The PBX systems of many hotels in Asia are in the process of changing, as the implementation of VoIP (Voice over internet protocol) is a trend that is fast becoming a necessity. Hotels are implementing this technology to not only unify their operations across the board, but to provide guests and staff with an ever-growing range of services catering to their needs and requirements.

Norman Bo, Product Marketing Manager, Nortel Hong Kong says that the upcoming Beijing Olympics has seen an incredible surge in hotel’s desire to upgrade their technological capabilities. Bo cites the example of Westin Beijing, which recently deployed a range of Nortel IP and wireless technology, their IP PBX supporting the Nortel IP Phone 2007, and the cost-effective analog phone, installed in each of their 486 rooms. The IP Phone, which supports voice and data applications, has a 5.7-inch(14.5-centimeter) color touch screen through which the hotel can push a whole range of applications to the guest, which in the Westin’s case includes famous tourist and scenic locations within Beijing as well as weather forecasts, flight information, and check-in and check-out times.

These IP Phones are very important element in VoIP and the extended range of possibilities that is provides. However, according to Terence Ronson, Managing director of Pertlink, ”There is a great confusion In the hotel industry in regards to VoIP, where in some cases, these are viewed as the implementation of expensive color touch screen telephones.”

Far from being just an expensive if attractive ass-on, this touch screen allows IP telephones to fundamentally function as a web browser.

“We can use the touch screen to push a lot of commercials and advertisements internally from the hotel,’ said Bo. “A lot of the comments that come back from out customers or their guests is they want an IP Phone but they don’t want it to be too complicated. For advertisements, all they need to do is send a jpeg or gif file to us and we can push it to the IP phone.”

Bo uses the example of rock concert, saying that if guest watch the advertisement and want to buy tickets, this can all be done by touching the screen- without needing to pick up the phone and dial the front desk.

Easy Upgrade

It is this added browser functionality that most hotels want to push further: Speaking of their current uses for VoIP, a spokesperson for Kowloon Shangri-La Hotel said that callers can simply look for extension numbers by typing a name on the keyboard of the console, see the status of their connected calls, as well as receiving all forms of messaging and data. The Wi-Fi infrastructure that many hotels already have in place as a considered necessity for business travelers makes the upgrade to VoIP easier. Bo Said, “Ninety percent of the hotels have a Wi-Fi infrastructure already for the guests. Some hotels focus on deploying this infrastructure for the guest in order to recover some of their revenue, but at the same time they could divide the bandwidth and the traffic, and divert some of it to internal users without impacting the guests.”

“It’s very typical for a housekeeper or back end officer to carry a PDA,” said Bo, giving an example of how this technology can facilitate the smooth running of back end operations. “Now, rather than calling different housekeepers, because for example a 10^th floor guest wants some towels, the front desk manager can go to a PC and dispatch this job to the appropriate runner, and when the housekeepers receive the SMS message through the private network they can acknowledge the job and do it efficiently.”

Bo adds that through all of Nortel’s technology they are stressing the fact that it allows the hotel to not only be more efficient, but to be safeguarded against outside elements that could hinder the hotel’s operations. “Hotels don’t need to rely anymore on the public mobile network that we use today, the GSM or the 3G network, because there are things you can’t control. Traffic could overflow, but with a private hotel network you can control it.”

No choice, many options

Robson believes that once these systems have reached a certain level of market saturation, it will be impractical for a hotel to take any other route. “Doing anything other than this will prove to be a costly mistake as PBX manufactures kill off their existing systems and parts and support will not be available-and when they are-could prove a costly mistake.”

The Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong, made the switchover in its PBX when they closed in December 2005 for renovations, using the opportunity to install IP telephony. “I feel the real benefit of VoIP is the flexibility, the extensions and feature of the phones,” said Eric Williams, IT&T director at Mandarin. “It makes the relocation of the line very easy-basically plug it into a different jack and it register with the server. The administration of the system is a very easy process, it’s all browser based, so if we need to go in and rename a line for example, we can do that all from a web browser.”

This also allows Mandarin staff to access the system from anywhere within the hotel, or even without, as long as they have a computer with internet access. IP phone systems also have the advantage over previous PBXs in that they do not require a dedicated cabling system, which is both space consuming, more difficult in regards to maintenance, but also doesn’t allow the same case of change, which can now be done in a virtual rather than physical environment.

Elaborating on the differences that exist between VoIP and old-fashioned telephony Ronson said, “They stem from the variety of handsets you can add to the network and some can have color touch screens that through clever programming and interfacing to the web, can generate information and images. They can also do much more, like have an interface which is customizable based upon the language of the guest- picked up from the PMS- a nice service enhancer.”

Publication by Asian Hotel & Catering Times, August 2007.