Hotel group Thistle Hotels has signed an IT outsourcing deal with BT to become its sole telecom manager and maintenance provider.
Thistle is reducing its three existing telecom suppliers to just one. With 47 Thistle-branded hotels and two Guoman hotels located throughout the UK, a single provider of telecoms services and support will allow for better customer service by improving reliability and internal service by more than 30 per cent, the company expects.
"In order to ensure optimum operational levels on a consistent basis, we have outsourced our telecoms maintenance and helpdesk directly to BT in partnership with Servassure. This provides us with a single point of contact for all our hotels and offices, which means that Thistle employees only have to call one number for assistance that is available," said John Hogan, Thistle Hotels' chief information officer.
"We are a 24 hour business operating within a very competitive marketplace, and our hotels and offices cannot afford internal services to be out of action at any level. Downtime and telephone issues can affect every employee's ability to do their job, which has the potential to negatively impact on a customer's experience and ultimately our bottom line," Hogan said.
BT will provide a Thistle branded internal telephone helpdesk for employees and throughout the remainder of 2007 begin to install wireless internet hotspots at each Thistle hotel.
Along with the improved reliability one supplier will provide, it is also expected to cut Thistles' costs by more than 40 per cent. No value for the deal was announced.
