Uniserve Communications

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the general manager of a 77-room boutique hotel with an on-site spa and three food and beverages outlets. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Uniserve Communications?

Uniserve handles everything related to our IT system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Uniserve’s recent projects with us include upgrading our server and updating the WiFi connection of our entire building. The goal is to make everything run more smoothly and quickly. For day-to-day services, we call Uniserve if anything goes down within our IT structure. They constantly monitor all of our systems, which include our WiFi, POS, and property management systems. Their team fixes many of our problems remotely, and they come on-site during worst-case scenarios. 

Apart from that, their team visits us monthly to make sure that everything is ticking and moving along properly. Their resources give us recommendations on what we should do for our systems. For these services, we pay them monthly. If a specific project costs a lot of money, we typically plan it for the coming year to fit it into our budget. 

What is the team composition?

I deal with Brendan (Customer Experience Manager) a lot, and another person handles our day-to-day needs. We’ve worked with Uniserve for a long time, so I’ve dealt with almost every single person from their team, including Kelly (President & CEO), Ian (System Administrator), and Samson (VoIP Engineer). 

How did you come to work with Uniserve Communications?

Uniserve has been with our company even before my tenure, and we haven’t had the need to look for anyone else. On top of that, switching everything over to a new provider will be a headache for me more than anyone else. As a result, we’ve retained their services.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2011, and our monthly maintenance contract is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Over the last three years, things have improved dramatically. Since they’ve been working with us for a long time, they already know when we’re angry and when we’re frustrated about something. 

When we bring our problems or challenges to their attention, they fix them until everything is fine. For instance, if our phone lines go down and they can’t fix them remotely, they go here and fix it in person. This proves that they’re always on top of things. Even if they’ve had problems three or more years ago, their services are much better now. These days, we have no complaints about them. 

Moreover, the last couple of years have been tough for the hospitality industry, but Uniserve has always been price-conscious with us. That’s been truly helpful. 

How did Uniserve Communications perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate with Uniserve through a ticketing system. We can also call them, in which case they’ll create a ticket for us. From there, we get their responses, which we receive between 5 minutes–1 hour — it’s usually quick. If the issue is an emergency, they deal with it right away. 

The worst-case scenario for us is when something happens at around 3 a.m. and the night auditor is by themselves. In that case, the problem might take a little while. However, that’s understandable since they likely have only 1–2 people working overnight. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I trust them a lot, which comes with time; we’ve been working with them for so long that I can be absolutely honest with them. I can tell them when things aren’t going to where we want them to go, and then they’ll fix the problem. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They can use more staff members, but everyone has that problem now. Other than that, everything has been going well. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear about your goals and budget; be open and honest, and Uniserve will tell you exactly what they can and can’t do.