Improving hotel security, customer service and the bottom line
The client: A world famous five star hotel.
The requirement
Amax installed integrated CCTV & Access Control for this famous hotel
The hotel in question is one of the world’s most famous hotels based in London’s West End. The hotel’s global reputation attracts celebrities, world leaders, politicians and royalty from all over the world. As such, customer service paramount – but so is hotel security. The horrifying Mumbai attacks at the Oberoi Trident and Taj Mahal and more recently in Paris have led to increased security measures at many of the world’s leading hotels, as it becomes clear that they are specific targets. In the light of these recent events, the hotel owners ordered a full security review. Through a referral, Amax were contacted as we not only provide the best integrated hotel security systems, but also specialise in business intelligence systems. These monitoring systems can increase profits by showing where all aspects of day-to-day operations can be improved, as well as reducing wasteful or dishonest behavior.
Better Hotel Security
Amax showed how both security and operations could be dramatically enhanced and how other department could also benefit from the advanced features of the system.
Hi Definition monitoring – evidence for improvement.
Firstly, Amax created a scheduled plan of works. At the core of the new systems were hi definition mega pixel CCTV cameras, linked to Video Analytics software tools or VMS (Video management Systems). After a thorough analysis of where cameras should be placed, what type of camera and the area to be covered, structured cabling work was done to support the system. As an English heritage site, all work had to be done unobtrusive and in harmony with the buildings lavish architecture and decor. The works also had to be done whilst the hotel was fully occupied. Amax worked closely with the in-house maintenance team to deliver the works as discreetly as possible.
Enhancing Customer Service
Security is essential, but the day to day running of the hotel as efficiently as possible is where the system really shines and brings real commercial results. This is where Amax’s solutions leave traditional security behind and deliver real business intelligence.
“At world class hotels customer service is everything”
The hotel requires that high profile guests always have the perfect stay and that every interaction with the hotel is of the highest quality. How can an intelligent security system support this?
- Arrival – instant identification of important guests allowing front of house staff to manage their arrival as efficiently as possible
- Baggage – monitor the baggage journey from front of hotel right through the rooms
- Director of rooms – can see if corridors and rooms are up to scratch with mobile cameras
- Customer Handling – allow key staff to better assist guests stay as they move from room, to restaurant, to lounge or car.
- No waiting time – all doors, concierge, waiting staff, car valet and access control can all be instantly monitored and better service put in place by managing staff and the integrated security systems
- Review & improvement– all customer service contacts can be analysed to continually improve customer service and stay ahead of the competition.
Processing Power
Next came the in house servers to support the system. The old system used six IT centric servers running just over 200 cameras that was found to be laboring. Notwithstanding the space required, electricity draw and high maintenance of these servers, we found that they were also exceeding the Manufacturers performance recommendations. Two new state of the art high throughput servers specifically built for video monitoring and hi-definition surveillance systems. The superior bandwidth allows multiple hi-def cameras to be connected, alleviating the restrictions of the standard servers. Instantly providing (ROI) return on investment by reducing electricity by over £1,500 per annum and significantly reducing the resources and space needed to manage the hotel security system.
Security Integration
With the advanced technology installed, this allowed Amax to propose integrating various security systems within the hotel, demonstrating how this could enhance operational use.
The following systems were then integrated into the VMS platform:
- Access control (internal and external doors)
- Intruder alarms
- Gates and barriers
- Staff panic alarms giving early warning of incidents or potential concerns
Easy to use, and accessible everywhere
The resultant systems have another great benefit. Although technically complex, this is very much all behind the scenes:
“The systems are intuitive and incredibly easy to use with operators up and running within a matter of minutes, providing eyes everywhere, it’s easy to manage every aspect of very large sites in a pro-active rather than re-active way.”
Better Profits
Clear return on investment is evident as it allows the hotel to closely monitor all aspects of their business to improve profitability.
- Transactions & EPOS integration – each till sends a live data feed of every each transaction, at every till, to the VMS allowing instant CCTV zooming to a particular point in time – in effect live view or rewinding to ensure each transaction is correct. You can search for different transaction types such as ‘no
- Wine cellar – with many hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of wine, each section can be monitored as the access control is triggered protecting valuable assets and consumables.
- Storage rooms – monitor storage rooms for key assets such as silverware, glassware and other assets. By integrating access control into the VMS the system intelligent zooms to each security trigger, protecting key assets wherever they may be
- Food & Beverage – is there waste in the kitchen, has frozen food been stored in time, has the meal been delivered as ordered, is there food theft in the kitchens, and has the right cleaning routine been carried out? Key assets, lockable fridges for high value items such as caviar, gold leaf and other expensive products can be perfectly protected by access control and CCTV integration
- Housekeeping – find staff quickly, find problems quickly, and deliver better customer service
- False claims – there are always people, both staff and guests who make false claims. By being able to quickly and easily ‘rewind to a particular location and time, false claims can be eliminated. Example might be:
- Claims for expensive lost luggage, high quality images can zoom in to see if expensive luggage really is made by Prada!
- Food & Beverage – nut allergies, did she really eat that cup cake from another plate?
- Slips, falls and cuts by staff – when, where and how can all be analysed
- Theft, behaviour and fraud – all can be reviewed, analysed and systems put in place to reduce incidents
- Industry knowledge – by having evidential quality images to share with other hotels or industry organisations, the learning’s can benefit the entire hospitality industry or hotel chains.
- Lower electricity & maintenance costs – dedicated servers, wireless and digital technology all mean less power used, less cameras and lower on going costs
- Continual improvement – by being able to analyse all aspects the businesses operations, greater improvements in efficiency and customer service can be delivered, making sure those guests keep coming back because of the superb service they received.
By investing in an easy to use system, with eyes on all aspects of your operations and hotel security, large sites are easily managed and the ROI hard to beat.
Amax can help monitor your rooms, staff, customers and luggage.
