If you’ve ever stayed at a hotel, you know how outdated communications can be in many properties: old corded desk phones in the room and an Ethernet jack gathering dust. For travelers who rely on modern conveniences, not every hotel keeps pace. Many properties still lack ways for guests to receive messages comfortably from the lobby or to request a wake-up call directly from a smartphone.
In the past, guests chose hotels based primarily on amenities such as pools and breakfast. Today, as personal technology advances faster than many hotel systems, hoteliers are beginning to recognize the value of modernizing communications. Basic voice service and Internet access are common, but those capabilities often fall short of guest expectations for convenience, personalization, and reliability.
PBX Transformation
Bob Galovic, vice president of IT at Marriott International, explained in a phone interview that Marriott’s portfolio contains “phone systems of all makes and shapes and sizes and ages” across roughly 4,100 properties in 79 countries. The chain has long recognized the need for more efficient and effective communications, but has been constrained by a patchwork of disparate on-site phone systems.
For several years Marriott explored replacing those premises-based systems with a cloud-hosted alternative. “We’ve been looking on and off for quite some time,” Galovic said. The company has adopted cloud services elsewhere in IT, but finding a hospitality-suited option took time. After a thorough review, Marriott selected a cloud-hosted communications platform tailored to hotel operations.
“Year after year we formalized the search a bit more, issued requests for information and proposals, and eventually the market — both in pricing and maturity of services — reached a point where we could act,” Galovic said.
Hospitality environments have specific requirements: the ability to deliver simultaneous wake-up calls across hundreds of rooms, and seamless integration with property management systems (PMS) are two prime examples. Galovic highlighted a practical need for PMS integration: when a guest checks out, the system must ensure that any voicemail saved to that room is not left behind for the next occupant.
Many on-site PBX systems were overdue for replacement, and Marriott had delayed widespread upgrades while waiting for a better long-term solution, he added. Properties that installed newer systems within the past three to five years will continue to use them until those systems complete their depreciation cycles. Similar modernization efforts are under way in Europe, albeit with different providers.
One critical challenge in moving to a hosted model is guaranteeing reliable connectivity between each physical property and the cloud hosting center. Network outages can occur unexpectedly, and hotels need continuous service for routine needs and critical services such as emergency 911 calls. To improve resiliency, Marriott now uses primary wired connections supplemented by 4G LTE wireless links.
Galovic described Marriott’s experience with their hosted PBX provider as positive, noting the solution’s stability and failover capabilities that many premises-based systems lack. During the cloud migration, security is another major benefit: when thousands of properties run diverse systems at different lifecycle stages, tracking patch levels and maintaining consistent security is difficult. Centralizing communications in the cloud helps standardize updates and improve overall security posture.
Once Marriott completes the transition from premises-based PBXs to cloud-hosted communications, guests will be able to interact with hotel staff from their smartphones or property phones, and enjoy more seamless services delivered over the Internet. Ultimately the goal is to make technology feel effortless for guests — to enhance the guest experience by letting modern communications become an unnoticeable, reliable part of their stay.