was successfully added to your cart.

AudioFetch Blog Header - Sports Bars Using Audio Over WiFi Tech

Sports Bars Leveraging Audio Streaming Tech to Attract New Customers

By | Restaurants, Sports Bars | No Comments

The 2020-2021 Triple Whammy–COVID restrictions, supply chain issues, and labor shortages–have hit restaurants and sports bars harder than most industries. And while a recovery is happening slowly (total spending at quick- and full-service restaurants is up 7% compared to 2019, according to Rewards Network) these hospitality businesses are still challenged to drive sales and adhere to any lingering restrictions, both regulated by local governments and strongly encouraged by local customers. 

To address these restrictions, create unique experiences that attract new customers, and help stand out from other local businesses, sports bars and restaurants are leveraging AudioFetch’s next-generation audio over WiFi technology. 

AudioFetch provides an innovative and safe way for customers to listen to muted TVs in the bar. The sports bar sound system allows bar owners to broadcast audio from any and all muted TVs to their customers’ smartphones. Customers can then listen through the free AudioFetch app from anywhere in the bar or restaurant, on the patio, in the parking lot, or even the restroom (hey, some folks don’t want to miss a second of the game!). 

Meeting regulations and creating a safer environment

Staying up-to-date on the constantly changing rules and regulations has certainly been a challenge. They can flip-flop seemingly overnight and restaurants have had to remain agile to ensure they adhere. Not to mention the wavering fears and comfort levels of customers, which can swing widely by the week and result in disruptions and lost revenue as businesses try to adapt.

AudioFetch has evolved with sports bars as they moved from outdoor-only seating and parking lot “tailgate parties” last spring and summer, to half capacity with at least six feet of space between tables over the winter, to full capacity with no-standing-at-the-bar rules over the past few months. The audio streaming technology allows customers to maintain the proper distance between people and tables without needing to blast the TV volume. 

So no matter what the current regulations are, even when they finally get to that “normal” we all keep dreaming about, AudioFetch supports the needs of both the business and its customers.

Airing multiple games for diverse audiences

It’s rare for a sports bar to air the same game on all of their screens. Oftentimes it’s a few different games all taking place at the same time, and for the larger establishments, it might even be several different sports or events throughout the building. To appeal to the widest audience and create a welcoming environment for everyone, even the non-sports fans, all of the TVs must be muted.

Some sports bars provide tabletop speakers so separate tables can tune in to a single TV. This solution is okay when your building has the right acoustics and your customers are on the friendlier, more considerate side. Yet, even in these situations, it can become very loud with competing audio on a table-by-table basis.

AudioFetch provides a more accommodating solution. Each individual sports fan selects the game/TV they want to hear and listens through their own smartphone and headphones. So even if a single table is divided on which game/TV to watch, they have options to make the experience their own or flip around to different channels as desired.

Note: AudioFetch can also be used with tabletop speakers if that’s the preferred method for the business. Simply connect a single phone to the speaker via Bluetooth, use an attachable sound amplifier, or even place the phone in a glass or bowl to increase the volume for the entire table. 

Two innovative sports bars get in on the audio streaming action 

Canadian Brewhouse - AudioFetch Audio Over WiFi
Image Source: The Canadian Brewhouse Facebook Page

The Canadian Brewhouse is piloting the installation of AudioFetch at their Edmonton location to allow customers to hear the various games and live broadcasts. The Canadian Brewhouse has 40 locations across Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan, opening four new locations in 2021. 

As the Consumer Choice for Best Sports Bar and Best Pub the last five consecutive years, The Canadian Brewhouse prides itself on creating an exciting customer experience, and we know that AudioFetch will be another element that contributes to their high-quality environment and stellar customer satisfaction. We look forward to working with The CBH to bring game day entertainment to all of their locations and customers. 

Glory Days Grill - AudioFetch Audio Over WiFi
Image Source: Glory Days Grill Website

Glory Days Grill, a sports-themed family-friendly American grill and bar, is also launching AudioFetch at a single location, with plans to roll out to more locations in the future. Glory Days Grill also has 40 locations spread throughout Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.

Since their first opening in 1996, Glory Days’ goal was to be a neighborhood gathering place that brought friends and family together for award-winning food and entertainment that appeals to all ages. With hundreds of local and national “Best” awards and recognitions and the drive to bring new features and services like AudioFetch to their customers, it’s clear to see they’ve not only achieved this goal but plan to exceed it tenfold! 

AudioFetch is becoming an integral part of sports bars’ COVID recovery plan. If you’d like to learn more about the wireless audio streaming solution and how it can benefit your hospitality business, connect with us today. Give us a call at 1-844-443-3824, drop us a line, or schedule an appointment.

