Communication services are essential for most hospitality guests. Many business executives and travelers demand efficient facilities that can keep them in touch with their home base. It is imperative that sophisticated hotel billing software account for phone charges, internet usage, equipment fees, surcharges and taxes in real time.
Virtually every major hotel has some form of call tracking or call accounting software. The falling cost of phone calls has seen a decline in revenue. Gone are the days when hotels could make huge margins just by picking up the phone. There was a time when it was not uncommon for hotels to increase phone calls by 80 to 100 percent. Sometimes your phone charges can cost more than the room rate.
In the past, a decent hotel call accounting system was usually left in the back room logging long distance call records from a PBX serial port. The system would apply exorbitant fees and post them in the property management system. Manufacturer rate updates were generally ignored (as the updates usually contained lower billing plans).
Hotels’ telecom revenues are now declining at a steady rate of 3 to 6 percent per year. Hotel general managers and controllers are forced to be more creative to meet ultimate communication goals. The traditional call accounting system must now adjust to accommodate new technologies and market competition. The answer lies in the creative use of new call accounting modules or, more appropriately, a communications management system (CMS).
Proper utilization of a hotel call accounting system can still yield great benefits. Guests receiving busy signals will find alternate ways to make phone calls. It is extremely important that properties keep track of the number of busy signals, overflows, or blocked calls. This can be accomplished through the use of traffic reports that identify the grade of service and peak calling times. These reports often recommend the proper number of trunks or lines to keep the property running smoothly.
Long distance calls have been declining for years. However, local and free calls have been fairly stable. Using billing thresholds can help increase revenue. Certainly a guest who talks for thirty minutes on a local call might be charged a small amount for use of the facilities. Some hotels have chosen to adjust room rates by a fixed amount to compensate for lost telecom revenue.
The rise of Internet use has forced many hotels to offer free Internet access. This has compounded the problem for the telecommunications department. Many guests and business travelers have found other convenient means of communication (IP services, instant messaging, email, cell phones) that are not part of the hotel property infrastructure. The advent of flat rate VoIP providers has given the business traveler the ability to avoid toll charges. A modern communications management system must be able to add Internet usage charges to guest posts.
Proactive hotel properties use call accounting reports to determine call patterns that show where guests are calling. These statistics help the hotel target marketing and negotiate better rate plans. Night auditors have always been required to reconcile daily transactions. However, most failed to reconcile the transactions to the actual phone bill. Examining phone company records against call accounting records helps ensure that all calls are properly logged, billed, and overcharged.
Many hotel call accounting systems are missing critical information. Extensions are often not correctly identified as guest rooms, conference rooms, VIP rooms, or administrative rooms. This can result in inaccurate billing and lost revenue. Properties must ensure that their call accounting system is uploaded and configured correctly on a monthly basis. Most banner properties have a preset rate table that is implemented across all properties. System administrators must ensure that all properties follow the same guidelines.
As the property provides more communication facilities, the communication management system will be required to account for hotel mobile phones, calls made with authorization codes, internet service, handheld devices and other services for guests. guests.
