"So how is it working, Haley?" asked Candace, the RM at the Holiday Inn Express. Candace and Haley were old classmates. They were chatting after a monthly meeting of the local hotel association. Haley was the FOM at another hotel in the area. She was telling Candace how she had solved the problem of dealing with telephone call reservations at her property when her front desk staff was too busy to handle the calls effectively. "It's great," replied Haley. "When we get busy I just have our employee tell the caller they will be transferred to Reservations. We have our franchisor's reservation center number on speed dial, so the call is transferred to that extension. Presto, the call is forwarded to the res center. Somewhere in Coloradoor maybe IndiaI think. Anyway, they handle it. We don't." "Any negative feedback?" asked Candace. "None at all," replied Haley. "No guest complaints, and our staff just love it."

If you were Candace, how might you solve the "we're too busy to take the call" problem if it were one that was frequently experienced by your own front office staff?