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Best Hotel Phone Systems Providers Guide
Whether you own a small motel or a franchise of hotels, hotel phone systems play a huge role in the day-to-day operations of your business. Choosing the right hotel phone system will help you better serve your clientele as well as run things behind the scenes. The best hotel phone systems facilitate communication between guests and staff members, as well as aiding staff in managing tasks, keeping track of guest information, and more.
Deciding which hotel phone system provider to go with can be difficult. There are a lot of options, which can feel intimidating. That’s why we’ve put together this guide of the best hotel phone system providers. We’re based in Atlanta but we serve the entire US including Miami, Houston, and Los Angeles. Click the button below to get a free quote.
Read on to learn about must-have hotel phone system features as well as our top picks for providers.
What is a Hotel Phone System?
A hotel phone system is a network that allows for communication between guests and hospitality staff. Each room in the hotel typically has a phone guests can use to communicate with the front desk, as well as to place room service orders, book spa services, speak with the concierge, and more. With caller ID, the front desk can quickly see which guest is calling. Hotel staff also use the phone system to place calls to guests as needed, manage housekeeping and other behind-the-scenes services.
Some common uses of a hotel phone system include:
- One-button dialing to reach the front desk
- Placing a room service order
- Requesting housekeeping service
- Requesting wake-up calls
- Setting up do not disturb
- Managing both checkin and checkout
- Reserving hotel conference rooms
- Connecting to the concierge desk
- Placing dinner reservations
- Booking spa treatments
- Requesting laundry service
PBX Features For Hotel Phone Systems
PBX, which stands for private branch exchange, is a private telecom network that allows both internal and external calls. PBX systems provide seamless communication between guests and staff. Each room is set up as its own extension for quick dialing.
PBX systems can do more than just voice calls, especially with VoIP phone service. Traditional PBX systems use copper wires, requiring expensive installation and upkeep. But with VoIP service, you can have all the features of traditional PBX and more for your hotel phone system without the physical infrastructure.
Here are some of the PBX features that are especially helpful for hotel phone systems:
- Auto-Attendant/Interactive Voice Response: This automated system funnels guests’ calls to the right place, saving the extra time needed to route calls. Some auto-attendants are also able to handle simple requests, such as booking services and setting up wakeup calls.
- Call routing: Whether calls are coming from inside or outside the hotel, they need to reach the right department. Call routing is a system that places calls in a queue and sends them to the right place as attendants are available.
- Ring groups: Ring groups are a lifesaver when things are busy. When ring groups are set up, multiple phones ring at the same time until one person picks up.
- Voicemail to email: Staying on top of voicemails left by guests helps you better manage them. But listening to voice messages takes a lot of time. Voicemail to email transcribes voicemail and sends the text to your email, allowing you to quickly read through and keep track of messages.
- Fax: Although fax use has been in decline, many motels and hotels still rely on fax machines in their day-to-day operations. PBX systems can provide a line for both inbound and outbound faxing. Some VoIP providers even offer online faxing.
Features of Good Hotel Phone Systems
Most hotel phone systems offer hundreds of features with their service. That can make it overwhelming to decide which phone system to go with and what features you actually need. Here are some of the features of good hotel phone systems that you’ll want to watch out for:
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CRM call pops
Your customer relationship management software helps you better serve your clients by keeping track of interactions with them as well as a detailed history of their purchases. CRM call pops bring up a guest’s customer profile when they call so that you have immediate access to relevant information. This saves you time spent searching for their profile or switching to another app.
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Uptime of 99.9% or higher
Guaranteed uptime is something you absolutely need to pay attention to when shopping for hotel phone system providers. Uptime is basically the amount of time your phone system is up and running. Make sure your provider guarantees an uptime of at least 99.9%. This equates to about 10 minutes of downtime per week, or 8.77 hours per year. The most elite uptime to look for is 99.999%. This equates to around 5 minutes of downtime per year.
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Omnichannel capabilities
Gone are the days where voice is the only way to communicate with customers. Omnichannel capabilities allow you to use SMS/MMS messages, email, and instant messaging in addition to voice. With more options to reach staff, guests’ needs are easily taken care of, leading to higher customer satisfaction.
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Call recording
Whether your staff members are booking new reservations or handling unhappy guests, call recording is an essential feature. Recorded calls can be used to train new employees, dissect problem calls, or even as protection against disgruntled guests.
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Call barge
Call barge is a feature that allows another agent to join in on a call. Typically, this is used when an unhappy guest wants to speak with a manager. Call barge makes it so an already unhappy customer doesn’t have to wait on hold. Additionally, supervisors can clear up policies that a newer employee doesn’t understand fully or answer a question.
