The Buyer’s Guide to Choosing a Hotel Phone System

How much importance do you give your hotel phone system?

The hotel guest experience isn’t just about how nice your rooms are or what amenities you offer. Booking, checking in, and ongoing customer service — including fielding inquiries and resolving concerns — greatly contribute to the overall guest experience.

Too many hotels still operate with antiquated traditional phone systems that rely on extensive hardware. These hotels should consider upgrading to modern VoIP systems to leverage advanced features, functionality, and scalability. 

Let’s discuss what to look for when buying a cloud-based phone system and compare some of the top providers to choose from. 

Why Replace Your Old Hotel Phone System?

Many hotels are still using outdated traditional phone systems. While they may work just fine, there are multiple reasons why businesses in the hospitality industry should consider upgrading to modern alternatives like VoIP hotel phone systems, SIP trunking systems, and private branch exchange (PBX) phone systems. 

Cost savings

Cloud-based systems immediately eliminate the need to purchase, install, and maintain expensive hardware. There will be no ongoing maintenance costs, and no additional hardware is required if you add more lines to your hotel. The cost savings can be significant, which is just as important for small businesses in the hospitality industry as it is for a Hilton hotel.

Scalability

Virtual phone systems allow hotels to easily add or remove lines as the hotel grows or shrinks. You can add additional lines or ring groups for specific events, like major conferences that you’re hosting, or adapt your phone system for busy seasons when you expect an influx of guests. And, if you scale to the point where you want to take advantage of a call center, cloud-based systems make that simple. 

Mobility

Virtual phone systems allow for total flexibility and mobility in use. Staff members can use their mobile devices to make or receive calls and send messages on the go, improving responsiveness.

Automatic updates

Most virtual phone systems allow for automated updates, so there’s no need to worry about updating software or hardware. Hotel staff can go about their daily routines; all they’ll need to do is review notifications informing them that their hotel telephone system has been updated. 

Improved features

Cloud systems often offer advanced telephony features that can improve the customer experience and overall agent productivity. 

These features include the following:

• Automatic call recording
• Auto attendants and interactive voice response (IVR), which greet customers and use smart call routing to direct calls
• Call forwarding, call queues, and call transfers

Must-Have Features for Your Hotel Phone System

There are several key features every hotel should prioritize when selecting a VoIP provider for its hospitality phone system.

Seamless communication

Integration with your customer relationship management (CRM) platform is vital, so hotel staff and live agents can deliver personalized, exceptional service to guests. Integration with your CRM system enables your staff members to quickly review guest call history, wake-up calls to guest room phones, and voicemail-to-email transcription.

Guest-centric features

There are several hotel phone system features that can greatly improve the guest experience, including the following:

• Multilingual auto attendants to serve customers in different languages
• In-room messaging that gives guests the ability to order room service or mark themselves as “do not disturb” if they don’t need housecleaning
• Voicemail transcription your team can quickly review

Staff collaboration

Hotel management involves extensive internal collaboration with staff members, and your phone system should support that. Choose a system that offers the following features:

• Internal calls
• SMS messaging
• Videoconferencing

Scalability and reliability

All hotel phone systems should be scalable, reliable, and capable of handling peak call volumes. This means that you should have the option to easily add lines as needed, whether it’s to manage internal growth or to outsource calls to a contact center. Choosing a carrier with exceptional reliability and customer support is also important. 

Security

Ensure the phone service you select encrypts calls and data to protect guest privacy. It’s also important to choose a provider that has compliance-focused features. For example, PCI compliance rules prohibit businesses from recording calls when customers share credit card information. Look for systems that offer encryption and standard security certifications. 

Ease of use

Ease of use is sometimes overlooked, but an intuitive interface is essential. Both guests and staff should be able to easily navigate calls and phone system features. The last thing guests need is someone at the front desk struggling to patch them through to the correct team members to help them when needed. 

Integrations

Your hotel phone system will be most effective when it integrates with the tech stack you already use. Look for platforms that integrate with your CRM, email, or housekeeping applications. 

