Summer’s Almost Here: Now Is the Time to Optimize Your Tech Stack
We can feel it, too – the joy of hitting the open road on a warm sunny day or arriving at a long-anticipated destination ready to discover the sights. Summer travel is a special time for making memories and often spending precious moments with those close to us. Of course, for those who run the hotels, inns, and spas we plan to visit, it is also the busiest time of the year.
That impending rush of guests is an excellent reminder of why it is so essential for hospitality leaders to find the time throughout the year to step back and carefully review their unified communications (UC) tech stack. It's easy to overlook, especially when the phones are working, and guests are still checking in without significant issues. However, taking the time to look beyond the day-to-day can help you identify ways to streamline workflows and ensure that you provide the best possible customer experience, especially during busy periods. With the proper planning and guidance, modern business communication solutions can help address evolving guest expectations while assisting busy front-line workers.
Enabling Frontline Workers with Modern Tech
Hospitality thrives on exceeding guest’s needs and expectations, and modern technology infrastructure plays an integral role in attaining that outcome. In today’s environment, guests expect quick, personalized, and effortless communication, which can put a lot of pressure on frontline hospitality employees.
Modern UC solutions allow properties to combine frontline, back office, and vertical workflows, ensuring the entire workforce is on the same page. Whether working on-site or remotely, multimodal technology allows staff to collaborate seamlessly on guest requests through the best medium for the situation - voice, video, chat, SMS, or a combination. For example, an on-the-go property manager can carry a wireless DECT handset, which offers a reliable signal anywhere on a property. Fully integrated into the property’s communications solution, it ensures secure access to voice calls, interactive messaging, and critical alerts from colleagues at the front desk or an off-site contact center.
Frontline workers are essential to delivering memorable experiences. They often provide a guest’s first and last impression of a property. By giving them the right communication tools for their job, you empower them to do their best work while boosting the customer experience. This builds a property’s reputation as both a fulfilling place to work and an enjoyable place to stay.
AI and Unified Communications
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a popular topic today, but it is important to look beyond the hype and pinpoint its real-world value. That is why it is essential to focus on opportunities to deliberately deploy AI to better serve guests. With modern UC solutions, this can be done through simple, integrated experiences built for the hospitality space.
Generative AI (GenAI) chatbots and voice bots can help streamline on-site customer service requests during busy and demanding times by handling simple but time-consuming tasks that would otherwise fall to frontline staff. If the bot cannot resolve the issue, an AI-powered agent assistant can smoothly transfer the call to a live agent along with call notes, ensuring the guest does not need to repeat information.
Besides streamlining workflows, the valuable data collected through AI interactions with customers can enhance the guest experience. For instance, when integrated into contact center platforms, AI can instantly transcribe and summarize calls and provide detailed call trends to supervisors. AI integration can also identify and track caller sentiment, which can be used to train staff for specific situations.
Augmenting UC solutions with AI is about more than finding efficiencies. It’s about quickly tapping into unique guest insights to deliver better personalization, ultimately leading to higher customer satisfaction.
Hybrid Cloud Solutions
For many properties, the decision between relying on legacy on-prem infrastructure that still delivers value and embracing the flexibility of the cloud is a real challenge. That is why hybrid cloud-based solutions are increasingly becoming the chosen route, as they are tailored and scaled to fit specific needs with size and budget in mind.
Hybrid cloud solutions are ideal for hoteliers who are not entirely ready to ditch their legacy infrastructure. They allow security and flexibility and offer a proven mix of private cloud, public cloud, and on-premise solutions. Hybrid cloud solutions are reliable and provide robust security features, data privacy, and regulatory compliance to ensure hospitality organizations protect themselves while streamlining communication. With the proper guidance from a trusted, vertical-focused UC provider, property managers can choose the best path for their needs.
Migrating to the cloud goes beyond a mere destination. It involves implementing solutions that offer maximum flexibility and ensuring that each property has the right communication tools to effectively support its customers, staff, and stakeholders now and in the future.
Modern UC Elevates Hospitality
As hospitality leaders gear up for the busy summer season, plenty of technological tools are available to streamline operations and provide an overall improved and immersive guest experience. Whether it’s enabling multimodal technology for frontline workers, AI-powered tools, or hybrid cloud solutions, investing in modern UC solutions is something every property should take time to consider.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ashley Williams has over a decade of experience selling in the Hospitality vertical at Mitel. Her focus on Hospitality Americas Sales empowers her to support Channel Partners and engage with consultants and the Major Flags to ensure Mitel’s Hospitality solutions continue to deliver applications that customers need to provide their guests with the ultimate guest experience.