HOTELS could soon make even larger profits from guests鈥� phone calls by
installing a device which mimics timing pulses generated by British Telecom. The
device would allow hotels to route calls through alternative networks, including
Mercury, AT&T and Energis, which do not provide timing pulses but can be
cheaper than BT.
Until 1995, BT charged in units worth, say, 5p, the duration of which
depended on call distance and time of day. Pulses generated at the exchange
marked the units so BT鈥檚 billing system could log them. For a fee of a few
pounds per month, subscribers鈥攊ncluding many hotels鈥攃ould receive 50
hertz pulses from BT which were synchronised with the metering tones so they
could be registered on their own meters. Hotel switchboards picked up these 50
Hz pulses and used them to time guests鈥� calls鈥攁llowing hoteliers to add a
mark-up on BT鈥檚 prices.
BT now uses per-second billing and originally said it would terminate the
pulse service in mid-1996. But the hotel trade complained that they would have
to buy new switchboards to meter calls.
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Opt-Tel Systems Management of Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, seized the
opportunity and developed a box which connects to an old switchboard and
superimposes 50 Hz pulses on up to eight phone lines coming into the hotel. 鈥淎t
around 拢500 it is a lot cheaper than a new switchboard,鈥� says Peter Kehoe
of Opt-Tel, 鈥渁nd the hotel can now use any telephone network.鈥� Kehoe thinks BT鈥檚
rivals should provide free boxes as an incentive to hotels to use their
services.
BT has now said it will continue the pulse service until the end of 2001.
But it is too late to avoid the new competition from rival networks for the
hotels鈥� business. Of course, if guests want to bypass hotel switchboards and the
large mark-ups altogether, then cellphone companies could be the ones to
benefit.
