GuestWorks and DEFINITY ECS Release 8
Hospitality Operations
555-230-723 Issue 6
December 1999
Hospitality Operations
6Hospitality Services Overview
Hospitality is the ability to activate Do Not Disturb and the assurance that the
feature will turn off at the predetermined time. Do Not Disturb is just that — it
turns off ringing at a station (a form of termina tin g restriction). When activated,
only Priority Calling and Automatic Wakeup calls can ring at the station. This
restriction ensures fewer distractions when a guest does not want to be disturbed.
Hospitality is having a check-in and check-out button on the attendant console or
backup telephone. When a guest is checked in, the desk clerk presses the check-i n
button; the switch prompts for an extension number, marks the room as occupied,
and turns the telephone on. At check-out, the reverse happens.
Hospitality for the business traveler is providing the Model 8411 telephones.
The 8411 telephone uses digital technology to provide simultaneous voice calls
and data calls over one pair of wires. These telephones can replace existin g analog
room telephones without rewiring your property.
Hospitality is the housekeeper cleaning a room, going to the telephone and dialing
a feature access code to change the room status from “dirty” to “clean and ready
for occupancy.” All of the above are done in the swit ch , without the use of a PMS.
A GuestWorks feature, called Dial by Name, allows guests to call other guests in
the hotel by entering their name instead of their extension number. This feature
uses the Call Vectoring feature to give guests another option when placing calls.
PMS Integration
When a PMS is added, many of these switch features mentioned above become
enhanced for the needs of the lodging management. The PMS interfaces to the
switch using a digital port. When the guest checks into the hotel, al l inform ation i s
entered in the PMS and then transferred to the switch. If the PMS has the names
registration feature, the guest’s name is transferred a utomaticall y to the switch and
is added to the station screen.
This means that when Jim Smith calls for room service, the person answering the
telephone sees “Jim Smith” in the digital display and answers “How can I help
you, Mr. Smith.” This kind of personalized service is what dist ingui shes on e hotel
from another.