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Call whisper
Training new employees is easier with call whisper. This feature lets a supervisor or trainer aid the trainee without the guest hearing. Again, this feature helps so that customers don’t have to wait on hold for long periods while the agent is being helped.
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Team messaging
Whether it’s communication between the front desk and housekeeping or among team members in the same department, team messaging allows your employees to communicate quickly to coordinate housekeeping schedules, room service, and more.
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Task management
There’s a lot to do to keep your hotel running. Task management helps you divvy up tasks among employees to keep on top of it all.
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IVR and auto-attendant
A good auto-attendant and IVR helps your guests get what they need while also saving you time spent answering calls at the front desk.
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Analytics and reporting
The best hotel phone systems keep track of KPIs and give detailed analytics to help you manage revenue and predict customer performance.
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Custom hold music
As helpful as IVR and omnichannel communication are for cutting down hold times, your customers will still have to wait on hold on occasion. Custom hold music encourages customers to stay on the line and eases their wait time.
Our Hotel Phone System Top Picks
Shopping around for the right hotel phone system can be intimidating. That’s why we’ve put together a list of our top hotel phone systems.
Nextiva
Our number one pick for best hotel phone system provider is Nextiva. With an app that does it all–from CRM to messaging and more–you can be sure to have everything you need to run your hotel smoothly. Plus, Nextiva has one of the most advanced IVR systems. Other notable features include automatic call forwarding, guaranteed uptime of 99.999%, and CRM call pops.
8×8
One of the best phone systems for smaller hotels, 8×8 is affordable as well as feature-rich. Some of our favorite features include video and call conferencing on all plans, third-party app integrations, call-flow designer, ring groups, and more.
Ooma
Like 8×8, Ooma offers a variety of app integrations and affordable pricing plans for small- to mid-sized hotel businesses. Notable features include call flip, which allows you to switch the call to different devices, and multi-level virtual receptionist.
RingCentral MVP
For larger hotel businesses, RingCentral is an excellent option. With team chat, voice, and video all in one platform, RingCentral is feature-rich and available globally. Some of our favorite features include call barge, call whisper, team chat, call recording, and a guaranteed uptime of 99.999%
Vonage Cloud
With its single interface, Vonage offers easy-to-use, one-stop unified communications. Vonage has a variety of flexible options, allowing you to customize your service to fit the needs of your hotel. Some of Vonage’s best hotel phone service features include video meetings, SMS messaging, online faxing, visual voicemail, and team collaboration.
Dialpad Talk
Dialpad Talk offers customers a variety of both traditional and VoIP phone features. If you use a lot of different apps while working with customers, Dialpad Talk offers easy CRM integration. Phone, messaging, video, call routing, and voicemail-to-text are just some of Dialpad Talk’s best hotel phone features.
Zoom Phone
Although you probably know Zoom for its conferencing app, Zoom Phone is a voice-only service that uses VoIP to provide you all the PBX features you need to operate your hotel. And with an international presence, you can rely on Zoom Phone for all of your franchises across the globe.
GoToConnect
GoToConnect is a Unified Communications as a Service solution that is great for smaller hotel businesses. With GoToConnect, all of your services are provided through the cloud, allowing you omnichannel communications with just a mobile device or computer. Some of our favorite features for hotels include custom hold music, remote call forwarding, dial plan editor, and ring groups.
Avaya Cloud Office
Avaya Cloud Office is a comprehensive hotel phone system and collaboration tool that allows you to communicate with guests across a variety of channels. Some of Avaya Cloud Office’s most notable features include video meetings, advanced analytics, and robust CRM integration.
WebEx Calling
WebEx Calling by Cisco allows you the flexibility to either replace or integrate existing PBX systems. With video conferencing, team collaboration, voice calling, and messaging, it’s a unified communications solution that can take care of all of your communication needs. Notable features for hotels include IVR, conference calls, voicemail, and call recording.
The Right Hotel Phone System for You
The hotel phone system provider you choose can make a huge difference in both customer service and behind-the-scenes operations at your hotel. You want a phone system with robust features, guaranteed uptime of at least 99.9%, and omnichannel communications.
Need help deciding between the best hotel phone systems? OneStop Communications can help. We work with the country’s best providers, like Nextiva, Vonage, and more, and we can help you tailor your hotel phone system service to fit your needs. Click here to get your free quote and see how OneStop Communications can help you.
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