General7.02.2011

Coastlands on the Ridge invests R2m in future-proof guest technologies

Coastlands on the Ridge is a modern luxury 101-room hotel commanding Durban’s skyline, and accommodates modern and sophisticated guests with its new hospitality solution and infrastructure from Alcatel-Lucent.

The designer room hotel, with views of the Moses Mabhida stadium and the Indian Ocean, has invested R2 million in telecommunications, networking, WiFi access for staff and guests, integration into its property management system, online billing for guests, WiFi billing, and network security.

“Coastlands on the Ridge can truly boast improved service and reduced costs through the flexible, integrated communications system that links key services including reservations, check-in and check-out, facility maintenance and guest service,” says Ashley Carr, account manager at Bytes Communications Systems. “The customised wireless solutions increase productivity because employees are connected at all times, and it’s a service that increasingly technology-aware guests demand.”

Coastlands on the Ridge is the second hotel in the Saantha Naidu Group, Coastlands Hotels, to benefit from the Alcatel-Lucent hospitality solution, incorporating the Alcatel Lucent Omni PCX Enterprise platform for voice, Alcatel Lucent Omni for data, and Alcatel Lucent WiFi, from Bytes Communications Systems.

The hotel now delivers personalised in-room services. It is the ultimate user-centric guest experience using a customised telephone-based interface and a range of business phones that integrate seamlessly with hospitality applications with direct access to voice mail, mobility tools and payment options through in-room phones that have video screens pre-programmed with a graphical menu of services.

It has a contact centre to handle guest reservations and inquiries effectively and efficiently by integrating front-office and communication systems, routing calls to the most appropriate agent in the guest’s preferred language, providing quick check-in or complete check-in with additional information, and receiving a global overview of room availability and status.

In addition, it has wired and wireless services to keep guests connected wherever they are by offering quality of service options for online access to gaming, music, video, and collaboration, and providing bandwidth based on individual guest demand and broadband access and networking equipment for constant connectivity.

“Luxury hotels and resorts such as our Coastlands on the Ridge elevate the customer experience by offering this type of service,” says Rushen Naidu, special projects director at Saantha Naidu Group, Coastlands Hotels. “It is a fundamental component of future-proofing our business and staying at the head of the game.”

The project was awarded in February, 2009, implementation kicked off in May, 2009, and the project was completed in November 2009.

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