Overview
The Client is an ASX listed hotel and tourism company with 19 hotels under their management and growing.
- Their concerns included
- Poor support from their external telecommunications (telco) and IT partners
- Poor visibility on current services and spends
- They were paying for a number of unnecessary services.
The company also had outdated technology, had not re-negotiated their pricing in a long time, and had a number of providers that needed to be consolidated. As the company continues to grow, they were looking for a one-stop-shop to manage their phone system, internet services and their Wi-Fi network, they also wanted a single company to manage future technology projects.
Problems and Requirements
This hotel and tourism company was facing several problems related to their telecommunications and IT services, including:
Poor support from external telco and IT partners:
The company was struggling to get the support they needed from their external partners, leading to delays and frustrations.
Poor visibility on current services and spends:
The company lacked clarity on the services they were currently using and how much they were spending on each service.
Number of unnecessary services:
The company had several services they were paying for that they didn’t need or didn’t know about, leading to unnecessary spend that could be invested elsewhere.
Outdated technology and pricing:
The company’s technology in relation to their phone system, internet and Wi-Fi network was outdated and not working properly, they were receiving frequent complaints from hotel guests about the lack of Wi-Fi and slow speeds. Considering how poor their technology was, their pricing was also outdated and they were being overcharged based on market rates.
Number of providers needing consolidation:
The company were using multiple providers for their telco and IT services, leading to a lack of consistency and added complexity.
Need for a one-stop-shop to manage future projects:
The company needed a streamlined solution to manage their telecommunications and IT services for future projects.
Solution, Outcomes, and Recommendations
To address these challenges, the hotel and tourism company engaged Telco Broker to complete a review on all of their current telecommunications and IT solutions, and identify several areas for improvement. Upon completion of our review, we implemented the following solutions:
Solution
Upon completion of our review, we implemented the following solutions:
Telecommunications review:
Telco Broker conducted an initial high-level telecommunications review in consultation with management and operations, to identify areas for improvement where the technology was not performing as required, whilst costs savings were not the main driver of this review we identified a number of opportunities to save them money.
The goal was to replace an old ISDN based on premise phone system that did not work well, the phone system did not have any support and was not providing the necessary functions to support both the staff and guests’ needs.
Elimination of unnecessary services:
Telco Broker conducted a thorough bill review and audit, we identified a number of services that were no longer being used and were excluded from our quotes. Approximately 8-10% of their current spend was eliminated, which resulted in initial significant savings.
Introduction of best solutions and providers:
Telco Broker completed a full technology review, we identified the best NBN and fibre internet connections available at each of their site, along with 4G failover for redundancy purposes.
Recommendations
We suggested 3 phone system solutions which would enabled their staff to be able to receive calls whilst in the office and when moving around the hotel. We also designed a Wi-fi network, with corporate and guest access, which took into consideration each of the installations as there were access issues.
We presented a number of options and providers for the company’s phone system, internet access, Wi-fi management, and mobility, leading to improved efficiencies and lower costs.
Phone System Upgrade
We installed a feature rich, cloud-based phone system, that is easy to administer and support, offers scalability, simplicity, and complex call logic to improve their overall customer and staff experience, the phone system was setup based on each hotel’s requirements.
In addition to their existing office handsets, we also replaced all of the old analogue handsets in the rooms (many of which were not working) with new handsets which now run via an ethernet connections, on a very fast internet connection, and have easy web admin platforms to monitor the handset status, calls reports, call management, analytics etc. This Customer is now enjoying the benefits of a cost effective, highly available, well supported, quality telecommunications system, for their internal and external calls and communications.
Internet and WiFi Upgrade
Some of the hotels were still using old, expensive, unsupported, slow and unstable fixed point wireless connections, their office connectivity was slow for their day to day operations, cloud-based software, booking and payment systems, and also offered no Wi-Fi access to the guests or very limited, slow and unusable for some room.
We deployed a fast, reliable and stable 1000/1000 MB dedicated fibre connection with 1:1 contention ratio with very high uptime (over 99.9%), this was coupled with a fast 5G sim with unlimited usage as a mobile network back up (should the fibre connection ever have any issues or downtime), giving the customer’s staff and guests almost 100% internet access availability.
To improve the Wi-Fi experience, we installed an adequate number of access points across a number of rooms and common areas, producing a high performing Wi-Fi network, high speed internet access, increased Wi-Fi coverage and increased convenience for all the guests and staff of the hotels.
Outcomes
Improved clarity and visibility on services and pricing:
The company now has a better understanding of their current services, how much they are spending on each service and simplified billing.
Consolidation of providers:
Telco Broker helped the company consolidate their telco and IT providers from 4 vendors down to 2. Leading to increased consistency, simplified management and better support.
One-stop-shop support:
Their new provider delivered a simple and effective ‘one-stop-shop’ service to manage all of their future telecommunications and IT projects.
The outcomes of these recommended solutions were significant. The company was able to save money by eliminating unnecessary services and use more efficient solutions and providers. There was approximately a 20% saving off their current bill, whilst improving speeds, quality and support.
Our consultative approach, enabled the company to have a better understanding of their services and spends, which helped them make more informed decisions about their telecommunications and IT needs, especially when it comes to rolling out services for new sites. With a streamlined solution in place, the company is now well-positioned for growth and acquiring new hotels.
Summary
Based on the outcomes of this project, we recommended that this hotel and tourism company continue to work with Telco Broker to monitor and optimise their telecommunications and IT solutions over time. As technology changes and other vendors roll out internet services around their hotels, Telco Broker will conduct regular reviews to ensure they continue to receive the best ROI on their technology spend.
Customer Feedback
Rather than receiving negative feedback from staff and guests regarding their connectivity and internet access availability, which hurt the hotels reputation, operations and ultimately profitability, guests can now all enjoy a super-fast and highly available Wi-Fi network environment and easy to use office and guest room phone system.
