THE LANESBOROUGH HOTEL, LONDON, UK

How Ascom Wireless Solutions Revolutionised Hotel Communications, and made a significant contribution to customer care.

Old Systems

The Lanesborough is an oasis of calm on the corner of Hyde Park, London. Previously they had old tone pagers and a two-way walkie-talkie network. The pagers were one way only, the radios squawked in the wrong places and neither system could contact the other. The Hotel also wanted to do something special for their Guests, by making it possible for them to be contacted wherever they were in the Hotel and also to have a link directly into the Service network.

Ascom DECT Solution

Recently they switched all their internal radio based communications over to an Ascom Wireless Solutions teleDECT platform.

One of the main factors in the decision to choose this system was it’s ability to operate with up to six different types of handset, each focussed on a particular need or function, yet each able to communicate on the same network. This allowed The Lanesborough options unconsidered before in Guest communications. For example, on arrival Guests are given a handset that looks and operates much like a mobile phone. They can use it to make outside calls but, in addition, incoming calls can be diverted to it, wherever the Guest is in the Hotel.

Staff have a choice of two other types of handset, according to their duties. These are much more durable than Guest phones and offer either simple two way voice, or two way voice with full text messaging functions, displayed on a large LCD screen. It also offers Group Call facilities and can be interfaced with, for example, an existing fire alarm system which, when activated, displays the location of the event on the screen.

Focussed Customer Service

This type of handset is also used for the very focussed Butler Service at The Lanesborough. Each Room and Suite has an individual butler nominated to look after its Guests. They are summoned using the ‘Butler Button’ in each room which is directly interfaced with the handset. The appropriate Butler, who could be anywhere in the Hotel on other business, is alerted to the call and the Room details are displayed on the screen. The same system is also used for Porterage.

Management, Housekeepers, the Fire and Security Teams, Room Service, Banqueting Staff and even the Florist, have a handset appropriate to their needs. They all have a vibration call option, which The Lanesborough have switched on permanently, so the ring of a ‘mobile’ is never heard.

Efficiency Gain

Feedback on the functionality and ease of use of the system has been very positive and there are plans to exploit the capability of teleDECT even further.

As David Cowdery, House Manager at The Lanesborough, explained ‘the ability to make direct contact and send instructions to Staff, wherever they are on site, has improved quality of Customer Service and productivity by a truly significant amount’.

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