Verizon Partners with Marriott for New Communications Package

By Casey Houser
Contributing Writer

One of the places the business officials look to most when they consider off-site communication is the hotel. Lodging across the globe is not just a place to rest one's head, hotel locations are equally places of work. Now, employees and temporary residents of Marriott locations the world over will have a set of advanced communications capabilities on their hands.

Verizon (News - Alert) recently announced that Marriott International is the first hospitality chain to use the Verizon Hospitality Communications Express service, which provides cloud-hosted voice services meant to replace a legacy private branch exchange infrastructure and can supplement cloud-based voice with 4G LTE (News - Alert). Steve Bearden, the director of IT for voice, mobility, and UC at Marriott International, commented on the partnership and the expectations of Marriott guests.

“Whether traveling for business or leisure, our guests have high expectations when they stay at our properties,” Bearden said. “Verizon's innovative cloud technology solutions, world-class network quality and expansive global capabilities make them an ideally suited business partner as we continually strive to reduce costs and improve efficiencies by moving our technology to the cloud. This solution brings productive collaboration tools to our employees and gives Marriott new technology that will improve overall guest service.”

For enterprise-related guests, the partnership means they will have access to the UC tools they are used to at their own offices. This can include Internet connectivity that will allow them to remain in touch with other business officials. They may even have increased access to hospitality services at their chosen Marriott facilities.

For Marriott employees, benefits will include UC functionality that will help both their interaction with guests as well as with other employees. IT teams will have the luxury of lessening the strain on their network troubleshooting because everything is handled in the cloud. This means that the bulk of communications infrastructure will remain off-site and either available for remote or on-premises repair by Verizon staff. Marriott managers can also expect a high level of uptime because of the dual nature of the communications system, which relies on the cloud and has a 4G LTE backup.

Michele Dupre, vice president of retail and hospitality with Verizon Enterprise Solutions, also commented on the endeavor between the two companies. He indicated that Marriott could expect its new communications operation to make its hospitality business more functional and efficient, and he expressed his excitement about beginning the spread of Hospitality Communications Express.