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Operational Enquiries:
Multi Customer Fault |
Lost and Found |
Escalation Process |
Guest Follow Up |
Prevent Call Leaks |
Delay in Service |
Future Services |
Services not Recorded in Real Time
Technical Enquiries:
DOS Application Performance Problem
| "Write Protected" Error
Night Time Operations
Operational Enquiries:
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Multi Customer Fault: When the same
problem is reported by many customers at the same time:
Occasionally, service requests are received concerning a problem
detected in a large area of the hotel and repeated by many guests.
For example, Pay-TV system malfunction, or power failure on the
9th floor. In that case, a customer called ROOMS should be added
to the customer list (Tables/Customers in the main menu). Then,
when such requests arrive, only one event should be entered into
SmartButler®, with ROOMS as the source. In the “Remarks” field -
enter all room numbers which reported the problem. When service
has been provided or solved, close the record after contacting
each guest listed in the “Remarks” field. If you entered one or
more requests of that problem and you realize that it is spreading
- just modify the first one received, changing it’s “Customer”
field to ROOMS, and delete the rest.
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Lost and
Found:
SmartButler® can be used to log customers’ calls reporting lost
items, or items found which may or may not have been previously
reported lost. In Tables/Services in the main menu, for each of
the most common items reported lost, define 2 services: LOST and
FOUND. (e.g. LOST GLASSES and FOUND GLASSES). Define one more
service called ITEM RETURNED TO OWNER, or a similar description
indicating that a lost item has been found, or the owner of an
item previously found has been located.
A typical scenario would be:
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Call received by guest in room 351 reporting loss of her glasses.
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GSC agent records the call as service LOST GLASSES from room 351,
takes as many details as possible from guest, like item
description and how to contact guest if items is found, types them
into Remarks, and immediately closes the event.
-
10 days later glasses are found by staff and reported to GSC
GSC agent locates the service request recorded in stage 1,
verifies match according to details entered in Remarks, and
contacts guest.
-
Guest collects or receives lost item.
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GSC agent again locates same service request and modifies service
LOST GLASSES to ITEM RETURNED TO OWNER.
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Escalation Process:
SMS to duty manager during evening shifts:
During evening shifts, when the staff number is reduced, there are
greater chances that events will not be completed in their due
time. In order to decrease the number of failed events during the
evening shift SmartButler® can automatically send a warning SMS to the duty manager in any case the due time reaches X minutes
before completion. To define the duty manager as an SMS recipient,
enter the "Runners and Escalation" table
and type in the name and mobile number. Uncheck the "runner"
checkbox and define the rule (from which point will the SMS be
dispatched) and also "from" "to" - the hours the duty manager is
active.
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Guest Follow Up:
Very often a guest might request several services in one phone
call to the Guest Service Centre. A service request is usually
closed only after the GSC agent contacts the guest to confirm
her/his satisfaction. In order not to trouble the guest with many
follow up calls for each one of the services provided, it is
recommended to stop the timers of the service request once the
provider representative reported it done. When all services have
been provided to the guest, the GSC agent should contact the guest
and follow up upon all the services requested. To stop the timers,
select the service call and choose the "Provided" status. The
service request will stay in the "Open Only" LogBook display until
the Close Type will be selected.
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Prevent Call
Leaks:
SmartButler® statistics rely on the assumption that all guest
requests have been recorded by the Guest Service Centre. However,
it is not impossible that a guest might request a service directly
from a staff member and not via the GSC. In such cases, the staff
member should write down all details of request - time of request,
room number, service name and any other detail deemed relevant.
After providing the service, the staff member should contact the
GSC and inform them of the service and all its details.
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Delay in Service:
Some times a service cannot be
provided during the standard time plus the extra time given after
the event has already failed, for example, if an item is out of
stock. In order to prevent SmartButler® from constantly notifying
about this event, it is possible to select the Delayed checkbox in
the event ticket and modify the Closed time. Although the event
will still be considered failed, it will be removed from the
urgent zone and will not evoke the Time Warning mechanism. NOTE:
the Delayed option is in order to modify the event's Close time.
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Future Services :
Such
a situation may rise, for example, when a guest would like her/his
room to be cleaned later in the day when she/he will not be in the
room. In order not to forget to add the event later on, choose the
Retro/Future checkbox in the LogBook and then click Add. You will
be able to edit the Received time to the time that guest requested
the service. Enter all the details of the service and then click
Save. You will see in the LogBook a record with a gray background
that signals a future event. When the time comes, the timers will
start working and the request should then be past on to the
relevant provider in the hotel.
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Services Not Recorded in Real
Time:
When it is not possible to record
events in SmartButler® during real time (i.e.: during an
electricity crash), all service requests should be manually
recorded and later added to SmartButler® as Retroactive events.
This is important in order to maintain the integrity of SmartButler®'s statistics. To create a Retroactive event, select
the Retro/Future checkbox in the LogBook and then click Add. You
will be able to edit the Received time (which usually cannot be
edited). Enter all the details of the call and then close the
event ticket by choosing the relevant Close type.
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Technical Enquiries:
Night Time Operations:
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All call requests made at night
should be entered into SmartButler® immediately, or as soon as
possible.
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The SMS messaging for
departments that are not on duty at night should be switched off
(it is highly likely that the person taking the call will also be
involved in taking care of the guest as suggested below, hence no
need for messaging). If the night porter/receptionist is not also
the same person taking the call from the guest, all messages can
be redirected to the night porter/receptionist’s phone during the
night-time hours.
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The night porter/receptionist
should try to resolve all Housekeeping and Engineering requests
made by the guest to the best of his ability. As a minimum, he
should visit the room to try to take care of the request. In our
experience, this resolves a high percentage of all problems and
leaves the guest with the feeling that the hotel cares about him,
even at night when the relevant staff are not available.
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When the night
porter/receptionist is unable to fully satisfy the guest’s
request, he should try to convince the guest to agree to delay the
call until the morning when the relevant staff arrive. If the
guest agrees, the call ticket status should be CHANGED to Future
until the morning. An SMS will be sent to the relevant day-time
service provider as soon as the Future time arrives, and they
should take care of the request as usual.
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If the guest does not agree to
wait until the morning, the call ticket status should not be
changed. The call ticket should remain open until the morning,
even though this will cause it to fail. An SMS will automatically
be sent by SmartButler® as soon as the system detects that SMS
messages can be sent to the relevant team members in the morning.
The day staff will then be expected to take care of the issue as
usual.
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If you wish to take out a
report of night-time calls that could not be taken care of, you
should extract a report of calls received during the night-time
hours, and select only Failed calls. This will give you all the
information regarding guest requests that could not be attended
to, and the guest could not be convinced to delay until morning.
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