After years of being an also-ran, VoIP has positioned itself as an industry leader, providing businesses with a new way of communicating. Hotels that have already made the switch has discovered the great benefits that VoIP offers, and that's why more hotel owners and managers are taking the plunge than ever before.
If your hotel hasn't made the switch yet, then perhaps now is the time to learn what it can do for your employees and guests. We've previously covered benefits like a lower monthly cost and improved quality but here are five unique benefits that you'll reap once you make VoIP a part of your facility:
Less Stress
It is a simple fact that a stressed employee is not a productive employee. Although some amount of stress is due to circumstances outside your hotel that you can't fully tackle, coming into a stressful environment only makes matters worse. VoIP helps cut down on an employee's stress by providing tools that make their jobs easier. For example, VoIP features automated call distribution, which means that calls will be directed to the right area of the hotel, cutting down on an overload of incoming calls. Perhaps the greatest stress reliever, though, is the ability to use phones remotely, which allows an employee to service a customer away from his or her desk without being worried about a guest not being able to communicate over the phone when something is needed.
Better Customer Service
When a guest calls in for a reservation or needs service from the front desk, the last thing they want is to not have the call answered or have to wait too long. Either of these events will create a negative impression of your hotel, and may very well cost you a valued customer. VoIP helps alleviate that in similar ways that it reduces stress to your employees -- by allowing for better flexibility to ensure that employees will get your call right away every time and by delivering a guest's call to the appropriate staff member with being forwarded from department to department.
Minimal Updating Costs
Traditional phone systems must be replaced from time to time due to old or outdated equipment. When this happens, your hotel must incur the expense of a full removal of the old equipment and the installation of new equipment. These infrastructure costs aren't nearly as big a factor when your hotel uses VoIP. Changes and upgrades with a VoIP system can be made on a piecemeal basis, even as new technology is developed that make the system more efficient or technologically advanced. And because the network works through the Internet, there's no expensive hardware to be updated or replaced, so even those costs are minimal.
Telecommuting Options
This benefit won't be for every hotel owner, but for those who want to think a little outside the box, it could be the perfect solution to ensuring the best customer service for your guests at all times. VoIP allows your hotel to more easily set up employees who wish to work out of their homes. This allows off-site personnel to interact with guests over the phone for reservations, wake-up calls, and various tasks while your on-site staff can handle matters that require a more physical solution or interaction.
Upgrading your hotel's phone system to VoIP comes with a lot of benefits, and the ones listed above only scratch the surface of what's possible. To learn more, contact the professionals at PhoneSuite and we'll get you started on your upgrade today.
