* The $11 million agreement includes VoIP for LQ Management's operations and wireless access for guests at its nearly 800 corporate-owned and franchise hotels located in 46 states
LQ Management L.L.C., owner and operator of La Quinta Inns & Suites, has signed an $11 million agreement with Verizon Business for communications services that includes VoIP for LQ Management’s operations and wireless access for guests at its nearly 800 corporate-owned and franchise hotels located in 46 states. The service will run over Verizon’s global Private IP network, which offers six classes of service for prioritizing business applications.
LQ Management L.L.C., owner and operator of La Quinta Inns & Suites, has signed an $11 million agreement with Verizon Business for communications services that includes VoIP for LQ Management’s operations and wireless access for guests at its nearly 800 corporate-owned and franchise hotels located in 46 states. The service will run over Verizon’s global Private IP network, which offers six classes of service for prioritizing business applications.
LQ Management has widespread operations, including a reservation call center in Canada and its centralized data center — and the company has been expanding: it added 80 properties in 2008 and 90 properties in 2009 to accommodate a growing base of leisure and business travelers.
In a statement, Vivek Shaiva, CIO with LQ Management, said: “Consolidating our data, voice and video applications onto one network has simplified our operations, proven to be cost effective, and significantly reduced technical issues across our locations, resulting in enhanced customer service.”
We followed up with Shaiva in an interview, asking why his organization opted for VoIP. He told us that when the Blackstone Group acquired La Quinta in a public-to-private transaction in 2006, the investors had already seen in other hotel properties how VoIP could offer a savings of 25% to 50% over traditional services, so based on their experience, it made sense to proceed with a VoIP based solution for La Quinta.
Shaiva also noted that his company’s preference is to outsource technology where possible (including software-as-a-services where appropriate) and he is looking at other new services for La Quinta that “may take advantage of the same pipe.” When we asked why Verizon was selected over other service providers, Shaiva cited his past positive experiences with Verizon Business ranging from the multi-party partnerships Verizon had formed for his company’s data centers, to a good relationship with the management team and high-quality customer service.
Our thanks to Shaiva and LQ Management for sharing their experience.
