Workforce management pioneer sees track record of industry firsts as the foundation of more industry-leading transformation to come
DALLAS, TX – Oct. 25, 2023 – Unifocus, the global leader in workforce management solutions for the hotel and hospitality industry, proudly marks its 25th anniversary. With a culture of innovation, Unifocus remains at the forefront of shaping workforce technology for hotels, setting industry standards.
“Twenty-five years of serving the hospitality industry and counting,” says Moneesh Arora, Chief Executive at Unifocus. “We’re filled with gratitude for our clients who’ve been part of this journey, as well as our incredibly dedicated team that makes our vision a reality. Our success stems from our commitment to truly understanding the needs of hoteliers, which continually inspires us to enhance and innovate our hotel operations technology.”
Founded in 1998, a landmark year in technological evolution, Unifocus emerged with a vision to revolutionize hotel businesses through cutting-edge technology. That year saw the birth of giants like Google, crucial legislation like the DMCA fostering e-commerce growth, the establishment of vital Wi-Fi standards, the rise of MP3 players, and ambitious space endeavors like NASA’s Mars Climate Orbiter. These milestones underline the spirit of innovation and progress that characterized the era.
That same year, Unifocus introduced the first-ever hotel labor management system, revolutionizing labor management for the hospitality sector. Unifocus’ early innovations include automating scheduling, accommodating employee preferences for time off, and much more.
Over the years, Unifocus continued to lead the industry with groundbreaking technology:
- 1998: Building on the first-ever labor management system and automated scheduling for the hotel industry, a pioneering system that laid the foundation for early AI
- 2000: Delivered the first hospitality workforce management system with outlet forecasting.
- 2003: Introduced the first rapid-response system for hotels using SMS messaging.
- 2004: Launched the first web-based labor management system for hoteliers.
- 2005: Developed the first-ever mobile app for the hospitality sector on the Symbian platform for Nokia phones.
- 2007: Released the first-ever hotel mobile app for Blackberry devices.
- 2008: Pioneered a communications platform between hotels and guests, leveraging SMS text messages.
- 2010: Became the first workforce management system to offer multiple languages for users.
- 2015: Introduced auto task sheet creation and assignment capabilities to its workforce management platform.
- 2016: Integrated labor standards and the labor budgeting process directly into workforce management technology.
- 2018: Launched the hotel industry’s first multi-lingual mobile scheduling app.
- 2021: Introduced ShiftGenius, an intelligent addition to our well-loved automated shift-swapping feature and the first hospitality technology to allow managers to post open shifts to everyone or select groups of employees, improving staffing coverage, hiring, and retention.
Today, Unifocus continues to empower hotels with innovative technology. Ever evolving, Unifocus expanded its capabilities by acquiring Knowcross, a best-in-class operations management platform, to deliver a streamlined workforce management suite to hoteliers. A natural next step in the evolution of hotel operations, the integrated systems boost managers’ decision-making with real-time data that flows between forecasting, scheduling, task execution, as well as guest and employee satisfaction in one ecosystem.
“Reflecting on the early days of Unifocus, we envisioned a future where technology would optimize hotel businesses,” said Mark Heymann, Founder of Unifocus. “Twenty-five years ago, we pioneered technology that accurately predicts occupancy and aligns it with staffing levels—an early form of machine learning. Today, as AI evolves, Unifocus continues to optimize hotel operations from ShiftGenius to streamlined and dynamic housekeeping tasks, all working together to enhance the guest experience. ”
For more information, visit www.unifocus.com.
