An IP PBX is also known as the VoIP phone system and hosted PBX. It is the next generation of traditional Private Branch Exchange (landline-based) phone systems.
The IP PBX uses digital phone signals, eliminating the need to use the old-school phone lines and hardware. It can also be integrated with the hotel’s Wi-Fi system.
Even in this era of 5G smartphones, some guests prefer using telephone systems in their hotel room. Thus, hotels do need to spend a fortune on these lines that are connected to all the rooms. Thankfully, VoIP technology has helped in radically transforming the system and controlling costs. Customizable pricing models and easy scalability make a hosted PBX system perfect for a hotel with hundreds of rooms or a resort with a few high-end vacation units. Here’s how IP PBX still proves value for money.
Tech support
Back in the 90s, problems in the physical phone lines always caused several hours of downtime. It resulted in missed reservations and unhappy guests due to non-working phones in rooms. Detecting faults and repairing such lines was a task that required several hours back then. Keeping these lines up and running is equally significant for the hospitality industry today. However, modern systems have made things easy for the industry.
Landline phone companies are nowhere in the picture. Troubleshooting a cloud-based PBX solution takes just minutes. Hotels do not even need to hire IT-staff for these tasks. The vendor partner helps in troubleshooting and getting the system up and running.
Monitoring room service calls
IP PBX software allows hotel administrators to monitor incoming and outgoing calls. Hotels won’t need a dedicated team to track and monitor calls as the system is user-friendly. Anyone with basic knowledge about computers can open the software, pick and listen to random calls, and give feedback to associates and room service staff to improve the guest experience.
Administrators can use the supervisor dashboard (UI interface) or mobile application to monitor call flow. Detailed stats like average call hold time, average call handling time, total room service calls, reservation, or complaints related requests can also be checked using the dashboard.
Auto-attendant for routing calls to the right department
Hotel customer service or receptionist may not be available to answer calls at all times. Plus, calls may also remain in a queue for several minutes due to high request volume. In such situations, a hosted Private Branch Exchange system’s auto-attendant feature can be programmed to answer multiple calls and connect them to the right department, depending on the associates’ availability. The feature helps in reducing missed communication as well as voice mails. It makes sure someone attends all the calls.
Call routing across various locations
Hosted Private Branch Exchange solution can integrate the entire hotel chain’s phone system. Thus, a customer’s call can be routed to associates at the nearest location for resolution if the first branch does not answer it. Internal communication becomes cost-effective and straightforward as calls can be transferred between multiple sites with ease.
Cloud-based phone systems require a lesser upfront cost
There’s a lot of hardware involved in the functioning of a traditional telephone system. It requires regular maintenance and timely upgrades. The equipment becomes obsolete after a few years of use as the technology continually keeps on upgrading.
On the other hand, hotels that use cloud-based telephone software only need to pay the quarterly, yearly service package cost. There’s no need to allot and spend hundreds of dollars on the physical infrastructure like the old days. The savings can be utilized towards other measures.
Hotels can also integrate their existing IP conference phones, cordless phones and IP desk phones with the LAN network system. Administrators can easily deactivate lines for rooms that remain vacant. Roughly, 10 Mbps of asynchronous network bandwidth is required for 100 lines of active calls.
As the hotel grows, it may require additional lines at the new premises. Adding more lines is simple with a cloud-based telephone system. All the numbers appear separate in the digital directory. As there is no need to install new physical wires, the amount of time and investment required to add new rooms is also less.
Billing based on call volume and usage
Admin team can log in to the dashboard, enter the IP MAC address, and assign the device to a room number. When the guest checks-in, the phone and extension number can be automatically assigned to the person.
Most of the hospitality industry players follow a standard practice of charging guests as per their call usage. With the help of hosted PBX software, hotels can offer calls at discounted rates to selected guests throughout their stay.
Are you looking for enterprise-level multi-tenant IP PBX Software? If so, you should surely discuss your needs with experts at HoduSoft.