Top 5 Hotel Phone System Providers

When looking for a provider, make a list of the phone system features that are most important to you. Then, consider these five best hotel phone systems on the market in 2024. 

1. Nextiva

Nextiva provides a user-friendly cloud-based phone system with features tailored to hotel needs, including the following:

• Advanced IVR with inbound and outbound capabilities
• Easy-to-adapt call flows for internal and external calls
• Remote-friendly mobile app
• Voice, SMS, and video communication options
• Multilevel auto attendants for qualifying plans
• Intelligent call routing and call forwarding options
• Multiple integrations offering compatibility with multiple CRM platforms
• Transparent pricing

Nextiva provides diverse communication solutions, including VoIP systems, SIP trunking, and hotel PBX solutions. 

Nextiva is known for its exceptional customer support, which is available 24/7 for all customers through email, phone, and chat.

Combined with Nextiva’s powerful 99.999% uptime, this provider’s focus on delivering reliable, high-quality service makes it a strong choice for hotels prioritizing a great guest experience. 

2. Avaya

Avaya offers the Avaya IX Hospitality portfolio, which was designed specifically for hotels. Its system includes options for traditional analog phone sets (the Avaya H109 and H129) and the Avaya Vantage, which supports video, text, and voice. 

The company’s communication system is an end-to-end solution that allows guests to leverage smartphones to book services, request housekeeping, and order room service. However, the feature complexity, price point, and on-premise deployment options can mean that Avaya may not be a good fit for your hotel.

3. Dialpad

Dialpad leverages AI to better enhance guest engagement. The company offers multiple self-service options, which can empower guests to conveniently manage their stays while also reducing the amount of time that hotel staff may be tied up in responding to requests.

Dialpad’s unified communications platform offers an easy-to-use interface and simple onboarding. It also integrates with many popular tools, including both Salesforce and HubSpot. 

While Dialpad can be more expensive than other alternatives, and some hotels may not want such an AI-heavy platform, its focus on the guest experience can make this provider a good choice of phone system for modern hotels. Consider the top Dialpad competitors to assess whether it may be a good fit for your hotel. 

4. Ooma

Ooma has cost-effective options for hotels whose top concern is their budget. It offers basic features that are suitable for smaller hotels. 

Ooma’s features include the following:

• Basic team chat options
• Branded VoIP phones
• Call recording capability
• Desktop and mobile app
• Call queuing
• Videoconferencing
• Auto attendant

See how Ooma measures up against Nextiva as a hotel phone system VoIP provider. 

5. Mitel

Mitel caters specifically to businesses and hotels with on-site IT teams. Its system offers a high degree of potential customization and control, which is ideal for hotels and franchises with complex communication needs.

Mitel offers unified communications platforms, features that promote operational efficiency, and self-serve options for guests. However, for hotels seeking simpler setup or ongoing maintenance in a hotel phone system, Mitel might require too much technical expertise. 

Review Mitel’s top competitors to see if it may be a good hotel phone system for your business. 

Upgrade Your Guest Experience With Nextiva’s Hotel Phone System

The hotel phone system you choose directly impacts multiple parts of the guest experience, starting when they first book a reservation and continuing throughout their stay. During this time, they may call to request housekeeping, room service, or a late checkout. Choosing a phone system that prioritizes reliability, security, and functionality to best serve your guests is essential.

When picking a business phone system provider, consider the features you need, the reliability you want, and the budget you have. 

Many hotels choose Nextiva for its outstanding reliability, core features, transparent pricing, and exceptional customer experience. Nextiva’s unified communications solutions are ready to handle inbound and outbound calling, with unlimited calling in the United States—including Puerto Rico — and Canada so you can help your guests with round-the-clock availability. 

Point Sebago, a popular Maine vacation destination, used Nextiva to customize its phone system to increase bookings and improve the guest experience. Nextiva’s reliability, auto attendant, and call groups were essential to help Point Sebago meet its goals.

“I was very skeptical about switching providers; we were promised so much with our previous system, and all the promises were broken. But Nextiva has been open and honest from the start, and they have delivered on everything they said!”

~Bob MacDonald, IT Administrator, Point Sebago