on your rooms clock radio or stereo (if you have one in the room) to the station that you just set up. Be sure that as part of the room setup you include turning on the radio to spread the music.

Guests are often wow-ed by the fact that we “pipe” our contemporary jazz through the Inn. It creates a comfortable and welcoming experience and is one more way to kick it up a notch against the big guys.

Let me know how it goes for you. I’d love to hear from some other innkeepers who have tried this themselves. What music are you sharing with your guests?

Project Summary:

• Difficulty: Easy
• Time: 2 Hours
• Cost: About $250
• Tools: None
• Materials: FM modulator and a music source. Radios to receive music broadcast.

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