How to Build a Hospitality Communications Solution

If you are looking to build a communications, management and security solution for any hotel, resort, inn, lodge or bread-and-breakfast, Grandstream can provide every endpoint and management system you need to do so. Also, our wide range of products are able to work together to keep any hotel operating at maximum efficiency. To examine our hospitality solutions, let’s first highlight everything we offer, and then we’ll show you some real examples of hotels that deployed Grandstream solutions, and the results they achieved by doing so.

Communications & security system management – The UCM series of IP PBXs are the ideal anchor to any hospitality solution. They offer a powerful UC platform with thousands of voice, video, data and mobility features and no licensing fees to bring all endpoints together, integrate property management systems and create truly integrated hospitality networks.

Voice communications – With over 30 IP voice and video phones in our portfolio, we have the ideal model and price point for every hotel need – from advanced video phones for directors and security teams to basic phones for hotel rooms. Our phones even allow staff to easily control door access, intercom/PA, security cameras and more.

Property Management Systems integration – Many hotels use proper management system (PMS) software platforms to manage and control most hotel operations, including room cleaning, billing, check-in/check-out, room service, mini bar status and more. Hotels can integrate our UCM series with their PMS in order to allow the 2 platforms to share information while allowing operations done through endpoints to feed back into the PMS. Check out our Property Management System API Guide for more, and you can also view some additional guides showing integration with specific PMS platforms on the UCM series resource page.

Door access & Physical security – Deploy a GDS series device at all private entrances and restricted areas and then allow access through use of RFID cards/fobs, PIN codes or manually requested access. Grandstream phones come ready to open doors connected to the GDS series, giving full control of facility access to employees throughout the hotel. We also provide a variety of SIP Surveillance cameras which can be called/call other IP video/voice phones at any time or when alarms are sounded.

Intercom & PA – Our GSC series offers a 2-way intercom speaker/microphone and a 1-way PA speaker. These SIP devices allow hotels to build intercom/PA networks that support multi-cast paging and the ability to pinpoint specific speakers through SIP extensions. These devices can be accessed simply by calling their extension from any endpoint on the network.

Employee Mobility – Our WP series of Cordless Wi-Fi IP phones and the DP series of DECT Cordless solutions offer a variety of options for being able to reach employees anywhere on site. Our free Grandstream Wave Softphone App is also another great option for reaching employees on smart phones and devices.

Wi-Fi networks – Travelers now expect fast and secure Wi-Fi access at any hotel, and our GWN series of Wi-Fi APs along with our GWN.Cloud management platform is the ideal solution. Our GWN AP portfolio includes a variety of indoor and long-range options, and if the hotel is going to utilize their Wi-Fi network for voice or video, the GWN series can prioritize these connections through QoS. They also offer a variety of captive portal options and authentications to ensure only permitted users can access hotel networks.

High-Availability & integration of other network types – Our HA100 offers hotels peace-of-mind by linking 2 UCM6510s together, so that if one goes down for any reason, the secondary UCM6510 will automatically take over. Also, we support the integration of analog networks and trunks through our IP PBXs and gateways/ATAs, our UCM6510 supports E1/T1/J1 networks, and we offer a variety of analog and digital VoIP gateways for integrating other network types.

Now, let’s take a look at 3 hotels that deployed Grandstream solutions and examine the results they achieved by doing so.

Accor Hotels – Paris, France: UC and PMS Solution

Accor Hotels is the largest hotel group outside of the United States with over 4,500 hotels in more than 100 countries. In 2018, they began a project to upgrade the legacy communication systems being used in most of their hotels, starting with their flagship Paris location. They implemented a Grandstream solution that provides complete redundancy, a streamlined guest communication experience, improved staff communication and mobility, a state-of-the-art business center, and the addition of a modern property management system. Check out the full case study.

Swiss Spirit Hotels – Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: UC and PMS Solution

The Swiss Spirit is a 4-star hotel with 17 floors, a business center and a restaurant located in the business district of Saudi Arabia’s capitol city of Riyadh. They implemented a Grandstream solution that provided scalability, a robust reservation process, efficient call handling/routing, easy guest communications and could be integrated with the property management system they wanted to adopt. Click here to view the full case study.

Hotel Estancia Real – Jalisco, Mexico: Wi-Fi Solution

This 5-star resort with 9 floors, 2 bars, a restaurant, night club and business center needed to offer their guests a Wi-Fi network worthy of a 5-star resort to appease high-end personal and business travelers. They implemented Grandstream’s GWN series of Wi-Fi APs to offer blazing fast speeds that supported hundreds of users in any area, easily facilitated roaming, were quickly installed, support future expansion and provide centralized system management. Read the full case study here.