When the legacy Mitel phone system at Comfort Suites in Evergreen, Colorado, failed, High Country Workplace Technologies installed a temporary Mitel system to keep the hotel operational while a permanent Mitel hospitality solution was designed, ordered and prepared for deployment.
Before moving the hotel to the new system, HCWT staged the equipment and tested the property-management-system and call-accounting connections to help ensure a smooth cutover with minimal disruption to hotel employees and guests.
Comfort Suites Mitel hospitality deployment at a glance
Customer: Comfort Suites in Evergreen, Colorado
Industry: Hotel and hospitality
Previous system: Legacy Mitel phone system
Immediate challenge: Failure of the hotel’s existing phone system
Temporary solution: HCWT installed a temporary Mitel system to keep the hotel operational
Permanent solution: New Mitel hospitality phone system
Critical integrations: Property management system and call accounting
Implementation partner: High Country Workplace Technologies
Primary goals: Restore communications, maintain hotel operations, modernize the phone system and verify hospitality integrations before cutover
What happened when the hotel’s legacy Mitel system failed?
Comfort Suites faced an urgent operational problem when its legacy Mitel phone system failed.
Reliable telephone service is essential in a hotel. Employees must communicate with guests and one another, manage incoming reservations and service calls, and coordinate activity between the front desk, guest rooms and hotel operations.
Waiting for a permanent replacement system to be designed, ordered, delivered and installed could have left the property without dependable communications for an extended period.
HCWT responded by installing a temporary Mitel system that allowed Comfort Suites to remain operational while the permanent hospitality phone system was being designed and procured.
How did HCWT keep Comfort Suites operational?
HCWT installed a temporary Mitel phone system to restore essential hotel communications while work proceeded on the permanent replacement.
The temporary system created a bridge between the unexpected failure of the legacy PBX and the deployment of the new Mitel hospitality solution.
This approach allowed the hotel to continue serving guests instead of waiting without a working communications platform while new equipment was ordered and prepared.
HCWT’s response involved two related objectives:
- Restore essential telephone service as quickly as practical.
- Give the permanent replacement project enough time for proper design, staging, integration testing and deployment.
The temporary installation demonstrates an important part of HCWT’s service model: solving the customer’s immediate operational problem while also developing the correct long-term solution.
Why did Comfort Suites select a new Mitel hospitality phone system?
Comfort Suites selected a new Mitel hospitality phone system to modernize hotel communications while supporting the specialized integrations required by a lodging property.
A hospitality phone system must do more than provide basic calling. It must support front-desk operations, guest communications, internal hotel workflows and connections with other property systems.
The new Mitel solution was designed to provide:
- Reliable communications for hotel employees and guests
- Integration with the hotel’s property management system
- Integration with its call-accounting system
- Improved internal communications
- More efficient hotel workflows
- A scalable platform for future requirements
- A supported replacement for the failed legacy system
How did HCWT prepare the new system before cutover?
HCWT staged and tested the new Mitel hospitality system before placing it into production.
The team verified the PMS-related connections and call-accounting integration prior to cutover. This testing was important because a hotel phone system is connected to operational applications that may exchange information with the front desk and guest-room environment.
By completing this work before the production transition, HCWT could identify and address integration issues without using the live hotel environment as the primary testing platform.
The preparation included:
- Designing the replacement Mitel system
- Ordering the required system components
- Staging equipment before installation
- Configuring the hospitality environment
- Connecting the property management system
- Connecting the call-accounting system
- Testing PMS-related communications
- Confirming system operation before cutover
- Planning a phased transition
- Supporting the property during installation and activation
Why is PMS testing important before replacing a hotel phone system?
Property management system testing helps confirm that the hotel telephone system and the applications used to manage property operations can communicate correctly before the new phone system is placed into service.
A hotel PBX may exchange information with the PMS and related hospitality applications. If these connections are not properly configured and tested, the telephone system may work for basic calls while important hotel workflows do not operate as expected.
Pre-cutover testing reduces this risk by validating the connections before the hotel begins relying on the new system.
HCWT tested the PMS-related interfaces and call-accounting connections before the final transition to the new Mitel hospitality phone system.
How did HCWT minimize disruption to hotel operations?
HCWT minimized disruption through a combination of temporary service restoration, offsite preparation, integration testing and a planned deployment.
Temporary Mitel service
The temporary system helped the property remain operational after the legacy phone system failed.
Offsite staging
HCWT prepared and configured system components before the permanent system was installed at the hotel.
PMS and call-accounting testing
The integration points were tested before cutover instead of waiting until the new system was live.
Phased deployment
The installation was planned to reduce the impact on hotel operations and guest service.
