Hotel & Motel Management - July 21, 2008 - (Page 24)

24 Technology TELEPHONES H&MM July 21, 2008 | HotelMotel.com www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition BY BRIAN ALBRIGHT, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Telephones meet tough standards Hotel telephones have to withstand abuse from guests and staff alike, so in-room phones not only have to be attractive and functional, they also have to be rugged. Luckily, telephones designed for the hospitality market are built to withstand a lot of punishment. INN-PHONE Cleaning tips Telephones, like any other feature of a hotel room, need to be cleaned regularly to prevent the build-up of ﬁngerprints and other residue—and no guest wants to put a dirty phone next to his or her face. Many properties, however, take the wrong approach to cleaning their telephones. Chemical cleaners often contain solvents that can break down the type of plastic used in the typical phone and can damage the electronics when it seeps through the openings in the unit. Most manufacturers recommend regularly wiping down the phones with a damp cloth. “You shouldn’t need to do anything beyond that,” Doug Zagha, president of Inn-Phone, said. “We sometimes get damaged phones back, and the customer will swear they just used water. When we open the phone up, often it’s ﬁlled with green or blue gunk. The cleaner has literally ﬁlled up the phone.” tech TALK Bittel USA was named a preferred vendor by Hilton Hotels. The company provides guestroom phones that feature the “No-Hook Hook Switch” and the “Handset Dial-Pad.” Rosen Shingle Creek, Orlando, Fla., underwent one of the largest IP-network implementations in the U.S. NxTV installed its service in the property’s 1,500 rooms to promote and schedule a variety of hotel services. Hyatt Hotels & Resorts launched “yatt’it,” an online travel community. Site content includes advice from Hyatt Gold Passport travelers as well as tips from Hyatt concierges in more than 40 destinations. The site’s partners include Frommers.com and FlightStats.com. “The telephones you can get at a regular retail outlet just do not stand up to the rigors of a hotel room,” said William Hazelton, marketing and communications manager at TeleMatrix. “Guests are not going to treat them with the kindness they show for their own phones at home.” Hoteliers should look for phones made of heavy, durable plastics with slip-resistant rubber feet to prevent tumbles off the desk or nightstand. Durable electronic components also help the telephone survive the wear and tear of the hospitality environment. “We’ve hardened our phones by making the external case out of a high-impact, industrial plastic,” said Dean Compoginis, v.p. of marketing at Teledex. “We drop-test the phone from 6 to 8 feet onto concrete, and they don’t break open.” Phones can last from ﬁve to 10 years or longer depending on the property and the environment. Most hotels, though, typically replace their phones during remodeling. Many hotels are turning to cordless phones, which offer convenience for guests and are designed to the same rugged speciﬁcations of their corded cousins. Improved battery technology has increased the lifespan of cordless phones greatly. When a hotel is ready to replace or upgrade its telephones, the old units must be disposed of responsibly. While most manufacturers have begun to remove harmful substances like lead from their products, tossing old phones in the dumpster is still inadvisable and possibly illegal in some jurisdictions. “As with any other electronic product, you have to dispose of them properly,” said Doug Zagha, president of Inn-Phone. In some cases, installers or distributors will take the old equipment. Some hotels also donate the old phones to charity, sell them to another property or even list them on eBay. Quotable VOIP still waiting in the wings deploying VOIP phones still is high. “Everyone wants VOIP, but most people don’t really understand what it means,” said Doug Zagha, president of Inn-Phone, adding Voice Over Internet that it will be four to ﬁve years Protocol (VOIP) telephone before the technology is technology, which provides common in guestrooms. voice and data service over T EL ED E X “Interest continues to grow, a single network, along with but not that quickly,” Dean Compoginis, multi-media functionality, has been v.p. of marketing at Teledex, said. “We’re seeing touted as “the next big thing” in hospitality it more with new builds because of the cost phone systems for several years. But the cost of savings.” Several vendors are helping customers make the transition. Enterprises LLC . . . . . . . . . . 282 Company Circle No. Teledex offers a hybrid phone Sigpro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283 that can transition to VOIP over Teledex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284 Inn-Phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279 time, while Inn-Phone is in the TeleMatrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285 Muzak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280 process of developing more Xeta Technologies. . . . . . . . . 286 Ridgeway Communication . . . 281 affordable VOIP technology. “ For more info For an existing hotel, there is almost no appetite to rip out their infrastructure and install a VOIP system. You just don’t get enough revenue from the phones to justify that. But for a new build, we see a lot of properties installing VOIP because of the cost savings—there’s just one network to manage.” The Stoneleigh Hotel & Spa in Dallas opened in March with the full suite of Maestro property automation tools. Stoneleigh utilizes Maestro PMS, Sales and Catering, Spa and Activity Management, Retail POS, Fine Dining POS, Yield Management, ResEze Web booking engine and Maestro Analytics Business Intelligence. The Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Grande Hotel and Yacht Club chose the web-based guest service operations system, GoConcierge.net. The hotel uses the system to log and track guest requests and other tasks, such as managing packages and lost-and-found tracking. Merchant Link installed its TransactionVault for lodging network-hosted payment solution at 15 Red Lion Hotel locations. Red Lion expects to use the system at hotels in the U.S. and Canada. Compiled by Jason Q. Freed, jfreed@questex.com DEAN COMPOGINIS, v.p. of marketing, Teledex http://HotelMotel.com http://www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition http://Frommers.com http://FlightStats.com http://www.GoConcierge.net

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Hotel & Motel Management - July 21, 2008

Contents Larkspur Hotels Branch Out with New Brand Starwood’s C.E.O. Maps Out Journey New Brand Leaders Share Hits, Misses Perspective Letters to the Editor Legal FAQ Training Trends Sales Clinic HotelWorld Update Trends & Stats Special Report: 2008 Construction Companies Survey Guest Column Events Technology: Telephones Hotel Operations: Building Exterior Design: Televisions Transactions Awards Hot Products: Mattresses Supplier News Ad/Edit Index Marketplace Classifieds Checking Out Hotel & Motel Management - July 21, 2008

Hotel & Motel Management - July 21, 2008

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