Act now on ‘phones, AI

The hotel sector needs to address ‘the big switch off’ and embrace the opportunity of AI, Neil Tolley, founder, FourteenIP told the latest HOSPA webinar

The date for the Public Switched Telephone Network switch off is only 18 months away, in January 2027, but whilst over 60% of global businesses have moved their communications to the cloud, that number drops to less than 10% actually nearer 6% for hospitality.

Tolley told the webinar: “Our experience is that many hotels very slow to act and slow to make decisions in regard to the lines. That's often because they're not sure what lines they have, what they're used for, or if they're used at all, and they have an understandable concern, both about affecting any systems they might be connected to.

“Because of those concerns, we're finding decisions just not being taken. It's far better to try and deal with this in advance in a controlled way, rather than leaving it and paying more money.

“In instances where you do need to retain the service, you need to migrate away from your analog line replacement lines using VoIP as quickly as possible. It’s not something that somebody starts on a Monday and finishes on a Friday. It takes a while. It could be at least three months.”

The sector has been moving to PBX (Private Branch Exchange) systems in the cloud for the past few years, a shift which accelerated during the pandemic. This option comes with an ever-growing wealth of features, functionalities and integrations that can significantly improve operations.

The cloud comes with security risks, Tolley noted, commenting: “There's a huge project across multiple global brands to get rid of that risk. So our advice is to keep your PBX as up to date as possible, ensure your PBX and anything connected to it is secure, and if your PBX is no longer supported, look to move to a new solution as part of a budgeting process as soon as you're able.

He added: “One of the questions that we often get when we talk to people about migrating from on premise to cloud is, can we keep our guest room phones, pretty much one of the first questions, and the answer is, 99.9% of the time, yes, you can.”

The brands were also helping to drive adoption of AI on phone systems, driven, Tolley said: “To give staff more time with guests. It's very rarely anything else, and that's across any class of hotel. In select service hotels AI can take the weight off the staff and handle repetitive tasks, freeing them up to deal with the guests in front of them and in full service and luxury hotels, it allows guests to get information and get things done”.

This was information, Tolley noted, which could be shared in multiple languages and about multiple aspects of the hotel’s operation. At the best performing hotels, FourteenIP’s AI sector was answering 76% of calls, with the average at mid to high 50.

With the sector eagerly searching for efficiencies and opportunities to drive ancillary revenue, the opportunity was clear.