Mr. John Piescik

In this week's Hotel Business Review article, I address a major trend in hotel telephony towards VoIP. While some major hotels have been hesitant to let go of their telephony revenue by migrating to a cheaper VoIP system, many smaller hotels are leading by example and showing how switching could reduce costs and give their hotel an advantage over the competition.

Life’s never been easy for the little guy. This is especially true for boutique hotels. While they sometimes win on charm and personalized service, they are often eclipsed by bigger players when it comes to the technology amenities they offer prospective bookers. It’s tough to keep pace with larger budgets, but should these little guys ignore the advantages of technology investment? A joint study by New York University and PhocusWright finds that most organizations do so in order to improve their competitive position (85%), while 76% do so as a means of controlling costs and increasing customer satisfaction.

When fighting to get noticed is challenging enough, optimizing technology is usually furthest from the mind of a small hotel operator. However, what if that technology optimization can help you cut costs and provide you with a unique competitive advantage? It may just be motivation enough to give new technology a shot.

That’s what one small hotel in Bretagne, France, did when they opted to replace their existing telecommunications infrastructure with a VoIP-based (voice over Internet) phone system. The result was a lower overall cost for the hotel and a unique perk for guests, who could now make unlimited domestic and international calls from their rooms without being charged the exorbitant rates normally incurred by hotels.

It may not be easy for hotels to embrace change, but why fight to tide? With new technology, comes new opportunity and smart hotels are taking advantage of these technologies to offer something new to their guests. In some cases, it could mean the difference between getting someone to stay at your hotel or not.

I hope you benefit from reading Using SIP Calling to Lower Telecom Costs

Cordially,

John Piescik
Chief Operating Officer
eStara, Inc.

john@estara.com