AudioFetch Blog Header - Social Distance Tour

6 Types of Social Distancing Tours

By | Tour Guides, Travel | No Comments

After being locked indoors for several months, staring at screens for entertainment, people are itching to get out of the house and experience something in real life. Yet, travelers are still concerned about their health and safety. While some people are venturing out in wider areas, they remain cautious of the places they’re visiting and the people they’re interacting with. 

To help assuage travelers’ safety concerns and provide the necessary precautions, travel and tourism brands are leveraging our AudioFetch wireless audio streaming technology. 

AudioFetch helps create extra space for social distancing by allowing attendees to hear the guide via their smartphone, rather than crowding around in a group. And since they’re using their own smartphone, not a device provided to them by the tour, it limits the number of surfaces that individuals come into contact with (and limits the items the tour company has to sanitize after each tour!). 

Since lockdown restrictions began lifting earlier this summer, we’ve worked with numerous travel and tourism brands to help them create social distance tours. Some of the unique uses we’ve found are:

Factory Tours

Whether they’re for educational, entertainment or inspection purposes, factory tours can be made safer and more enjoyable with a wireless tour guide system. Not only does the system eliminate the need to provide devices that must be sanitized, it allows all attendees to remain six feet apart and still hear the tour guide. 

City Tours

Even traveling down the street can seem like a major adventure these days. And that’s why local city tours have been a hot trend this summer. Tours Accolde is using AudioFetch to provide guided walking tours in Quebec City and Lévis, Canada, showing off the local history, architecture, culture and lifestyle. 

Brewery Tours

This is a big one in our home state of Colorado! Breweries big and small run tours of their facilities for a sneak peek into the machinery and processes required for a perfect pint. Just like factories, breweries can be loud places that make it difficult for tour guides to hear and be heard. Our technology allows anyone with a smartphone to hear, AND to maintain a safe social distance. 

Garden Tours

Outdoor destinations have been deemed a safer alternative to indoor destinations, and many travel spots are beefing up their outdoor garden tours to provide this option. Whether it’s botanic gardens that are limiting tours to only their outdoor attractions, or indoor tours that are making the typically overlooked garden portion the main event. 

Architecture Tours

New River Architecture offers waterway cruises using electric-powered boats to guide visitors through the architecture and landscape of Fort Lauderdale, the “Venice of America.” Using AudioFetch and the open air venue, New River Architecture will provide a safer alternative to indoor tours. 

College Campus Tours

Prospective students and freshmen are typically treated to a campus-wide tour of all the new facilities they can visit. These tours can still take place by using wireless tour guide technology that permits people to keep a safe distance, while still hearing the every word the tour guide says. 

If you have questions about how AudioFetch allows you to run tours more responsibly with our tour guide system app, people do not hesitate to contact us. We look forward to helping you get your tour business back up and running, and doing so in the safest way possible.

AudioFetch Blog Header - Fitness Centers Reopening

Audio Over WiFi Streaming Solutions for Fitness Center Reopenings

By | Fitness Centers | No Comments

As of June 30, 42 states and the District of Columbia have allowed fitness studios and gyms to begin reopening their doors. The rules and regulations vary widely by state, and in some cases even by county or city. 

As fitness centers and gyms begin to reopen, there are several safety precautions they must consider. IHRSA has provided numerous resources to help health and fitness clubs navigate the coronavirus outbreak and plan for reopenings now and in the future. 

Along with these great resources and tips provided by IHRSA, fitness centers can add an additional layer of safety by utilizing a wireless audio streaming solution to provide entertainment options. 

Instead of using entertainment screens attached to cardio machines or allowing anyone to control shared TVs or sound systems, members use their own smartphones to listen to TV audio or music throughout the club. This reduces the number of surfaces that members come into contact with at the club. It also limits the amount of equipment that must be disinfected by your staff throughout the day. 

Our AudioFetch Signature is an ideal solution for fitness centers. It provides fast, efficient audio processing for 4 to 512 inputs and allows 250+ listeners to stream gym TV audio to their smartphones. It’s simple to install and even simpler for members to use:

  • Easily integrates with your existing WiFi
  • Can be mounted behind TVs, in an AV rack, or in the ceiling, reducing messy wiring
  • Comes with free marketing collateral with download QR code and instructions, eliminating the need for face-to-face discussions between staff and members
  • No monthly fees, so your members can continue to enjoy audio streaming services when restrictions are fully lifted in the months to come

If you’re interested in learning more about how AudioFetch can help your gym or fitness club prepare to reopen, and create a safer space for members and staff, contact us today.

