Louvre Hotels Group highlights their successful relationship with Colt

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Colt services keep leading European hotel group connected to its customers and its business-critical system.

Guests checking in at a Louvre Hotels Group hotel can use an app on their smartphone or tablet to confirm their arrival and collect their room key from a terminal. In some hotels, they no longer need a physical key: near-field communication (NFC) turns the guest’s smartphone into a virtual key to the door. On departure, the bill displays on the smartphone and the guest simply pays and checks out online, with no need to queue in reception. And of course, throughout their stay guests can use free Wifi at the hotel.

This e-check-in and e-checkout app, the first to offer such comprehensive capabilities, was launched by the Louvre Hotels Group in France, as just one of several developments to capitalise on the growing popularity of smart mobile devices. Guests can also use a reservation app, which uses geolocation to help them book a room at their nearest hotel in just five clicks.

Always-on network access to critical systems

These services make guests’ lives easier, and are supported by Colt managed networking services. In addition to internet access, Colt provides a fully managed Ethernet network that gives the group’s French hotels access to its centralised property management system(PMS), hosted in the group’s data centre. The PMS handles all aspects of each hotel’s operations from the moment a booking is made via any channel, through to when a guest pays their bill and checks out. All information is updated in real time.

Previously, each hotel ran its own PMS, with IT specialists on site to support it. When the Louvre Hotels Group decided to centralise this critical system more than 10 years ago in order to reduce the cost of IT and pave the way for developing new services, it was a groundbreakingmove within the European hotel industry. Success depended on the quality of the network connectivity, as Thierry Guiraudios, SVP of IT for the Louvre Hotels Group, explains, "Without access to the PMS, everything in our hotels would grind to a halt, including revenues. That’s why the fast, reliable connectivity delivered by Colt is critical to our business".

With its centralised PMS, the Louvre Hotels Group has consistent operations and management reporting across all hotels, and staff within the hotel are 100% customer focused. A backup network forms part of the Colt solution permanent access to the PMS. “In all the years we’ve used the Colt network to access the PMS, it’s never let us down,” says Thierry Guiraudios.

Cost-efficient voice services help maintain customer satisfaction

Colt also provides the Louvre Hotels Group with outbound and inbound voice services. The costs of national and international outbound calls, including those made by guests using the phones in their rooms, are over 30% lower compared with the group’s previous telephony supplier. And people who prefer to book rooms by phone can call a non-geographic number that’s integrated with an interactive voice response (IVR) service to route calls to the correct hotel. If the call can’t be answered quickly enough at the hotel in question, it’s rerouted seamlessly to a call centre, to maintain customer service levels and avoid losing potential business.

A long-term relationship that delivers results

The Louvre Hotels Group has been working with Colt for more than 10 years. Guiraudios says the group originally chose Colt because of its dynamic approach, extensive portfolio of up-to-date solutions, and competitive pricing – characteristics that continue to underpin the services Colt provides today. “The Colt solutions have enabled us to centralise our business-critical property management system, develop innovative customer applications, and reduce our network and IT costs,” he says.

Summarising the relationship with Colt he adds: “Colt has been a real partner throughout the years we’ve been working together, always ensuring that its services have kept pace with growth in our business. The people I deal with directly at Colt understand my needs. We have a smooth, efficient working relationship.”