All companies rely heavily on good communication to keep teams working efficiently, and processes running smoothly. However, few industries are more aware of the demand for exceptional communication and collaboration than the hospitality sector.
In the hospitality landscape, employees from a range of different environments need to remain synchronised, informed, and empowered to deliver exceptional customer experiences. The right UC solution can be the difference between success and failure for these brands.
When the exclusive day spa and luxury hotel in Toronto, “The Old Mill” decided its existing communication strategy simply wasn’t living up to expectations, it turned to Avaya for access to a flexible, scalable, and agile alternative.
Let’s explore how Avaya and the Old Mill worked together.
Upgrading the Communications Stack
Known for catering to everything from beautiful business meetings to dream weddings, the Old Mill in Toronto welcomes thousands of guests per month. To serve these customers, the company knew it needed to upgrade its old-fashioned PBX communication solution.
While the old platform could handle the majority of the company’s needs, it was reaching “end of life” status, and was no longer under warranty, making it harder to obtain replacement parts. The hotel decided to upgrade to a more flexible, scalable, and cloud-based alternative in Avaya IP Office.
With an aim to create a powerful engagement experience for employees and customers alike, the Old Mill selected the IP Office platform. The solution is already integrated with the company’s existing accounting software and property management software. As such, it was easy to rapidly deploy the new solution.
What’s more, because IP Office from Avaya can support hybrid analogue and digital phone lines, the company was able to upgrade its phones over a staggered migration period. The Old Mill was also able to reduce costs on maintenance and support. Before IP Office, a problem with the switch would require the network administrator to sort through a bank of wires one by one. With Avaya, everything is accessible through a computer screen.
Simplifying day-to-day network administration, IP Office has minimized IT headaches and enabled The Old Mill to access accounts for all users on a single site from a dedicated web-based interface. Whenever an employee switches positions or departments now, the administrator can simply transfer their extension to a new desk through the web.
Even troubleshooting is simpler with IP Office to tie everything together and align with the existing team’s management software.
Ensuring Exceptional Productivity
Since many of the employees working with the Old Mill had been with the company for a number of years, the concept of moving to a new communications platform was a little worrisome at first. However, Avaya’s inherent simplicity and the attractiveness of its various new features ensured staff could get up-to-speed fast.
One immediate favorite feature among users was the “Visual Voice” solution, an IP Office feature which allowed users to access voicemail mailboxes using their phone’s display, rather than following spoken prompts. Voicemail to email – a setting that staff can turn on and receive automatic email messages when voicemails were recorded, saving users a significant amount of time.
In the past, if a user was offsite and they received an urgent tech support call, they would be forced to call one of their colleagues in the office and relay the details of the problem word-for-word to ensure a fix. However, voicemail to email now means users can email over transcripts in seconds. This makes it easier to troubleshoot and resolve issues at speed.
What’s more, the Old Mill’s sales team no longer has to worry about potentially missing important calls from prospects and clients when working offsite. Mobile twinning means calls to the office phone can simultaneously be transferred to a smartphone. This allows users to respond immediately, no matter where they are.
Improved Visibility and Enhanced Service
With more than 250 employees working in a host of different positions, The Old Mill is far from a standard business operation. There are roles for everything from admin and accounting, to receiving and purchasing to consider, as well as banquet management, kitchen staff, spa therapists, and more. With all of these employees handling various tasks throughout the property, it was essential to ensure end-to-end visibility.
Before IP Office, when receptionists answered calls, they simply transferred those calls to an extension, unaware of whether the employee was at the desk, or available to take a call. This meant often calling around multiple locations in an office to find an available staff member.
Now, Avaya IP Officer Soft Console ensures receptionists at the Old Mill have absolute visibility. These users can answer, route, and manage incoming calls from their PC screen, while also simultaneously viewing caller information, directory details, and held calls, as well as company phone status. Since every staff member at the company can be reached at one number in any location, it’s easy to access professionals anywhere, at any time.
The Old Mill prefers to have calls handled personally by various areas of the business. However, depending on the time of the year, certain areas of the business can be busier than others. For instance, the restaurant may have an influx of bookings at Mother’s Day, while the spa has more requests for gift cards around the holidays.
The Avaya SoftConsole ensures a network administrator can monitor call volumes in real-time, and minimise issues of overwhelming. When an increase in calls to a specific area appears, the admin can reduce the stress by adding staff from other areas, like the catering department, or the reception desk, so they can help too.
Staying Ahead of the Curve
Investing in Avaya technology has provided The Old Mill with an excellent opportunity to upgrade productivity and efficiency levels while reducing costs. At the same time, thanks to Avaya, the team has access to call centre functionality which allows them to offer a more responsive and personalized level of customer service at every touchpoint.
After initially creating a seamless engagement experience for employees and customers, The Old Mill decided to replace every analogue phone left in the hotel with digital phones, to take full advantage of the scalability IP Office could offer.
