According to Schumacher, many users are matching names in less than a second or in real time. That's something Choice's Thompson is looking forward to by upgrading to Version 6.1. "We needed speed, speed, speed," he said.

Besides upgrading Identity Hub, Choice is rolling out a replacement for Profit Manager -- another software application it built in-house, called ChoiceAdvantage. Using a lightweight client software that connects to Identity Hub and the data warehouse, ChoiceAdvantage will be more powerful and much cheaper for the company's franchisees compared with Profit Manager, said Choice's Thompson. He expects ChoiceAdvantage to be in all of the North American hotels within several years.

"It will put us ahead of our competitors," he said.