SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY : ECI Turnaround Based on New Hotel Computer System

ECI Computer Inc. in Santa Ana, a former hotel subsidiary of EECO Inc. bought by a Hong Kong investor-led group in December, is betting its turnaround on a new hotel computer system based on the Unix operating system, which is popular in multiple-computer environments.

Jon Hanson, vice president of marketing and sales for the company, said Monday that the system was in development for three years and began testing last summer.

Hanson said the system is distinctive because it is compatible with the Open Systems architecture that the computer industry has developed to allow software made by different manufacturers to run on a single operating system.

The software and hardware package--used to manage hotel functions, from adjusting room rates to calculating bills--was tested at the Sheraton Sand Key hotel in Miami, Hanson said.

He said that ECI has already won a contract worth $65 million to the company and to the computer manufacturer under subcontract to build the hardware. He declined to identify the firm.

“I think this product is a big part of the turnaround, which is based on rebuilding the company around a line of new products,” Hanson said.

The company has 103 employees and may hire 50 more as a result of the contract, he said. ECI bought EECO’s hotel computer business in bankruptcy proceedings last December.