PhoneSuite Installs 1,000th Hotel PBX

At Comfort Inn Northeast Near Orlando

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. October 14, 2008

BROOMFIELD, CO, March 7, 2006. The Comfort Inn Northeast in Fern Park, Fla., recently became the 1,000th hotel to install the PhoneSuite PBX, an economical but feature-rich lodging solution designed for independent hotels and limited-service franchise properties with up to 220 rooms. Choice Hotels International, the national franchisor of the Comfort Inn brand, named PhoneSuite an endorsed PBX provider in August 2005.

Darshana Shah, general manager of the 75-room suburban hotel, said price, functionality, testimonials and tradeshow networking sold her on the PhoneSuite system. Mother Nature provided the immediate need.

"Recently a lightening strike took out several systems, including our telecommunications," Shah said. "Suddenly we found ourselves looking for a new PBX. A new system wasn't in our budget, nor had we planned to upgrade from our Mitel SX50 that had been in place for several years. However, I had recently attended the Choice Hotels Conference in Jacksonville, Fla., met with PhoneSuite and was impressed.

Shah said the PhoneSuite system looked attractive, seemed easy to operate, and offered numerous guest-service upgrades that the hotel's existing Mitel system didn't offer, such as voice mail, credit-limit functions, and the ability to enable long-distance calling when needed. "PhoneSuite is definitely a great choice for any small property looking for a system upgrade on a limited budget," Shah said. "If we were to purchase a comparable system from Mitel, matching features and functions, we would have spent considerable more money."

PhoneSuite, a division of Call Management Products, has been supplying hospitality PBXs to independent hotels and limited-service franchised properties since 1999.

Frank Melville, PhoneSuite president, said the company has enjoyed tremendous growth in the hotel/motel market. He said the company's partnership with franchisors and the industry's leading hotel associations are key contributors to its success. PhoneSuite is a founding sponsor of the Asian American Hotel Owners Assn. and is a proud member of the American Hotel & Lodging Assn.

"PhoneSuite provides the telecommunications' solutions that today's hoteliers are looking for at prices they can afford," Melville said. "That's one of the main reason our growth and success are continuing at such a strong pace. We also owe a great deal of our success to our hotel partners and their associates who really help us get the word out about PhoneSuite."

Positive Feedback, Quality Service and Karma

Case in point: Weeks before the storm left the Comfort Inn Northeast without a PBX, Shah said she was visiting a sister Comfort Inn in the vicinity. The property is a satisfied PhoneSuite customer.

"My friend shared with me how pleased she is with PhoneSuite," Shah said. "Although we weren't actively looking for a new solution, I must admit that based on their comments, I wanted to pick up the phone and give PhoneSuite a call. I remembered the company and the system from the Choice conference, but again, a system upgrade was not in the plan."

Coincidentally, two weeks after her visit to the sister property, the hotel's PBX was destroyed. Shah immediately called PhoneSuite. Intech Systems (Palm Harbor, Fla.), the systems integrator and dealer of PhoneSuite to the southeast, installed the new PBX and interfaced it to the Choice Hotels PMS system.

"We were up-and-running in one day and no training was needed because the system is very self-explanatory," Shah said. "If we did have questions, Piyush Patel, Intech vice president of operations, and his team of technicians were very professional and accommodating. Now our guests get the services they want at a price we could afford. What had started out as a disaster turned out to be a blessing in disguise."

Offering 'Comfort' a 'Choice'

PhoneSuite offers two hospitality-specific PBX solutions - PhoneSuite 112 and PhoneSuite 64. Both feature easy-to-use one-touch function keys on the console, require little training for staff to become proficient, and feature automated attendant, voice mail and call accounting with inexpensive plug-and-play add-on cards, Melville said.

The Comfort Inn Northeast selected PhoneSuite 112, which is Ideal for limited-service franchise properties up to 220 rooms.

PhoneSuite 112 features:

T1 line support or up to 16 regular lines from the phone company

4 ports of access to guest voice mail

A check-in/check-out PMS interface

Answer detection monitoring

Two lines per room

Four-digit extension numbers

Two front desk consoles

"Feature phones" for answering calls ringing to other extensions and with buttons for Voice Mail, Hold, Do Not Disturb, Transfer, and Redial.

PLUS everything listed under PhoneSuite 64 below . . .

PhoneSuite 64 is an economical but feature-rich phone system designed for bed-and-breakfast operations and independent hotels up to 60 rooms. Features include:

One-touch key access to guest dialing restrictions, wake-up calls, room status, and much more

Wake-up calls delivered with a pleasant voice message

Automated attendant, voice mail, and call accounting with property management system posting interface

9-1-1 alarms notify the front desk as soon as the emergency call is made

Both "day" mode (front desk is open) and "night" mode

"PhoneSuite will do whatever it takes to satisfy our hotel customers," Melville said. "Hotels looking for a PBX that is easy to use and that is priced correctly should call PhoneSuite today."

For more information on PhoneSuite's products, log on to www.phonesuite.com, or contact Joe Feran at 303-465-0651.