Dolphin resort looses revenue due to poor communication system

The resort's poor communications system was translating into lost revenue with IT director, Geoff Breene, admitting it was time to "face the music." The resort, where guests can hand feed a pod of wild bottlenose dolphins, had operated a simple telephone key system that could not transfer calls and had no reporting or call center functionality.

It was time to upgrade its communications infrastructure to introduce a telephony system that was feature-rich, future proof, scalable and affordable in the competitive tourism and hospitality industry.

Telstra installed 50 of the latest Avaya IP handsets and an Avaya Call Center suite with an option to extend the network across Tangalooma's entire resort and 300 room complex.

"We now have the latest, state-of-the-art, IP telephone system that has created a future-proof platform and the opportunity to roll-out IP telephony across the entire resort," Breene said.
"It has improved the customer service experience considerably for holiday makers who expect to receive holiday information quickly and efficiently.

"One of the major benefits is that we can allocate calls to the person who has most expertise in the relevant area.

"We're expecting that this will shorten customer time on the phone and help our staff to manage the calls more effectively, not to mention stopping the thousands of missed calls."

For the call center, it means that operators will have absolute control of all incoming calls into the center, how they queue, what the caller hears, who the calls should go to and just about every conceivable call handling option can be chosen to improve customer service.

Telstra business system's managing director, Malcolm Flanagan said the upgrade is part of a broader trend as more resorts move to IP telephony. This transition from TDM to IP phone lines has been going on for some time. The products hitting the market now are pushing VOIP and IP communications to a new level, according to Jeff Snyder, a research vice president with Gartner.

"There was never really a credible story as to why an enterprise needs IP telephony, other than the fact that this is what all the vendors are selling now," Snyder said.

"We're finally seeing business cases developing where new voice technologies are helping customers do more important things than just save money on wiring, long-distance or telecom operations".