Every industry faces disruption from technological advances, and the hotel and hospitality industry is no exception. With the rapid adoption of smartphones, the need for more app-based services has become clear. There are services that offer hotel rooms by the hour and offer short-term booking to help the business traveler. With the range of service offerings expanding, hotels and those in the hospitality industry need to stay on the leading edge of communications technology to continue to offer top quality customer service. Hosted PBX systems are one solution that can help integrate lots of features into a single, cloud-based communications platform.

Automate Call Monitoring

Automated monitoring for all incoming and outgoing phone calls helps save hotels money and improve performance. With the right hosted PBX partner, hotel management can minimize monitoring staff that listen in on random calls and still get the benefit of feedback and call logging to help improve guest experiences.

Add an Auto-Attendant

A receptionist routes calls and provides information, but they are expensive to have at the desk all of the time. Plus, no single person can handle a sudden call surge, but an automated attendant can. An auto-attendant always answers the phone and arranges to transfer calls to someone in the right department who is available. That reduces the number of voicemails and missed communication opportunities by making sure calls go to someone who can answer the phone.

Call Routing Across Locations

Hosted PBX systems integrate the entire company into a single call directory. That allows for internal transfers between locations. If a hotel doesn’t have a vacancy at one location, the front desk can instantly transfer the request to the nearest partner location. Any person calling one hotel location gets instant access to the entire communication stack, reducing the hassle of trying to find direct numbers.

Disaster Recovery Services

Accidents happen. Systems fail and data loss can be a major challenge. With hosted PBX, automated system backup can dramatically reduce the amount of data loss that occurs due to a disaster.

Reliable Calling Features

With a hosted PBX, hotels get all of the features typical from traditional telecom installations and added reliability. As long as internet service remains available, so will communications technologies.

Scalable Services

As a company grows, it needs to add additional phone lines. An extra location can mean hundreds of new lines, which takes a big investment of time, money and resources using a traditional telecom system. Plus, the new system won’t integrate seamlessly with the existing phone system, so all the numbers are separate on the directory. With a hosted PBX system, companies can add more lines as needed. Hotels can even have a set number of lines set aside for guests that activate when a room is listed as in use versus vacant.

Property Management System (PMS) Integration

Hotels run with a good property management system (PMS) to track reservations, check-in and check out. A PMS can also coordinate cleaning efforts, prioritize room service requests and much more. By integrating an existing PMS with a hosted PBX, hotels can put all of their communications technology into a single stack, streamlining most operations. This reduces manpower requirements and offers guests a more seamless stay.

Customized Pricing for Phone Services Offered to Guests

Charging customers for telecommunications technology is fairly standard practice in the hospitality industry. Locations that host business events or conventions might even offer disposable cell phones specifically for use during a guest’s stay. Using a hosted PBX system, hotels can change pricing on guest telecommunications services based on volume and usage. This allows larger customers to enjoy discounts that keep them coming back year after year.

Reduced Upfront Cost

The cost to install a traditional telecom system is not insignificant. Also, because these systems depend on hardware for their operation, they require regular maintenance and upgrades to avoid obsolescence. With a cloud-based, hosted PBX system, hotels only pay for the routine service package and avoid the large, upfront investment on physical infrastructure. This saves space that can be utilized for operations and money in both the short and long-term.

Third-Party Tech Support

Keeping the phones up and running is crucial in the hospitality industry. Down lines can mean missed reservations and unhappy guests. When a physical phone line goes down it can take days for repairs to finish. With a hosted PBX solution, hotels are often up and running again in minutes, without the expense of retaining in-house IT staff. Instead, the provider partner handles issues as they arise, and a good provider should be able to offer guarantees about uptime after a system crash.

Moving telecommunications to the cloud offers benefits to many industries, including hospitality. Whether a location is just a few, high-end vacation units or hundreds of hotel rooms, a cloud-based, hosted PBX system has something to offer. Just offloading the tech support is a major bonus, even before thinking about all of the added benefits from easy scalability and customizable pricing models. Save time, money and manpower with a hosted PBX system–and avoid the issue of obsolescence a few years down the road.