As a hotelier, one of your core responsibilities is keeping up and implementing new technology that will service both your employees and customers. You don't necessarily need to understand all the ins and outs of emerging technology, but it's essential that you recognize upgrades when they're made available. Many hotel owners have recognized the benefits of VoIP and already made the switch, while many more are eyeing the technology with a watchful eye. Why are some hoteliers making the change? The common idea is that because VoIP is very often a cheaper solution, this is the primary reason for it. But that's not all VoIP has to offer, and that's especially true when it comes to Hosted VoIP in which your VoIP provider manages and monitors the system from afar.
In this two-part discussion, we'll be focusing on the benefits of upgrading your hotel communications to VoIP, aside from the monetary aspect. We'll kick things off with these two important ones:
Hosted VoIP Works for Every Size of Hotel
When you're a large corporation, whether you're in the hospitality industry or not, you really don't have to worry about something not being suitable for your business. Small and even medium-sized businesses, however, can sometimes be concerned with whether an upgrade will be too costly or even work in such a way that they would benefit from it.
The beauty of VoIP is that since it's Internet-based, it's perfect for any hotel, regardless of size. The same is true with Hosted VoIP. Your provider can manage and monitor your communications system from their own location for a reasonable fee, which can free you up from the need to have an in-house IT person or department, or keeping a person on-call for problems or emergencies that might crop up. And don't worry -- even if you are a very small hotel, providers like PhoneSuite have options available to fit your budgetary needs without forgoing quality.
Hosted VoIP Supports All Types of Telephony Environment
One of the reasons why some hotels have been reluctant to switch to a VoIP system is that they assume their current setup will not allow it. This is a common belief for those who have been in business for a while and have been using the same "old school" phone system for decades. The good news is that, except in rare cases, your current phone setup can be easily adapted to VoIP with little or no upgrades.
This is actually a selling point that many hotel owners don't even consider. They assume that an upgrade to VoIP means a complete upgrade in phones, network, phone lines, and other equipment, which could greatly cut into any savings that VoIP might offer them. The truth is, though, that VoIP's flexibility allows it to be integrated with a myriad of existing phone systems. You may need to tweak small things here and there in order to have enough bandwidth and whatnot, but if you want to keep your existing phones, for example, there are ways that your provider can make that happen. And, if somewhere down the line, you want to make additional upgrades to your equipment, you'll already be in a better position to make that happen.
The two benefits described above illustrate the flexibility that you'll find when dealing with Hosted VoIP. We'll be back next week with a few additional benefits, but if you'd like to get a jump-start on making the change to either VoIP or Hosted VoIP, contact PhoneSuite for a free consultation. Our professionals will explain to you why your hotel should make the switch and answer any questions you may have.