AudioFetch Blog Header - Summer Listening

8 Summer Listening Ideas for Businesses Using Wireless Audio Streaming

By | Business, Churches, Dining, Fitness Centers, Music, Restaurants, Sports Bars, Tour Guides, Travel | No Comments

Summer is finally here! And while it may not be the one you were anticipating for your business, there are still plenty of ways to help your customers and guests enjoy the sun and the company of friends and family, and grow your business. 

Following are 8 ideas for providing summer listening entertainment for your customers:

1. Drive-In Movies

Drive-ins are making a come-back in a big way! Whether it’s your traditional drive-in movie theater with a gigantic stationary screen and set parking spaces or a mobile movie night in your parking lot or a nearby park, drive-ins are allowing the community to come together in a responsible way and allowing businesses to generate some revenue and some goodwill.

We’ve been working with all types of businesses to offer drive-in services over the past few months. Like Vanderwende Farm Creamery in Bridgeville, Delaware. Vanderwende is a family-owned and -operated dairy farm and creamery. They’ve started hosting drive-ins at their farm to create a fun and responsible event for the community, and to share their love of ice cream. We’re predicting movie + ice cream as the hot new trend this summer (or maybe just hoping!). 

2. Bar & Restaurant Patios

Who wants to eat indoors in the summer anyway?! Patio beers are really what summer is all about! 

Many bars and restaurants are beginning to reopen for dine-in services across the globe, and they’re getting creative with setting up outdoor spaces to promote safe social distances. 

With our audio over wifi streaming technology, you can provide entertainment options to patrons seated on the patio or anywhere throughout the restaurant. Another option is to install personal viewing TV monitors at each table for easier and safer entertainment options for individual parties. 

3. Outdoor Church Services

Churches were forced to adopt drive-in services over the past few months, but many are finding their members like being outdoors to enjoy the sun and warm weather. Even now that some services can resume indoors, it can be a fresh and fun option to continue hosting parking lot services or even a picnic service on a grassy expanse or nearby park. 

Our FM Transmitter makes broadcasting church services painless to anyone in their cars with a radio handy. For a more tech-savvy solution, AudioFetch allows you to broadcast those same services to your members’ smartphones or tablets, and is also ideal for assistive listening and translation services whether indoors or out! 

4. Music Festivals

Sadly, Lollapalooza and many other large music festivals have been cancelled this summer. Yet, some smaller and more localized festivals are still able to move forward. With a variety of safety precautions, of course.

A key safety precaution that music festivals can leverage is allowing attendees to stream the music through their smartphones. Attendees won’t have to squeeze in around the stage or even be in sight of the speakers to hear the music. They can maintain the appropriate distance from each other, and still get the music experience. 

6. Zoos

With acres and acres of outdoors spaces, zoos can be a safer option for an entertaining and educational outing this summer. To further reduce the amount of contact that guests have with staff, wireless audio streaming technology can be employed. 

Guests can listen in on their smartphones or tablets to hear from a zoo guide as they move through the facility together, or they can tune in at specific exhibits to learn more about the animal and plant life found in these areas. 

7. Tour Groups

As tours begin to resume across various destinations and activities, it’s imperative that tour groups are provided with safety precautions to ensure they’re maintaining social distancing while still being able to enjoy the tour experience. 

With a wireless tour guide system, all participants can maintain the appropriate six feet distance from each other and still hear every word the guide is saying. 

8. Outdoor Fitness Classes

Most gyms and fitness centers are still closed, yet it’s still possible to offer classes in parks or other outdoors spaces. Using our FetchExpress portable audio streaming device, instructors can guide and motivate attendees while running drills up a hill, doing squats in a safely-spaced group, or quietly meditating under trees.   

It won’t be the summer any of us expected, but it can still be a lot of fun! If you’d like to learn more about how you can create fun and safer events for your customers with wireless audio streaming, contact us today. 

Man with Headphones Watching TV in Sports Bar - Audio Over WiFi Streaming

How to Provide Social Distance Entertainment Options As Restaurants Reopen

By | Restaurants, Sports Bars | No Comments

After weeks, and in some cases even months, of takeout- and delivery-only services, restaurants and bars across the country are beginning to reopen for dine-in services. As of today, 39 states have allowed restaurants to reopen for dine-in or are starting to make plans to reopen soon. 

Each state has set their own guidelines for adhering to social-distancing measures and protecting staff and customers, and the guidelines are different for bars and restaurants. 

For example, Texas restaurants and bars are permitted 25% capacity indoors with no limits for outdoor seating. In California, the decision to reopen restaurants is up to each county, and only bars that serve food will be allowed to reopen. And in our home state of Colorado, capacity at restaurants is limited to 50%, tables must be six feet apart and there is an eight-person party limit; bars remain closed for dine-in service.

