Sheraton Towers Singapore Only Hotel To Win

"Intelligence20 Awards 2001/02"

Sheraton Towers Singapore, one of Singapore's longest established five-star hotels, was recognised as a top 20 winner of the prestigious "Intelligence20 Awards 2001/02" at an awards ceremony held recently in Singapore. The Awards presented by Intelligent Enterprise Asia, the regional business IT publication, recognises the top 20 companies in Asia Pacific for their strategic use of IT to improve service quality and to streamline business operations. Sheraton Towers Singapore is the first and only hotel to have won this award since it was launched last year.

The 5-star business hotel won the award for its Call Centre Application called "FCS Connect". Its main features include a one-touch Star Service button for all guest queries, and the Short Message Service (SMS) facility for all inter-departmental communications. Sheraton Towers is the first hotel in Singapore to adopt this system technology.

Shortlisted entries were judged on four key performance indicators: customer satisfaction, product/service quality assurances, return on technology investments and innovation.

Commenting on the award win, Mr Steven Long, General Manager of Sheraton Towers said, "When a guest checks in today, getting the best sleep and enjoying the comforts of home are a given. Today's travellers are accustomed to having their productive work spaces literally travel with them. Our one-touch Star Service phone button helps to create such an environment, one that ensures our guests' efficiency is not compromised.

That FCS Connect eliminates unnecessary response time to their requests in a very personalised manner. The other aspect is that it enables smooth backroom operations. This technology has set a new standard for the hospitality sector."

FCS Connect serves three primary purposes in achieving excellence in operational efficiency, guest satisfaction and staff productivity. All guest requests are delivered immediately to the appropriate personnel in charge via SMS by the staff manning the Star Service button service and tracked electronically till tasks are completed. With the pager and phone interface added to the system, service calls can be activated from any spot within the hotel. Tasks can be instituted and assigned to the employees in charge via beepers. Follow-ups are also facilitated efficiently, ensuring no operational lapse. In addition, paperwork is eliminated and productivity is increased with the use of this electronic system. The service chain is integrated as one seamless system reducing unnecessary inter-departmental communications and all actions tracked effectively for any modifications, where necessary.

For the guests, this system is as easy to use as it is efficient, with the average response time to execute a request halved since the FCS Connect service. The launch of FCS Connect has also presented invaluable benefits to hotel employees who underwent training to acquire new technical skills and capability for multi-tasking.

Mr Long added, "FCS Connect is part of our on-going endeavour to integrate service excellence and people development through effective use of technology." FCS Computer Systems (FCS), Digital Network Access Communications Pte Ltd and Mecomb Singapore Ltd supplied the technological software and hardware. Sheraton Towers Singapore's in-house IT personnel coordinated this entire project with the suppliers to ensure the smooth implementation of the FCS Connect system.