Monarque Hotels

Smooth Conversion to VoIP with the innovaphone PBX: Enhanced Communication Functionalities with Uninterrupted Service

The hotel chain Monarque Hoteles has hotels that are strategically located in some of the best areas of the Costa del Sol, Fuengirola, Murcia and Marbella.

The Hotel Monarque Fuengirola Park with its 391 rooms and the Hotel Monarque Cendrillón with its 56 rooms and a total of 110 beds are both located in the best residential area and popular tourist district of Fuengirola, in the heart of the Costa del Sol. The hotel is just a few steps away from the beach and thanks to bus and train connections, it is just 20 minutes from Málaga International Airport and only a few kilometres from the best golf courses.

The Initial Situation: A Cost-Intensive, Analog Communication System

The main reason for switching from ISDN to All IP at the two hotels in Fuengirola was to modernize the communication systems and to reduce running costs. In combination and close cooperation with the IP operator and integrator PasarelaON, the innovaphone IP telephone system proved to be the perfect solution for the hotel chain.

Modernizing the Infrastructure

“Installation was a major challenge, as upgrading and replacing server racks and patch cables was a tedious job that required each terminal in each room to be identified.” (Juan Alberto García – Purchasing Department at Monarque Hoteles)

Setting up the connection to the PasarelaON SIP trunk included upgrading the lines to 600/600 Mb FTTH and 4G backup to ensure communication would not be interrupted in the event of a fibre outage. All this was combined with a very beneficial VoIP trunk package.

The new infrastructure is designed in such a way that it integrates an innovaphone IP0011 gateway and an on-premises IP PBX equipped with modern Unified Communications functionalities. This allows all employees in the sales, administration and customer service departments, etc. to communicate with internal users or guests outside of the hotel. The system itself enables audio and video conference rooms to be configured for meetings with colleagues, customers, suppliers, etc., both internally and externally via the Internet.

The guest telephones in the hotel rooms were not changed and have been integrated into the new telephone system via analog adapters IP29-20. In addition, modern innovaphone IP222 design telephones with extension modules were installed for the hotel reception while IP112 telephones with extended communication functions were installed for the staff.

Advantages of the New Solution

• Increased service efficiency thanks to the VoIP functionalities and UC applications
• Emergency evacuation systems and warning messages now integrated in the telephone system
• Lower costs for out-going calls, connection fees and maintenance
• Simplified administration and maintenance
• Future-proof thanks to the unlimited scalability of the solution
• Commercial flexibility (OPEX/CAPEX)