Cornell’s Statler Hotel faced a critical challenge: replace an aging phone system without disrupting the personalized service that defines its AAA Four-Diamond reputation. The solution required more than new in-room phones—it demanded close collaboration across Cornell’s IT teams and external partners to adapt enterprise services for a hotel environment.

“Hospitality phones are unique, and there were no ready-made solutions at Cornell,” said Laura Landphair, Executive Director of Information Technology at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. “In the past, projects like this would have been left entirely to a unit to figure out, but over the past several years, our college has adopted a strategy of taking full advantage of university enterprise services whenever possible and adapting them to fit our unique unit needs. This project began well before Resilient Cornell, but strongly aligns with its goals of cost savings and duplication reduction, while maintaining top-tier service for hotel guests.”

Landphair’s team worked closely with CIT Enterprise Network Services engineers to shape the university’s RingCentral communications system for hospitality needs. The college team brought deep knowledge of the hotel’s guest services infrastructure and translated business priorities from hotel leadership in daily communications that kept the teams aligned.

Phones and the Guest Experience

In-room phones remain essential for luxury hotels: a single button connects guests to the Front Desk or Room Service, and privacy protections require careful integration. Guest names must be blocked on outbound Caller ID, and direct calls to rooms are prohibited—yet business phones need visibility into guest Caller ID for personalized service.

“When a guest checks in, their name is associated with their room’s phone extension in the Property Management System,” explained Diane Kubarek, IT Project Manager and Business Analyst. “At checkout, the guest’s name, Caller ID, and voicemail must all be cleared. Previously, this required PBX hardware. Now, these updates are managed through software tied to RingCentral.”

Addressing Complexity Under Pressure

End-of-life deadlines for legacy hardware and limited vendor support raised the risk of extended phone and service outages. Careful planning was essential to untangle dependencies between guest services, privacy protections, and the hotel’s technology infrastructure, including their onsite PBX.

Kubarek said the modernization unfolded in two phases: first, disconnecting the PBX from the legacy system and connecting it to RingCentral for dial tone; second, installing modern network infrastructure and replacing the PBX with DuVoice software to integrate the Property Management System with RingCentral.

Despite the complexity, the cutover was completed in just three days during a low-occupancy window—deploying more than 250 phones across 153 rooms and offices with minimal disruption.

Results

The Statler Hotel’s phone system transition wasn’t just a technical upgrade—it was a collaborative triumph that preserved the guest experience while setting a new standard for hospitality IT projects. 

Learn more about technical details and partnerships on the supplemental project page.