atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information # of trunks per # of hotel rooms

Hi all,

If this should be posted somewhere else please move it.

Is there an equation/process that is used that determines how many trunks per (lets say every 10 rooms) would be required to support a hotel environment.

Current config. is as follows on our system:

TRK GRP 1: 3 lines shared between the front desk and 2 office extensions. These lines handle the everyday business/reservations of the hotel.

TRK GRP 2: 6 lines used for incoming/outgoing guest calls. 3 are (in/out) & 3 are Outbound only)

This is an independent property so chain standards are not in effect.

To muddy it further there are 4 restaurant extensions operated on the guest trunks with a 3rd TRK GRP of "1" Published number that is Inbound to the restaurant only.

Does this look like overkill or just right on lines, the reason I'm asking is because they are thinking of dropping a 2-3 of the lines to trim the bill.

Thanks,
John

Why not just get a PRI and be done with it? That way you are covered for 911.

You fail to say how many guest rooms exist.

In any event, here in Canada, the CRTC regulates or at least used to, the number of lines/hotel that you had to have.

That being said, I had a client that successfully told Bell what to do with the extra lines.

You may want to check with the local LEC or hang in there and someone else will chime in.

You also failed to mention any alarm lines and I believe that a hotel/motel is required to have a minimum of 2. Also are the 3 business lines used for FAX and credit transactions and as Dave said how many rooms.

And are the 3 "Business lines" available for guest room use after 6PM?
Generally speaking, used to be 1 trunk per 12-15 rooms, 1/10 for Holiday Inn types. Now with, cell phones, I've seen 18-20 rooms/trunk. But, if cell service is lousy/poor/limited in the area, you're back to 12-15/trunks. And what do they do about 911 calls. If nothing else, they should have 1 trunk that is for 911 only. The management/owner won't like it, but explain it as 'deep pockets' and how much money do you have, if a customer that is having a heart attack can't get a call through to the emergency response number? The wife and kids WILL be looking for any one they can sue! John C.

Did a small motel just recently. Sounds similar.

Here's what happened:

Hooked up with a local VOIP provider for the room lines only. This enabled the owner to charge a flat rate for LD phone usage per night. We did 4 lines for 18 rooms originally, then upped it to 6 per owner's request. This was a special hotline with its own port in the AA.

Compared to TELCO rates, it costs peanuts. Seems his clientele is mostly from Europe and likes to talk a lot. This may be a viable solution for your customer as the guest's lines really don't matter when pennies count in my experience.

The place also had a restaurant, which used two POTS lines that were shared with the office. There was also a fax line which was shared with the CC terminals.

This place is old, and a previous owner had removed the alarm panel, phone system, and anything else worth more than $5. I suspect the fire marshal will be enforcing some regulations soon. That is to say, there was no alarm system.

In your shoes, I'd be considering the alarm line being on a RJ31x with a downstream line-share device so that the alarm panel can share one POTS line with the fax/terminal type devices and that special 911 line could get priority here also. This is something I see other techs do in retail all the time. I'm not sure of the legalities on this suggestion for hotel applications though, perhaps other members will chime in?

Whoa, lots of new questions, I will try to answer all.

1. 60 Rooms

2. I left off a few Trunks because I knew they wouldn't be downsizing them.
There are 2 Fax Lines (Seperate buildings) and the fax lines act as CC terminal backup as the CC are primarily processed online.
The Fire Alarm is reported wirelessly (with POTS backup)

3. As far as 911, I'm not sure how the mitel (sx200 ML) would handle that condition if it couldn't seize a trunk because they were all busy.

4. No the office lines do not double as guest lines at anytime.

5.) Not a fan of VOIP so I would rather not go there, also we don't offer LD since we are a small independent with no call accounting. Local calls are free.

With all that said we have good cell coverage and also offer high speed internet to all the rooms.

I think I found my answer as I was thinking along the same lines as lightninghorse (12-15) rooms per trunk.
but wasn't sure.

Thanks to everyone who responded. If anyone else has any more insight I would appreciate hearing it

Thanks,
John

Don't know about you, but when I'm in a hotel and I have good cell coverage about the only thing I might use the hotel phone for is room service. So looking at 12-15 rooms per trunk I think that would be about right.

-Hal

The ratio today is one line per every ten rooms. This does not take into account dedicated lines for fax, separate line for 800 service, or anything else that would not be used by guests.

If the ML has 18 or later (I believe) software, the console will get an alarm that a 911 call was dialed, with room number, when the call is dialed, even if the call hits a 'no trunk available' condition. If the software has Hospitality enabled, that is. And you cannot just cancel that alarm, you HAVE to 'inspect and acknowledge' the alarm rather than just 'clear' it. And I would suggest you try it, and train ALL employees on 911 alarms. As well, you might have a 'standard response' instruction sheet at the front desk. An unanswered 911 call can put a motel out of business, so the effort should be well worth it. Before you start testing, you should contact the local response center and advise them of your planned tests and ask if 'now' is a good time or should you delay the tests. And DON'T hangup, stay on line and confirm that it IS a test call only. Be SURE to thank them for their co-operation, and tell them when you are done. They generally are very co-operative, if you are also co-operative. Try to contact them through a non-emgency line, if you can get the number.
The main reason I say to run tests is that I had a hotel trunk group with mixed l/s and g/s. Supposedly, you can't do that but the telco did, screwing up the order. Turned out that when the emergency center answered, g/s trunks were dropped, but l/s trunks were ok. (I even tested at the demark with a buttset, same result!) I finally made the 2 l/s trunks a separate outbound trunk group, only 911 calls would route to them. Left the 'mixed trunks' screw-up alone, and all was well. They had 16 trunks trunks in a 20 room motel! Their main gig was they were a big casino in Cripple Creek, Colorado. Nobody was making calls, anyway, they were all at the slots and tables. John C.