In The Vanguard Of Broadband Convergence, Portal Marketing and E-Commerce
Guestserve Systems International
(GSI) has worked with a wide range of worldwide
communication industries from Time Warner Cable New York,
the largest cable system in the world, BellSouth in Shanghai,
Rogers Communications, Northern Telecom, and MT&T
in Canada, Seavision and Sony Integrated Systems in the
cruiseline industry, and EDS at their headquarters in
Texas. It has also worked with TRB in Indonesia and with
the largest property developer in the Southeast Asia residential
market, Singapore based Far East Organization. The Guestserve
interactive portal marketing system was used by Hyatt
International from Paris to Hong Kong. Involved with the
hotel and communications industry for over 30 years, Johnathan
Edwards, is referred to as an “industry veteran”
by the Paul Kagan Associates newsletter. His work has
received extensive coverage in the press from the Wall
Street Journal and USA Today to various trade publications
such as MultiChannel News and the CKC Report.....the hotel
technology newsletter, which went to over 90 countries.
He was the Founder of Guestserve Systems International
and Chairman and CEO of IPC Interactive Pte Ltd in Singapore
as well as President of its subsidiary in the US, a joint
venture between IPC Corporation of Singapore and ICG,
his California based company targeting interactive communications
for the future residential market.
The Creator Of The iTV “Portal”
Guestserve, a California Corporation,
was formed in the mid '80's to design interactive television
networks for the hotel industry. Guestserve was
the first company to create an iTV “portal”
with digitized voice with Hilton in Las Vegas and Radisson
in New York in 1988, and the first company to complete transactions
for interactive merchandising (e-commerce) with Sheraton
in New York in 1994. Guestserve was part of the well known
Scottsdale group of companies which included Ticketmaster,
premier computerized entertainment ticketing sales company
in the US, Video Electronics, supplier of hotel and casino
security systems, Antenna Technology Corporation, designer
and manufacturer of the first multi-beam satellite antenna,
and Bytex Corporation, system provider for the hotel industry.
IPC Interactive (IPCI), formerly ICG,
acquired the proprietary software and hardware designs
from Guestserve Systems International in 1996 to build
the “Guestserve Network” for Time Warner Cable
in New York to deliver the first commercial interactive
digitally encoded video information service in the U.S.
over fiber optic infrastructure. IPCI's vision to use
the television in the hotel room to build a technology
platform for interactive media marketing as a "trojan
horse" and stepping stone to the multi-dwelling unit,
implemented in the Singapore market, and finally the single
family residence. 
IPCI
was in the vanguard of convergence over broadband with
the iTVPC. The company was acquired by the international
market leader in multi-channel digital ad insertion systems,
Seachange International, which provides software based
products to manage, store and distribute digital video
systems for television operators and telecommunication
companies worldwide
Guestserve,
the hotel network company, creator of the iTV portal for
worldwide marketing for the global hotel corporation.
