Leveraging Hosted PBX for Modern Hotel Communications
Hotel communications have evolved rapidly, with guests and staff relying on a mix of mobile devices, voice calls, texting, conferencing and more. Supporting seamless guest and employee connectivity requires hotel phone systems to be mobile, flexible and packed with advanced capabilities. For many hotels, a hosted cloud PBX phone system delivers the ideal foundation for modern communications.
JetHotelSolutions looks at key benefits of hosted VoIP solutions for hotels, features that enhance staff productivity and guest services, and what to consider when selecting a provider.
| Limitations of Legacy Phone Systems | Benefits of Hosted Cloud PBX Solutions |
|---|---|
| Static – Hardwired phones restrict staff from roaming across the property with continuous access to telephony features. 📌 | Mobility – Extensions and features are available on any device, anywhere with an internet connection. Staff can be constantly connected. 📱 |
| Costly – Upfront CAPEX and ongoing maintenance is expensive, especially for larger or multi-property hotels. 💸 | Lower costs – As a cloud service, capital spending on hardware is minimal to none. Scaling up or down is software-driven, not hardware-based. 💰 |
| Inflexible – Adding or changing extensions and features often requires expensive technician visits and hardware changes. 🔧 | Agility – Users and configurations can be added, changed, or removed remotely without technicians. Enables self-service administration. 💻 |
| Dated capabilities – Older PBX systems lack the mobility, self-service administration, call recording, IVR, and advanced features users expect. 📅 | Future-proof – Automatic updates provide continuous access to the latest features. New capabilities can be switched on remotely. 🔥 |
| No resilience – If an on-premise system goes down, communications are disrupted until it can be repaired. 😱 | Reliability – Cloud infrastructure has built-in redundancy. If the hotel internet goes down, phones reconnect through the cellular network. 📷 |
| No scalability – Expanding or reducing capacity requires expensive hardware investments and forklift upgrades. 💸 | Scalability – Capacity can be adjusted up or down in real-time based on seasonal demand. No need to pay for idle capacity during slow periods. 📢 |
Maximizing Hotel Staff Productivity
Hotel staff handle a high volume of guest interactions and requests across phone, mobile and face-to-face channels. Hosted VoIP phone services include many built-in capabilities to optimize communications and collaboration:
- Auto attendants – Professionally greet callers and intuitively route them to the right department, such as front desk, restaurant reservations or catering.
- Ring/hunt groups – Ensure guest calls are efficiently distributed to available staff rather than going to voicemail.
- Voicemail to email – Message notifications are instantly accessible rather than having to dial in to an inbox. Transcription can enable reading rather than listening.
- Presence/chat – Real-time status helps identify who is available to assist guests. Chat further accelerates internal communications.
- Common or custom extensions – Enjoy one business number across all devices. Define separate numbers for specific functions.
- Call monitoring – Discreetly observe live calls to improve customer service consistency and assist agents during interactions.
- Call analytics – Interactive dashboards reveal insights like peak calling times, abandoned call rates and productivity by staff.
- Integrations – Connect software like PMS, CRM and payroll systems for streamlined data flows and processes.
Enhancing the Guest Experience
Beyond optimizing operations, hosted VoIP enables delivering differentiated guest experiences through:
Remote/home workers – Guest-facing staff like sales can be located anywhere while seamlessly handling calls under the hotel’s identity.
Local presence – Virtual numbers provide a local business identity across markets where properties are located.
Intelligent call routing – Data-driven rules automatically route calls based on current conditions, expected handle times and agent skills.
Post-stay surveys – Continue the service relationship and gain feedback through automated outbound calls after checkout.
Context preservation – Retrieve guest profiles automatically based on caller ID for personalized, seamless service.
Flexible interactive voice response (IVR) – Tailor auto attendants to match brand identity and guide callers to the appropriate option.
In-house integration – Connect restaurant and spa extensions directly into the hotel PBX for simplified, consistent guest access.
VIP differentiation – Define unique rings, routing rules, hold music or other capabilities to wow top guests.
Choosing the Optimal Cloud PBX Provider
The capabilities of hosted VoIP systems vary greatly depending on the provider and platform. Hotels should look for:
- Proven hotel expertise – Prioritizing hospitality needs out of the box versus generic solutions requiring heavy customization.
- Scalability – Solutions that flex from small boutiques to large chains with thousands of rooms and users.
- Reliable SLAs – Financially-backed uptime commitments that guarantee reliability.
- Mobility – Support for hotel-optimized mobile apps that extend system features to smartphones.
- Security – Solutions that are PCI, HIPAA and GDPR compliant to protect sensitive guest information.
- Customer ownership – Ability to retain phone numbers to maintain brand consistency even when switching providers.
- Global support – For hotel chains, availability of fully-unified solutions across regions and countries.
- Financial stability – Established providers with reputations for delivering robust, long-lasting services.
By migrating to a modern hosted cloud PBX platform, hotels gain the mobility, seamless guest experiences and administrative flexibility needed to communicate effectively in the digital age.