As legacy telephone lines are replaced by internet-based VoIP and PRI services begin to be phased out, The Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & Spa has adopted SIP Trunks from 14IP to deliver a more modern, flexible, and cost-effective communications solution.

The post The Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & Spa appeared first on Fourteen IP.

The installation of the hosted PBX at the Palace Hotel marks a significant step forward in luxury and innovation. With the introduction of Evolution Voice, the guest experience is elevated through seamless, modern communication solutions that reflect Fourteen IP’s ongoing commitment to exceptional service and customer satisfaction.

The post Palace Hotel San Francisco appeared first on Fourteen IP.

The post The Evolution of Hotel Telephony and AI Webinar appeared first on Fourteen IP.

The post NEC announces move away from on-premise phone systems appeared first on Fourteen IP.

Internet access has become an integral part of the hotel experience. It directly influences guest satisfaction, reputation, online presence and competitive positioning in the market.

Download this page as a PDF

Here are seven reasons to ensure your hotel has internet access that is reliable and fit for purpose in today’s marketplace.

1. Guest Expectations: In today’s digital age, guests expect reliable and high-speed internet access as a standard amenity. Internet connectivity has become an essential requirement for both business and leisure travelers. Hotels that offer fast and dependable internet access are more likely to attract and retain guests, enhancing their overall satisfaction.
2. Business Travelers: Many hotel guests, especially business travelers, rely on the internet to stay connected with their offices, clients, and partners. They need internet access to check emails, access cloud-based applications, participate in video conferences and conduct online research. A reliable internet connection enables them to work efficiently during their stay, which is vital for their productivity.
3. Online Bookings and Reviews: Internet access is critical for hotels to engage with potential guests through their websites, online booking platforms, and social media. Travelers often research and book accommodations online, and if a hotel lacks internet connectivity or has poor reviews about its internet service, it can significantly impact its reputation and potential bookings.
4. Guest Services: Many hotels now offer digital guest services and amenities that require internet connectivity. This includes services such as online check-in/check-out, in-room entertainment systems, streaming services, room service ordering, and concierge assistance. Reliable internet access is necessary to ensure these digital services function smoothly and enhance the guest experience.
5. Online Reviews and Feedback: Internet access is not only important during a guest’s stay but also for their post-stay experience. Guests often provide reviews and feedback on online platforms, and a positive experience with internet access can lead to favorable reviews. Conversely, negative experiences, such as slow or unreliable internet, can result in negative reviews, affecting the hotel’s reputation and future bookings.
6. Meetings and Conferences: Hotels frequently host business meetings, conferences, and events. These events require reliable internet access for attendees to access online resources, collaborate through video conferencing, share presentations and documents, and connect with their offices. A hotel with robust internet infrastructure can cater to the needs of such events and attract more bookings.
7. Competitive Advantage: Offering fast and reliable internet access can give hotels a competitive edge. In an industry where guests have numerous options to choose from, providing superior internet connectivity can differentiate a hotel from its competitors. It can become a deciding factor for guests when making their booking decisions.

Overall, it is essential for hotels to prioritize offering reliable and high-speed internet access to cater to the needs and expectations of their guests.

Internet access for hotels from Fourteen IP

Fourteen IP is 100% focused on the hospitality sector and are therefore perfectly positioned to advise, deliver and support AT&T Internet Access services to support the needs of your hotel. We are an AT&T Gold Partner.

As part of our end-to-end hotel technology offering, we can ensure that your hotel is prepared for when T1/PRI services are withdrawn in favour of internet-based voice over IP services in 2025. We can ensure that your essential communications are both reliable and fully supported.

Click here for more information about our Internet Access for Hotels service.

The post 7 Reasons for Reliable Internet Access in Hotels appeared first on Fourteen IP.

The project is the latest in a series of high-profile UK hospitality contracts for the partnership, with Ascom and Fourteen IP recently providing Myco 3 handsets to 4 premium hotels in the capital.

Owned and operated by one of the world’s biggest luxury hotel and hospitality brands, the converted Edwardian townhouse in question is divided into a series of high-end apartments, which are serviced by 24/7 staff providing everything from concierge and maid services to maintenance, gardening, and personal shopping.

In addition to guaranteeing a high-quality comms solution for guests, a key specification in the telephony upgrade brief was to enable enhanced communication, and task co-ordination, between individuals and teams on staff – leveraging the existing telecoms infrastructure to do so.

Fourteen IP, a global specialist in hosted voice and data solutions in the hospitality sector, achieved this by IP enabling the property’s existing DECT solution and using Ascom’s enterprise class Myco smartphones – which operate on both DECT and Wifi – to facilitate device consolidation and greater access to hospitality management software applications. Including the customer’s own proprietary application.

Richard Ford from Fourteen IP said: “This project highlighted a challenge we often see hotels wrestling with. DECT typically offers better voice stability but DECT-only handsets don’t support extensive use of the smart communication and management applications that have become so useful for the hospitality industry. Conversely, ‘high street’ smartphones that do provide app usage over Wifi, don’t have the roaming quality or reliability needed for commercial applications at scale.

“As a result, you end up with different staff using a range of different devices which, as well as being cumbersome, can end up with messages being missed and tasks taking more time than they should. In a hospitality setting, where first-class service is part of the brand DNA, this is far from ideal. By using Ascom’s Myco handsets for this project, and many like it, we overcome this issue and deliver the best of both worlds.”

For over 60 years, Ascom enterprise solutions have been empowering mobile workers by bringing the benefits of on-the-go communication and collaboration to workplaces around the world.

Fourteen IP has a global unified communications network and is continually seeking best-of-breed partners and brands to enrich both staff and guest experienced within the hospitality sector. The company has been a channel partner for over 7 years, offering Ascom’s wide range of DECT and VoWifi handsets as part of end-to-end unified comms systems for hotel and hospitality settings.

