Technology is constantly changing and if you want your hotel to succeed in 2015, it's imperative that you keep up with the trends in a variety of areas. One such area is Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) – both for IP-PBX and SIP Trunking. The popularity of VoIP has grown substantially in the last several years and the rise will no doubt continue.
VoIP will have its own trends in 2015 that you should be aware of as a hotel owner or manager, which can help your hotel from an economical standpoint, in addition to providing the level of technology innovation that your guests have learned to expect. To give you an idea of what you can expect in the future, here are three trends to watch out for this year:
Hosted PBXs Gaining in Popularity
When it comes to Hosted PBX, the writing is definitely on the wall. Hotels are beginning to see the advantages that Hosted PBX has over an On-Premise PBX system and they're using that knowledge to make the decision to switch to a Hosted solution. The biggest reason for this change in attitude is that an On-Premise PBX comes with maintenance and repair costs. You often need to employ someone who can handle any issues that might crop up, and someone who can constantly monitor the operation of the system. The use of this on-site person can be costly. With Hosted PBX, your provider handles the problems for your hotel through the cloud and monitors how the system is operating. Plus, you can enjoy quite a few features of a Hosted PBX setup. These reasons should cement Hosted PBX as a trend throughout 2015.
Improved Analytics
We've gotten to the point where nearly anything can be monitored, and VoIP is no exception. When competing for guests, it's important that your communications system is always operating at peak performance. Analytics in VoIP continue to improve and will provide you with an overall picture as to how well the system is handling the communications within your hotel. Jitter and latency, for example, can be analyzed to ensure that any problems are well within an acceptable range, and will give you the knowledge necessary to tackle such issues and make improvements. These analytics can also clue you in to a poor internet connection, an inadequate router, and other such issues that may be hindering your hotel's communications. Thanks to improvements in technology and the need for better analytics, we can expect this trend to continue throughout the year.
Mobile Integration
Although it may not be possible for every hotel, mobile integration with VoIP is on the rise. Desktop phones are increasingly finding their way from the desk to the storage closet. This is because some hotels (and other businesses) have migrated to the use of mobile devices as a replacement for the desk and, someday, room phone. In these situations, an employee's mobile device becomes the primary VoIP handset. This represents a big change in how business in a hotel is conducted, as it allows the employee to always remain connected. The employee can now feel unencumbered by the phone sitting at the desk, allowing them to perform other tasks while always being available to guests. With the increase in mobile device usage, there's no reason that this trend won't obtain more momentum in 2015. Hosted PBX providers are finally developing a similar solution that puts the guest room phone on the guest’s mobile device, and these too will begin to emerge in 2015.
2015 should prove to be an exciting year for VoIP, especially in hotels. Voice over Internet Protocol will provide your customers and employees with a solid communications system, and if you take advantage of the above trends, you could very well leave your competition in the dust.