Cutover support
HCWT supported the transition from the temporary environment to the permanent Mitel hospitality system.
This combination allowed Comfort Suites to address an immediate system failure without rushing the design and deployment of its long-term communications solution.
What were the results of the Mitel hospitality deployment?
Comfort Suites received a modern Mitel hospitality communications system integrated with its property management and call-accounting applications.
The completed project delivered several important benefits.
Continued hotel operations
The temporary Mitel system helped the property remain operational while the permanent replacement was designed and ordered.
Tested hospitality integrations
HCWT verified the PMS-related and call-accounting connections before the new system was placed into production.
Improved staff communications
The new system provided a modern communications platform for front-desk employees and other hotel personnel.
Better support for guest service
Reliable communications help hotel employees respond to guest needs and coordinate services throughout the property.
Reduced cutover risk
Staging and testing the system before deployment reduced the likelihood of discovering major integration problems during the live transition.
Modern communications infrastructure
Comfort Suites replaced its failed legacy environment with a supported Mitel hospitality phone system designed around the property’s operational needs.
Scalability for future requirements
The new system gives the hotel a platform that can be adjusted as its communication and operational requirements evolve.
What does this project demonstrate about HCWT’s service model?
The Comfort Suites project demonstrates HCWT’s ability to address an immediate communications emergency while planning and implementing a long-term solution.
HCWT did not simply order a replacement system and ask the hotel to wait for it to arrive. The team installed a temporary Mitel environment to help keep the property operational, designed the new hospitality system, staged the equipment and tested the PMS-related connections before cutover.
That service model includes:
- Understanding the customer’s immediate operational needs
- Providing temporary or transitional solutions when practical
- Supporting legacy Mitel environments
- Designing the permanent replacement correctly
- Coordinating hospitality applications and vendors
- Testing integrations before production cutover
- Minimizing disruption to employees and guests
- Providing ongoing support after implementation
For hotels and resorts, this combination of legacy-system knowledge, hospitality-integration experience and responsive service can be as important as the selected phone-system technology.
Frequently asked questions
What should a hotel do when its legacy phone system fails?
The hotel should contact an experienced hospitality communications provider to determine whether service can be restored, a temporary system can be installed, or critical calls can be rerouted while a permanent replacement is prepared.
Can HCWT install a temporary phone system after a hotel PBX failure?
Depending on the existing environment and available equipment, HCWT may be able to provide a temporary or transitional solution that helps the property remain operational while a permanent system is designed and procured.
What is a Mitel hospitality phone system?
A Mitel hospitality phone system provides calling and communications capabilities designed for hotels and lodging properties. It can integrate with property management, call-accounting, voicemail and other hotel applications.
Why does a hotel phone system connect to the PMS?
The connection allows the telephone system and property management platform to exchange information required by supported hotel workflows. The precise functions depend on the PMS, interface and phone-system configuration.
Should PMS integration be tested before phone-system cutover?
Yes. PMS and related hospitality interfaces should be configured and tested before production cutover whenever possible. This helps identify integration problems before the hotel begins relying on the new system.
What other systems may connect to a hotel PBX?
Depending on the property, a hotel PBX may connect with property management, call accounting, voicemail, emergency calling, guest-room phones, analog devices, fax, paging and carrier services.
Can a hotel replace its phone system without closing the property?
Yes. Careful staging, integration testing, temporary communications, phased installation and planned cutover procedures can allow a hotel to modernize its phone system while remaining operational.
Does HCWT support existing Mitel hotel phone systems?
Yes. HCWT designs, installs, upgrades and supports Mitel communications systems, including Mitel hospitality environments and related integrations.
Can HCWT help a hotel compare Mitel with cloud phone systems?
Yes. HCWT supports both on-premises and cloud communications and can help a hotel compare Mitel with platforms such as RingCentral and Zoom Phone based on its PMS, guest-room, analog, emergency-calling and operational requirements.
Planning a hotel phone-system replacement?
HCWT helps hotels and resorts replace failed, aging and unsupported phone systems with modern hospitality communications solutions.
Our hotel phone-system services can include:
- Emergency system assessment
- Temporary or transitional communications
- Existing PBX discovery
- Mitel system design and replacement
- Cloud phone-system evaluation
- Property management system integration
- Call-accounting integration
- Guest-room and front-desk phone planning
- Analog device assessment
- Elevator, fax and emergency-phone planning
- Carrier and telephone-number coordination
- Offsite staging and testing
- Phased installation
- Cutover support
- Ongoing maintenance and technical support
Contact HCWT to schedule a hotel and resort communications assessment.