Ford added: “We know that Ascom solutions easily integrate with virtually any telephony, alarm, IT and process management system. Together with their proven track record in global hospitality, this means that – as their reseller – we have complete confidence in what we’re offering and know that deployment will be straightforward. This latest project is certainly testimony to what can be achieved through strong channel partnerships.”

Notes to editors

• Ascom is a global provider of communication and collaboration solutions for enterprise, healthcare and long-term care organizations.
• The vision of Ascom is to close digital information gaps allowing for the best possible decisions – anytime and anywhere. Ascom’s mission is to provide mission-critical, near-real-time solutions for highly mobile, ad hoc, and time-sensitive environments. Ascom uses its unique product and solutions portfolio and software architecture capabilities to devise integration and mobilisation solutions that provide truly smooth, complete, and efficient workflows.
• Ascom is headquartered in Baar, Switzerland and has subsidiaries in 15 countries and employs around 1,300 people worldwide. Ascom registered shares (ASCN) are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange in Zurich.
• Established in the UK for more than 60 years, Ascom’s expertise spans hardware manufacture (hand-held devices), software development and systems integration. Ascom UK has two key divisions: Healthcare, where it works with NHS trusts and private healthcare organisations, and: Enterprise – covering retail, manufacturing, and hospitality. Ascom UK enterprise solutions speed up the flow of vital information between management systems and workers carrying out tasks – helping them to deliver efficiency improvements and cost savings.
• In healthcare, Ascom solutions speed up the flow of vital information between clinicians – helping them to give better care and save lives in time-critical situations such as sepsis diagnosis.

For more information visit www.ascom.com

About Fourteen IP

• Fourteen IP operates globally with three network operations centres in Orlando, UK, and Europe supporting hundreds of thousands of guest rooms for prestigious brands such as Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Four Seasons and many more.
• At Fourteen IP, we believe in empowering hospitality with reliable, easy-to-use internet access, hotel telephony, conferencing, and wireless charging solutions.
• Fourteen IP are a multi-national carrier running its own carrier-grade telephony platforms in the UK, Europe and across the United States allowing Fourteen IP to provide service for hotels right across EMEA and North America
• The vision of Fourteen IP is to make hospitality communications simple and effective, providing you with the solutions you need to deliver the advanced customer experience today’s hotel guests expect.
• Fourteen IP pride themselves on a truly personal tailored service and 365 tech support. Taking the complexity out of solutions and delivering them in a way that is simple and effective enriches the services customers are providing to their clients.

For more information visit our Ascom Service and Support page.

The post Fourteen IP and Ascom strengthen partnership appeared first on Fourteen IP.

The Cloud PBX platforms are hosted in carrier-grade data centres located in Virginia and Texas, with European platforms hosted in London and Frankfurt, which will power Fourteen IP’s Evolution Voice solutions and services.

This move sets Fourteen IP apart from other vendors, as it allows them to develop their Cloud PBX infrastructure, enabling them to create solutions and services to meet the needs of its customers, both now and in the future. In a year that has brought challenges to many businesses, both financially and in the way business is conducted, Fourteen IP have made great strides forward, not only by utilizing its current in-house solutions and services, but also by further harnessing its capabilities throughout 2020 to provide increased efficiencies and improved ways of conducting business for its customers.

Cisco BroadWorks is the world’s leading cloud business communication platform, supporting over 26 million businesses worldwide and used by many of the world’s largest carriers.

In addition to its Cisco BroadWorks platforms, Fourteen IP has partnered with other leading providers, developing their solutions to enable Evolution Voice to meet the needs of the global hospitality industry.

Fourteen IP CEO Neil Tolley added – “2020 was a year to forget in many ways, but during the lockdowns, we along with our partners, deployed our platforms and integrated them with industry-leading solutions as well as connected hundreds of hotels across 22 countries. Our platforms now connect over 220,000 hotel guest rooms and we have continued to develop solutions to help our customers, as the world opens back up again in 2021.”

The post Fourteen IP acquires its own Cisco BroadWorks carrier-grade telephony platforms appeared first on Fourteen IP.

For SIP trunking solutions, you are required to work with your PBX vendor to ensure full compliance, Evolution Voice will route the calls correctly so long as your PBX is configured correctly. If you require any assistance with this please do not hesitate to reach out to your account manager in the first instance.

Ray Baum’s Act requires that all 911 calls include the “Dispatchable Location” of the caller in the form of additional information provided to the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) receiving the call. Dispatchable Location of the caller is the precise location at which emergency services are required to attend. Compliance mandates certain location information (floor, room number, method to access room, etc.) be communicated to public safety providers to facilitate optimal emergency response.

Kari’s Law requires direct 911 dialing and notification capabilities in multi-line telephone systems (MLTS), which are typically found in hotels. This simply means that by dialing 911 or 9911 the caller will still reach the emergency services.

Failure to comply with Ray Baum’s Act can result in significant penalties of up to $10,000 plus $500/day. The act came in to force on 6^th Jan 2021 and applies to all new MLTS or any existing MLTS that makes ‘significant changes’

All our existing installations of Evolution Voice, already comply with Kari’s law. SIP trunk customers should again ensure they comply via their PBX vendor. Fourteen IP also recommends hoteliers contact their legal counsel to determine the compliance requirements and risks associated with their properties.

For more information please do not hesitate to contact us.

The post Ray Baum’s Act & Kari’s Law appeared first on Fourteen IP.

The post Tech Insights with Dan Cunliffe Technical Director appeared first on Fourteen IP.

The post Fourteen IP Are Delighted to Partner with CallCabinet appeared first on Fourteen IP.