Service really matters in the hotel sector. Good reviews, word of mouth, repeat custom – all of these depend on service. And while guest service is down to your team and culture, the way you communicate is key.
Your phone system can make all the difference here. If it’s not up to scratch, great service is an uphill struggle. Calls won’t get through to the right place – or will be stuck on hold for an age. Internal communication will suffer too. All those everyday housekeeping tasks need to be communicated one way or another. Your phone system is absolutely central to all this.
Here at Ericsson-LG Enterprise, our partners are veterans of the communications in hospitality industry. We’ve supplied scores of hotels, B&Bs and guest houses with PBXs and cloud phone systems, making their work more efficient. Now let’s look at some of the features that could benefit your hotel.
Make calls more efficient with analytics
There will often be times when your staff are handling a high volume of calls, and customers may have to wait before their call is answered. You’ll likely want to look at reducing those waiting times, to keep callers happy and prevent them from hanging up.
Call analytics is a great service for this. Analytics will give you automated insights into customer calling habits. Our service offers scheduled reports, as well as real-time stats. You can customize these to measure the KPIs that matter to you. This might be anything from call lengths to waiting times to your busiest periods.
In turn, these insights allow you to manage resources better. You can adjust your staffing levels and call availability to cover demand, for example. Or you could offer more training to team members whose calls are too long. These means less waiting and better service! We offer an outstanding call analytics package with both our cloud and on-premises business phone systems.
Integration with your hotel management system
Did you know we can integrate your hotel management system with your phone system? This unlock a host of great features that really boost your service.
Your guest will be able to notify the front desk using their room phone instead of making the journey in person. This means streamlining services such as checking in and out, room status, wake-up calls and do not disturb. These calls will also be recorded into your hotel management system. In turn, those recordings give you vital records in case of complaints, as well as allowing quality assurance of your team.
From your hotel desk, you can activate and deactivate a room extension simply by pressing one key on your central phone and entering the room number. You can also set up your system to print an itemized bill on check-out and to display the status of the room to the staff at your front desk. This slick and easy system saves time for both parties and gives your hotel the facilities to bring your service standards even higher.
Your Front Desk Team will benefit from the Front of House System integration, as they will be able to answer Guests by name as the name will be displayed on the Front Desk team’s handset. Ericsson-LG Enterprise Solution integrate with the leading PMS systems for the global market including Micros Fidelio, Opera, Hotsoft and Guestline amongst others.
Proper call routing
Another big consideration is how you route calls. Whenever anyone calls, you really want to make sure they end up in the right place first time. We can easily set this up, however many extensions you need.
We can also make it easy to navigate. With an IVR or auto-attendant, callers can easily find the right place. This isn’t just for outside callers, but for guests. When a guest picks up their room handset, these features allow them to easily navigate to their required destination, such as the help desk or room service.
Provide a personalised customer experience
Increasing customer loyalty is a key focus for many hotels. Looking after your existing customers and maintaining professional standards across all touch points can be done in many ways. It’s a good idea to have this approach with your communications.
Did you know that you can integrate your hotel management system or CRM database with your phone system? With these integrations, every time a customer calls your hotel, their relevant details will appear on-screen. This means that your staff will know exactly who is calling and all of their staying history when they pick up the phone. Not only does this looks professional, but it also allows your staff to offer the caller relevant promotions and be aware of any notes from previous stays.
Do some of your departments work from their mobiles? Having customer databases integrated into a business mobile allows you to see customer records wherever you are in the building, offering the very best customer service at all times.
The right phone system for your hotel
Choosing a communication solution needs to be the right choice for your hotel and your team. You’ll want to look at reducing costs, system complexity and choosing an option that will last you for years to come.
Ericsson-LG Enterprise partners have a wealth of experience in helping businesses across the world, upgrading their phone systems, tailored to fit their specific business model. If you’re looking to modernize your hotel’s phone system, get in touch today and speak to your nearest Ericsson-LG Enterprise Global Partner.
