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LodgeNet Entertainment Corporation
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| Headquarters: |
Sioux Falls, SD USA |
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| Website: |
www.lodgenet.com |
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| Stock : |
NASDAQ: LNET |
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| Employees: |
1,500 | |
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| Challenge |
| Disparate applications, manual processes & multiple databases caused service delays | |
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| Solution |
- Consolidate sales & logistics operations for customer service staff as well as users in field service, accounting, production & the warehouse with single, integrated Amdocs CRM system
- Track 3.5 million parts for proactive inventory management & control
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| Results |
- Helps ensure continuing revenue stream for LodgeNet and its hotel operator partners
- Expects to save hundreds of thousands of dollars in productivity and telecommunications costs
- Timely customer service that meets SLAs
- Issues resolved on first contact
- Easily determine if a service is chargeable
- Well prepared field technicians with correct parts for zero-hour turnaround in many cases
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Watch a movie or surf the Internet in a hotel room—be it a Holiday Inn or a Ritz-Carlton hotel—and chances are the equipment and service will be provided by LodgeNet Entertainment Corporation. The fastest-growing provider of media and connectivity services to the lodging industry, LodgeNet has systems serving more than 1.9 million hotel rooms worldwide. When rapid growth caused its disparate databases and applications to become increasingly inhospitable to staff needing vital information, LodgeNet turned to Amdocs CRM. Today, LodgeNet uses Amdocs CRM to manage contracts, track 3.5 million inventory parts, and turn on a dime to deliver the stellar service on which the company has built its reputation. With Amdocs CRM, LodgeNet expects to increase productivity and reduce telecommunications costs.
"By providing us with timely information that helps us turn on a dime, Amdocs CRM enables LodgeNet to deliver the superior service that creates continued revenue streams."
Steve Pofahl, Senior Vice President, Technical Operations, LodgeNet Entertainment
LodgeNet has achieved more than its share of firsts in its efforts to build customer loyalty. For example, the company was the first lodging industry provider of networked in-room video games and the first to provide high-speed Internet access to an entire hotel chain. LodgeNet also introduced the lodging industry’s first 24-hour toll-free customer service helpline and today is at the forefront of the HDTV revolution with more hotel HDTV systems installed than any other provider.
LodgeNet's customer base includes more than 9,300 lodging properties, representing brands ranging from Hyatt and Sheraton to Hilton and Marriott.
In its first years of rapid growth, LodgeNet's tactic for maintaining service levels was to hire more people—the company now has 1,500 employees. But more than people, what LodgeNet needed was a better way to manage its information, which was housed in disparate, "home-grown" applications and databases. In fact, adding more people simply added more volume and complexity to the information needing to be managed.
LodgeNet turned to Amdocs CRM to consolidate its sales and logistics operations for its customer service staff as well as users in field service, accounting, production, and the warehouse. With the Amdocs CRM customer relationship management (CRM) solution, LodgeNet's offerings generate a continuing stream of revenue for the company and its hotel operator partners. Hotels also benefit by being able to provide millions of guests with premium programming and value-added convenience services.
Raising the bar on service delivery
Before deploying Amdocs CRM, LodgeNet's customer service team toggled between multiple databases, putting customers on hold while searching for information. Today, service representatives handle technical issues on the first contact because they have everything they need at their fingertips, delivered through the single, integrated Amdocs CRM system. They can review equipment configurations and documentation that enable the resolution of many problems while speaking to the customer. If field technicians must be dispatched, representatives can also review contracts to determine whether a service is chargeable, and initiate orders for any needed parts.
When dispatched, technicians from one of 27 North American field offices log into Amdocs CRM and review the customer's service history, current request, and the steps already taken by the customer service team. As a result, they can evaluate possible solutions and be well prepared when they arrive at the site. Amdocs CRM's renowned escalation and workflow management ensure technicians with the right expertise provide timely service and meet the company's service level agreements (SLAs).
To manage its complex contracts, which are customized for each hotel operator, LodgeNet uses Amdocs CRM to consolidate information that formerly had to be accessed from three different legacy PC applications and manual processes. LodgeNet's Amdocs CRM Program Manager says, "Amdocs CRM provides a single front-end Enterprise Customer Management solution that is the foundation of our customer service and support system. We've also seen increased synergy and overall effectiveness across our sales and marketing organizations as a result of managing contracts as an integrated part of the system."
"Using Amdocs CRM for logistics, we are able to be more proactive about inventory management and control."
Logistics is also an area in which Amdocs CRM is at work on LodgeNet's behalf. Because LodgeNet services the systems it installs in hotels, it maintains and tracks an inventory of more than 3.5 million parts. "Using Amdocs CRM for logistics, we are able to be more proactive about inventory management and control," says Steve Pofahl, Senior Vice President of Technical Operations at LodgeNet. "With Amdocs CRM helping us manage our inventory, we can replenish parts in service vans before they are needed, thereby achieving a zero-hour turnaround in many cases."
Another advantage of Amdocs CRM to LodgeNet is its interoperability with Oracle financial and manufacturing applications. As new hotels sign on with LodgeNet, the company easily loads site information into Amdocs CRM through a scanning system. And if the delight of its current customers is any indication, LodgeNet expects to use Amdocs CRM to sign plenty of new ones.
As LodgeNet continues to leverage its investment in Amdocs CRM applications, it will complete the linkage between the company's logistics, service and sales channels. When accomplished, LodgeNet's sales staff will be able to access corporate and critical customer data over the Internet from any location.
Concludes Pofahl, "By providing us with timely information that helps us turn on a dime, Amdocs CRM enables us to deliver the superior service that creates continued revenue streams — and helps us live up to our reputation for delivering on our promises."
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