What is a Hotel PBX Phone System and How Does it Work
A Private Branch Exchange or a PBX phone system is a private exchange for connecting calls from multiple sources to extension lines. PBX phone system has become a beneficial asset for hotels as it facilitates seamless internal and external communication. Unlike the traditional VoIP system, today’s PBX systems comes with multiple features.
The phone system offers complete control over all calls and messages, making it suitable for every industry including the hospitality industry.
According to a report from PRNewswire, “The hosted IP PBX market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.15 % between 2020 and 2025″. This shows that IP-PBX phone systems are the most secure way to manage communications.
Its business-boosting functionalities play a crucial role in enhancing the connectivity in hotels. Let us understand its various aspects in detail.
What is a hotel PBX phone system?
A hotel PBX phone system is a private branch exchange (PBX) that is specifically designed for use in hotels. It provides a number of features that are essential for running a smooth and efficient hotel operation
A hotel phone system can be used in small or large businesses to store information about extensions and call routing. PBX systems also have features, such as voicemail that most basic business phones do not possess.
How does PBX system work for hotels?
PBX phone system serves as the backbone for business communication in hotels.
PBX systems work by linking all the rooms of a particular floor together and then linking that floor to the main switchboard. The PBX system then allows a call from a guest’s room to be routed over an internal connection to another phone on the same floor or elsewhere in the hotel if they wish to make a call outside.
What are the hotel PBX system benefits?
IP PBX system contributes to the digital connectivity of the hotels aiding their day-to-day operations. The phone system offers enhanced options for call routing, conference calling, and voice mail to the hotel. Here are some of the benefits of PBX phone system to the hotel:
Outstation calling
Outstation calling for hotels is an essential function of IP PBX systems. With the IP PBX system, hotels can provide international calling services to their guests at all times of the day.
They can also monitor outgoing calls made by their guests and block unwanted calls altogether. Always search for a PBX system with low-cost routing, which allows you to route your calls through the cheapest carriers.
Guest room services
Guest room services from the business PBX phone system can provide a variety of features that help a hotel be more profitable, reduce costs, and offer better service.
IP PBX systems offer guest room services that are cost-effective and improve the overall experience for guests. They can connect guests with information resources, provide guest rooms with customer service phone lines, and help design more innovative hotel rooms.
Reservation and cancellations
Hotel reservations and cancellations can be made at a moment’s notice with the PBX phone system.
A hotel phone systems is a tool that allows full autonomy in the management of reservations. Hotels can use this technology to automate their reservations and cancellations without any human intervention. This results in higher efficiency, fewer errors, and better customer satisfaction.
Payment Gateway
The payment gateway is an essential part of the PBX phone system for hotel facilities, and it helps guests make payments for their stay with debit cards, credit cards, and cashless payments. The best hotel pbx systems includes PayPal, Stripe, and CCAvenue, which will also help international travelers.
With Payment Gateway, hotel staff can take guests’ payments and clear the transaction before other tasks like checking out the room or printing a bill. This way, they can provide excellent customer service while saving time.
Auto-Attendant
PBX includes a feature called Auto-Attendant. This feature is typically used in hotels or hospitals to help guests and patients with the correct information.
Auto-Attendant configurations may vary, but they’re all designed to answer incoming calls, guide callers through different options, and connect them with appropriate extension numbers or departments.
Integration with hotel management system
The PBX system is the off-the-shelf solution for hotels that can be seamlessly integrated with the hotel management software seamlessly.
IP-PBX systems can be used to communicate between employees and guests in hotels. This helps save costs because it eliminates the need for costly investment in new hardware and software purchases.
Integration with the existing hotel management system simplifies managing all the guests’ complaints, requests, and feedback.
Call recording
The call recording feature in the PBX phone system helps hotels manage the calls and call logs. This is because it records conversations with the person on the other side from beginning to end.
It also provides a detailed record of all received, outgoing, and missed calls, dates, and time stamps. The recording system also offers playback, editing, and saving sound bytes or notes, among others.
Voice mail
A hotel’s PBX phone system can record and store voicemails. Hotel staff can access the recorded messages to answer guest inquiries, address guest complaints and fill up reservations.
The hotel IP PBX system comprises extensions that are assigned to a mailbox. When a call is not picked up after a certain number of rings, the call is then routed to the extension’s voice mailbox. The user can catch up on the voice message and choose to respond or delete the message.
Switch to a hotel PBX system!
Businesses rely on phones to connect with customers, run day-to-day operations, and even keep in touch with their families. Having a reliable and efficient phone system can remarkably enhance business productivity. Most hotels today have integrated hotel PBX systems to enjoy the flexibility of cost-effective communication to escalate their services resulting in better customer satisfaction rate.