Customers are of course eager for dining options that don’t originate in their own kitchens, but they’re also looking for the other things that restaurants and bars provide–the less tangible things like environment, community, connection and entertainment. 

They want these additional perks, but not at the risk of their health or safety. Customers must know there are options for enjoying a social experience while maintaining responsible social distancing.  

Our restaurant and sports bar entertainment solutions allow you to serve both of these needs for customers. We offer two key solutions for restaurants and bars:

Local Audio Over WiFi Streaming Solutions

AudioFetch Signature - AudioFetch Audio Over WiFi

Our AudioFetch local wireless audio streaming technology allows you to broadcast audio from muted TVs to your customers’ smartphones and tablets. No need to gather around a single TV to hear the audio, or even have tables grouped nearby. 

Customers can hear the TV audio anywhere in the restaurant or patio seating by using the free AudioFetch app. This allows everyone to maintain the required distance from others, while enjoying the entertainment, the food and drinks, and the community experience. 

Personal Viewing TV Monitors for Tables

Personal Viewing TV - AudioFetch Audio Over WiFi

We all remember this common scene at sports bars: groups of customers gathered around TV monitors, rooting on their favorite teams, high-fiving other customers, and clinking pint glasses. To protect staff and customers, this scene cannot happen anytime soon. 

However, you can provide entertainment and some semblance of that same comradery by allowing customers to watch TV with personal viewing TV monitors at each table. Through our partner company Broadcastvision, we offer commercial-grade 19” HD widescreen LED TVs that can be placed on individual dining tables or mounted on the wall in a booth. Customers can select the channel of their choice, or you can choose certain programs to broadcast to all TVs throughout the bar or restaurant. 

We know, we know, there are no sporting events to watch right now, but might we suggest airing Jelle’s Marble Runs! It’s all the thrill and excitement of traditional sports, without the risks to players or crowds. 

If you’d like to learn more about how you can provide entertainment for your guests and maintain safer social-distancing practices, contact us today.

AudioFetch Blog Header - Socially Distant Tours

How to Run Socially-Distant Tours with AudioFetch

By | Tour Guides, Travel | No Comments

Every industry has taken a major hit over the past two months, and that’s especially true for travel and tourism. With shelter in place orders across the globe, tours were brought to a standstill with few, if any, options for driving revenue. 

Now, as quarantine orders are being lifted, tour companies are eager to resume their unique tour experiences and begin generating revenue again. Yet, there are precautions they must now take to ensure the safety of both the tour group members and their staff. 

Requiring everyone to wear masks is a prerequisite. Limiting the number of people in any single tour group is wise. Modifying tour sites and attractions to avoid crowded areas should be considered. But how can people hear the tour guide when everyone must stand at least six feet away? 

Our AudioFetch technology is the perfect solution! Using our FetchExpress portable audio streaming device, tour guides can broadcast their voice to anyone within 300 feet in any direction. This allows for ample distance between tour group attendees, and provides your business with a responsible and marketable advantage. 

How Does AudioFetch Make Tours Safer

Our FetchExpress solution is lightweight, portable and has built-in Wi-Fi, turning the tour guide into a walking hotspot for listeners. Installing and using FetchExpress is incredibly simple, and requires just a few steps:

  1. Install FetchExpress – Turn on the FetchExpress and plug in the microphone. Seriously, it’s that easy!
  2. Download AudioFetch App – Tour members download the free AudioFetch App to their smartphone or tablet, connect to the FetchExpress Wi-Fi network, and launch the app.
  3. Ensure a Safe Distance – Make sure the tour guide and members are standing at least six feet apart and maintain this distance if it’s a walking tour or there’s any movement required during the tour. 
  4. Start the Tour – The tour guide speaks into the microphone and members listen via the app. 

For more stationary tours, or so that entire families can hear together, a bluetooth speaker can be paired with the phone or tablet to extend the audio. 

We also include a free wireless tour guide accessories kit with each purchase, freeing up the tour guide’s hands to point out important sights and ensuring they don’t run out of juice on longer tours. The accessories kit includes a hip pack, a headset microphone, a USB battery, and a battery charger cable. 

As the travel and tour industry begins to reopen, it’s important to take the necessary precautions to protect everyone involved. It’s also important that potential customers know about the measures you’re taking, and feel confident that their health and safety will not be jeopardized during their experience with your tour business.

If you have questions about how AudioFetch allows you to run tours more responsibly with our tour guide system app and WiFi audio stream, do not hesitate to contact us. We look forward to helping you get your tour business back up and running, and doing so in the safest way possible.