Airport Hotel Enhances Staff Safety with Innovative Operations

When former General Manager Orlando Salazar began working at the large airport hotel, he was relieved to find the property was already using Relay. Other nearby properties were still using “old school” traditional radios that he considers to be outdated, lacking good sound quality, and harder to use. 

Orlando had been a huge driver in getting Relay implemented at his previous two properties because Relay not only meets brand compliance standards for an emergency alert device, but is also a powerful team communications tool. He stated, “I just thought eventually I’m going to have to replace these radios, and I need this emergency assistance device, so I might as well combine the two into one.” Orlando also considers Relay to be a more cost effective option than other devices because Relay is so much more than a panic button. 

“You’re paying all this money on these radios that are going to look and sound poor within a year. Relays are more durable and they’re waterproof, so you don’t have to worry about staff dropping them in the toilet, which happens often.”

– Former General Manager, Orlando Salazar

Operational Insights Help During Emergency Situation

To make sure tasks were on track and everyone was where they needed to be, Orlando used Relay to track productivity. Checking the Relay dashboard was part of his daily routine. He’d log on, check for offline devices, make sure all areas of the hotel have been recently visited, confirm firmware updates, and look at team performance. That’s how he discovered a room attendant needed help.

“We had a team member that passed out in a room and didn’t have a chance to push the panic button on time,” said Orlando. Because the property has indoor location beacons set up, it was obvious the Relay device was in the same room for over an hour. Orlando found it odd that this team member hadn’t called ahead and let the team know the room would need extra time to prepare, so he decided to figure out what was going on. “We got there and found she had passed out.” Luckily, she was okay. Orlando credits Relay for making him aware something wasn’t right and appreciates the extra redundancy since this staff member wasn’t able to signal a panic alert in time.

Relay: Built for the Next Generation

Beyond safety, Orlando used Relay to communicate more efficiently with his team, in a way that resonated best with them. Being an airport hotel, the property is often “at the mercy of the airport”. Whether his shuttle driver team alerted him of inclement weather or a flight cancellation, he was often required to pivot quickly and notify his team that they’ve got 100+ travelers on their way in need of rooms.

Sending a mass message to all devices via a text from the Relay app came naturally to him since it’s a feature every smartphone user is familiar with. He also used this feature for routine communications to ensure everyone had received his message and could adjust accordingly to stay on pace with their current tasks. Being able to pull everyone onto the same channel was especially important for his large staff since teams were on different channels throughout the day to reduce unnecessary chatter. 

“If you embrace everything they are, you can use Relays for a lot”.