Clarity, utility, durability and quick return on investment — these are important benefits of communications equipment that help make hospitality property managers successful. Two months after switching to the new Motorola DTR Series digital on-site two-way radios at the Best Western Richmond Hotel & Convention Center, management is realizing those benefits and seeing more satisfied guests and more productive employees.

Mario Pimentel, director of rooms at the Best Western Richmond, now feels comfortable that his team can communicate efficiently and that they are truly equipped with the best communications tool to allow them to serve guests most effectively.

“The key reasons we decided to employ the DTR Series were clarity and cost,” Pimentel said. “We've gained immensely in employee productivity and client satisfaction while simultaneously lowering the cost of our communications solution. The new Motorola DTR radios probably will save us up to 50% on the cost of the communications system we used previously.”

The Best Western Richmond Hotel & Convention Center is a facility that has nearly 400 guest rooms and provides over 25,000 square feet of meeting space for its meeting and function guests. The facility provides lodging and hospitality services to a varied mix of pleasure and business clients and is a part of the Richmond Airport Triplex, which houses two other hotels along with the Best Western.

In the past, Pimentel had communications challenges with other two-way solutions. They had significant clarity issues (and cross talk with nearby hotels) that often led to miscommunication or worse yet, no communication at all in “dead spots”. Both of these outcomes were counter-productive in a client service environment, while also having negative repercussions on staff members.

“There is nothing more frustrating than not being able to communicate effectively,” Pimentel stated. “Our guests do not feel cared for and we experience morale issues with our staff as they don't feel they have the resources to succeed in their jobs.”

Since putting Motorola's new DTR Series digital on-site business two-way radios into the hands of housekeeping, maintenance, switchboard, bellmen/bus drivers and room service personnel, previous communications issues have been completely alleviated, and other benefits were evident almost immediately. The client satisfaction scores on room service surveys have increased nearly 25%, a significant increase that Pimentel attributes purely to the staffs use of the DTR Series radios. Equally important, The Best Western Richmond has seen a marked decrease in turnaround time related to housekeeping requests, another benefit that Pimentel chalks up to the increased communication enabled by the DTR Radios.

“For The Best Western Richmond to become the hotel of choice in our area, we need for our employees to be able to communicate effectively,” Pimentel said.

“The low cost and utility of the DTR Series has allowed us to put these new Motorola radios into service, and they have greatly improved our staff's ability to communicate and provide an even higher level of customer service.” Along with providing the clear communication that is critical in the hospitality industry, Motorola's new DTR Series provides both the durability and increased battery life that make them a perfect solution for on-site hospitality communication. According to Pimentel, the battery life doubles that of his previous solution and the DTR units have been able to stand up to some fairly tough handling when used in a maintenance environment — a testament to the military specifications Motorola adheres to.

“Communication is a critical component to succeeding in the hospitality industry,” Pimentel said, “and Motorola's DTR Series helps our employees communicate more effectively than ever before. This product is a real win/win as it is better and less expensive than previous solutions and I believe that as time goes on, people will really latch on to it!”

Go to www.motorola.com/dtr/hosp1 for more information on DTR Series digital on-site two-way radios.