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This article is from the Fall 2008 issue of Hospitality Upgrade magazine.To view more articles covering technology for the hospitality industry please visit the Hospitality Upgrade Web site or to request a free publication please call (678) 802-5307 or e-mail. | |
The Business Environment
is Ripe to Invest in Technology
by Bill Peters, October 2008 With the market slowly dissolving due to the everyday economic challenges (doom and gloom) being broadcast by the media, the timing could not be any better than now to upgrade operations to handle all multi-media customer interactions in a very cost effective way. The multi-media customer interactions are 800 number voice calls, local voice calls, inter-property calls, Internet text chat, Internet voice call back, email, electronic fax and booking pages for the mobile world. Taking the chance of a customer staying at a competitor because that customer could not communicate with or access your company in a timely manner using the media of their choice is unacceptable in today�s business world. There is definitely no excuse for it. The use of proper technology has opened up a whole new world of communications within the Hospitality Industry but the way we acquire and keep loyal customers remains the same. 1. All doors into the business should always remain open for customer contact. a. There are more doors available to today�s customers as there was in the past. It is important to keep all of them open and staffed with competent employees and high touch systems. 2. All customers want to be treated as loyal customers. a. A customer is a sale and a sale is made directly by a person or through a sophisticated high touch system that works. In other words it is people selling to people either directly or indirectly through a system. Using the following protocols will enhance the performance for hotel sales, contact centers, customer service centers, help desks and even Internet booking engines. 1. �V�irtualization refers to a working environment which retains the characteristics of a physical resource without being directly tied to it. Technological changes are occurring in networks, routers and switches that control data movement, but others have to do with the way servers are managed and how their processing power can be acquired. With the convergence of voice and data and the increasing intelligence of the network, the next generation network is becoming a distributed computing architecture that is enabling new kinds of collaborations, applications and businesses to flourish. New technology can securely partition machines so that multiple applications can share a single server. These partitioning tools allow servers to be allocated in creative ways. This minimizes expenses while providing flexibility in implementation and scalability of resources.The time is now especially for those companies that are not using these protocols. Once in place the complete world of sales will be open to the company. Mega companies have some of these protocols in place but it takes them a long time to make a change. If your company is medium to small size, with multiple properties, with multiple flags, the time is now to invest in the technology that will professionally open up all your business doors to all customer interactions. There are too many benefits to mention. As they would say many years ago back in the world of �Trusthouse Forte Hotels and Resorts�, �It�s a bloody good show�. William D. Peters is the Vice President Reservation Services and Market Development for Outrigger Enterprises Group in Denver, Colorado [email protected] � Hospitality Upgrade, 2008. No reproduction or transmission without written permission. |
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Managing Editor Hospitality Upgrade magazine and the Hospitality Upgrade.com website http://www.hospitalityupgrade.com/ [email protected] |
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