Case Study: The Dorchester
The Dorchester is the iconic London flagship of the Dorchester Collection, a portfolio of the world's foremost five-star iconic luxury hotels in the world’s greatest cities. The hotels are prized for a style of service that responds impeccably to the individual needs of each guest and the hotel’s communications services and infrastructure must support and reflect this dedication to excellence.
Challenge
The Dorchester Collection wanted its new communications system to be the central point of an infrastructure that would grow and develop as new hotels open. It had to be at least as good as anything else on the market, but also to deliver specific new benefits to both staff and guests in order to underpin the smooth functioning of the hotel and the attention to personal service it gives to every one of its guests. The system had to be robust, reliable and well-supported in order to provide consistently high quality services. It also had to be customised to suit the particular needs of the hotel and to deliver an extra wow factor of superior technology-assisted customer service, from the ‘sense of arrival’ as guests walk through the door to in-room one-touch environmental control and a wide range of connectivity and multi-media connectivity.
Solution
The communications system is based on an Alcatel-Lucent Omni-PCX Enterprise solution with IP Telephony enabled and a mixture of IP and digital telephone handsets throughout the hotel as required. The Enterprise system also acts as a central platform for the new hotels providing an all-IP environment in both locations and the ability to scale for future additional hotels.
The Dorchester also has a centralised Contact Centre solution based on Alcatel-Lucent’s OmniTouch Contact Centre and Nice Voice Recording. It handles all reservations and external calls, plus all back-office telephony, leaving the front desk free to welcome guests face to face and provide an instant ‘sense’ experience for guests by engaging with them immediately on arrival.
The Dorchester has run a trial of Unified Communications applications and is in the process of introducing new UC functionality as customised solutions are developed in co-operation, in particular modifications to make the user interface more user-friendly in a hospitality environment and adding specific features that will enhance the guest experience.
The new hotels will have the latest colour IP telephony handsets with additional features including touch control and the ability to control the in-room environment – from air conditioning, TV and radio, curtains and lights, to the ability to see who is at the door through the doorcam and remotely operate the door to allow access.
Benefits
- High-tech environment designed for maximum guest comfort – wake-up button to control in-room environment (air conditioning, curtains, lights and tv/radio)
- Contact Centre has dramatically improved customer service by diverting calls away from the front desk - from 50% down to 5-6, allowing reception staff to dedicate their time to personal service for guests
- Cost control through flexible approach to support allowing varying SLA levels for different parts of the system
- Customised solutions – NextiraOne able to project manage changes through a keen understanding of the hotel’s business drivers
- IP Telephony reduces the cabling costs for new users and especially in the two new hotels.
Partners
Alcatel-Lucent
