Case Study: Rotana's data-driven operations
Managing guest requests more efficiently is the key to improving service according to Rotana Hotels’ Samir Frem, who explains the rationale behind the implementation of the group’s new FCS e-Connect system
Rotana Hotels & Resorts is working to expand its presence across the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and Eastern Europe to 100 hotels by 2020. To ensure the smooth roll-out and operations of such an ambitious portfolio, an upgrade to guest service tools was required.
Rotana Corporate vice president information technology Samir Frem explains how and why the group implemented FCS Computer Systems’ e-Connect — an automated guest service request and interdepartmental work order dispatch system.
The rationale and objectives
A comprehensive needs analysis at Rotana had identified certain characteristics pertinent to the new system it was looking for.
Firstly, the firm needed to improve operational efficiency in each of its hotels across the region through appropriate job assignment, complemented by an escalation mechanism for guest requests to ensure customer satisfaction.
Rotana was also looking for an analytics tool that could provide its operational departments with comprehensive service request data and trend analysis information to improve specific operational processes. Ultimately, Rotana was looking for a system that ensures smooth communication and efficient workflow between various operational departments.
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Concept and Investment
In order to meet this objective, it was essential to centralise all guest service requests and interdepartmental work orders in one system, with real-time statistics and monitoring ability.
“The new system was designed to help our hotels be more consistent in their services whilst delivering comprehensive data to our senior management about service deficiencies and potential delays, so that quick service recovery could be applied. This increased staff efficiency and productivity,” says Frem.
“When we embarked on this project, we did a market survey to see what solutions were available. We evaluated these with our focus team at Rotana, which has representatives from front office, housekeeping, and the IT department. We selected FCS mainly because of its system reach functionality, stability and reliable support. In addition, its competitive pricing was also an important factor.”
Rotana partnered with FCS to implement e-Connect, an automated job dispatch system for guest requests and interdepartmental work orders.
The system functions via a centralised call centre, and improves internal operational flow by streamlining all guest and internal requests across different departments. Additionally, e-Connect provides the management team with clear and detailed real-time statistics to identify areas for improvement across all hotel operations.
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The Programme in Practice
Through the streamlining of guest requests and interdepartmental work order management, Rotana was able to identify key areas for improvement of overall efficiency in the use of its resources, both human and with regards to systems. Additionally, each Rotana hotel now has a much clearer view of key departmental costs.
Frem explains that training for the new system was quite simple and straightforward since it “is very user friendly and intuitive to use. If the setup is right from the start, it will run smoothly”.
Talking about the obstacles faced by Rotana during the implementation of the new system, Frem says: “One of the main challenges for us, which remains an issue today, was the choice of communication devices. We tried using wireless phones, but these were not reliable enough due to unstable wireless coverage in all back-of-house areas in the hotels.
“We then moved to GSM, but that turned out to be too expensive. We are still working on finding the perfect communication device.”
The results to date
Measuring the return on investment was an important project criteria for Rotana. Following the deployment of e-Connect, the hotels were able to measure their service delivery in terms of time, guest feedback and demand for different requests as well as recurring incidents.
Reports revealed that the time of delivery improved by at least 30%, with a 50% reduction in guest complaints.
“At Rotana, the return on investment (ROI) of our projects is not just measured based on a break-even period or revenue; it is also about the quality and consistency of service delivered to all our customers without fail.
“The e-Connect solution as our new guest service management tool keeps all this in check and enables us, with great reporting functionality, to assess where we are and how we can continue to improve and drive guest satisfaction, which was one of our main objectives for the project,” Frem explains.
The statistics explain the issues and trends related to the hotels’ guest service requests, helping Rotana’s operational teams take well-informed decisions in order to mitigate challenges and risks and to focus on the core business of the company, which is delivering great satisfaction.
“Quantifying improvements in service delivery and efficiency is always a challenge, but by tracking our guest satisfaction scores we have noticed at least a 10-15% increase,” adds Frem.
The team is now working on integrating Rotana’s mobile app with the FCS system, enabling guests to place their requests, orders and preferences directly into the system. This integration’s beta version is expected to go live in the near future.
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Ashoka Gunarathna
Director of housekeeping, Rotana Hotels and Resorts
Ashoka Gunarathna heads up the housekeeping team at Yas Island Rotana & Centro Yas Island, and shares his experience of working with the FCS e-Connect system. Gunarathna says that he is happy with the system, but highlights the only flaw his team has encountered to date, which is down to wireless coverage.
“With e-Connect, guest requests are now quickly communicated to by the housekeeping staff and the information gets to the right person. We are also able to analyse the guests’ requests over a week/ month/ quarter to find out the most frequent requests and the response time.
“FCS e-Connect is an easy system to adapt to, and was well planned and executed by the team. It simplifies the workflow for all members of the housekeeping team; however, the only problem we have had so far is that sometimes the message doesn’t arrive to the IP phone and it times out because of the wireless coverage in the hotel.”
Nadim El Zyr
Executive assistant manager, Rotana Hotels and Resorts
El Zyr believes that the newly implemented system has achieved the desired performance level and shares his expectations from e-Connect.
“We wanted a computerised system that would facilitate communication between the guest service centre and relevant departments at the hotel. We also wanted to establish service records that can show us patterns/trends in guest requests — what do they want, when do they want it and how quickly are their requests attended to. The newly implemented e-Connect system makes that possible.
“Now with the new system in place and integration of all the relevant departments within the hotel, we can track and use the data to make important decisions. Also, we expect that guest requests will be attended to quicker than previously and that our guest satisfaction scores will increase.”
Eric Rogers
Regional head EMEA, FCS Computer Systems
“The main objective of implementing the new system was to guarantee quality of service to the hotel guests by benchmarking and setting standards for all guest requests. It is a fully scalable system, starting at under 100 rooms, and it has installations covering several thousand rooms. It started with a basic concept and design, and was then customised to suit the individual hotel’s needs,” Rogers says.
“We can cover billing, voicemail, housekeeping, job dispatch, engineering, concierge, and content on the guest’s smartphone.
So a housekeeper seeing a leaky tap can take a picture on her mHousekeeping device and send it automatically to the engineer’s handheld device via mConnect — reducing the time to complete the task significantly. Hence, using the FCS solution means you benefit from a seamless and high level of integration, that goes way beyond just interface.”
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