Why Hotels Need Dedicated Internet Access
As published in the South Florida Business Journal
Increasingly, we all expect to be able to access the Internet anywhere at any time. Nowhere is that fact more in evidence than in hotels. Travelers increasingly rely on Internet-based applications in place of traditional phone services to stay in touch with family, clients and business colleagues such as using VoIP and FaceTime.
A recent study by Research + Data Insights shows that seven out of 10 travelers rate reliable WiFi as a higher priority than a hotel’s location, parking, or even complimentary breakfast. The Research+Data Insights survey found that complimentary WiFi came in second only to cost when considering booking a hotel stay and 80 percent of travelers said WiFi with guaranteed speeds makes a hotel brand more appealing.
However, it’s important to remember that your WiFi service is only as good as the Internet service that supports it. Hotel owners and managers should pay as much attention to the speed and availability of their guest’s internet experience as they do to other key operations.
In addition to guest satisfaction, there are other reasons for hotel managers and executives to zero-in on the importance of their Internet connection. Hotels, like other businesses, rely on their Internet service for telephones (VoIP), POS, registration and security systems and other business-critical functions. An Internet connection that is dedicated, scalable, reliable and secure is imperative. It pays for hotel managers to look for the best Internet solution for their property. Companies, such as Breezeline, offer sophisticated voice and data solutions to thousands of businesses of all sizes in the Miami Beach area.
But before deciding which Internet service is best for their business and customers, hotel managers should consider whether Dedicated Internet Access (DIA), which Breezeline provides, is right for them. Here are a few questions and answers that can help in that consideration.
Most broadband and DSL Internet services are “Best Effort.” With best-effort services, customers share a path to the Internet and service speeds can vary depending on traffic load. It’s a cost-effective solution for home owners and smaller businesses. However, for businesses that rely on consistent speeds and guaranteed bandwidth, this type of a solution comes with a risk of slower performance and unsatisfactory Internet experience.
DIA offers a fully dedicated fiber path from the customer premises equipment (CPE) directly to the internet. In short, you have your own private lane on the information super highway. DIA service performs consistently because the bandwidth you select is always available to your business. It delivers your subscribed speed regardless of congestion caused by demand fluctuation issues like time of day or increased number of users. DIA also supports symmetrical upload and download speeds so you will receive files as quickly as you send them.
Why is Direct Internet Access critical to the hospitality industry?
DIA helps hotels cope with their bandwidth needs by providing speed, flexibility and reliability for staff to meet business-critical functions such as transactions and data transfer. At the same time, it provides hotel guests services like complimentary WiFi with the consistent speed and reliability they expect. In addition, DIA gracefully scales to meet the growing bandwidth demands of your business and customers, supporting fully symmetrical speeds of 10 Mbps to 10 Gbps.
When evaluating a DIA provider here are other questions to consider:
- Does the provider have 24/7/365 network monitoring?
- Can the provider easily scale DIA speeds without adding new CPE?
- Is there a redundant network configuration to reduce the risk of any downtime?
- Is the performance backed by end-to-end service level agreements and supported by local, responsive customer and technical service teams?
- Does the provider have the flexibility to tailor services based on specific needs or is it a one-size-fits-all plan?