BY CHRISTOPHER OSTROWSKI

TOMAH, WI-February 7, 2006-Scitec, Recently stigmatized as being too expensive for everyday hotel use, voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) phones might finally be ready to buck that stereotype and take the lodging market by storm. And evidence of this change can be seen at none other than an economy hotel here that is now benefiting significantly from a freshly installed VoIP system.

The hotel, the 60-room Microtel Inn & Suites Tomah, was newly built in the summer of 2005. But rather than installing a traditional analog telephone system during the project, the owner of the property, Griff Properties, chose to go the VoIP route with CATV cabling and a T-1 line that could provide the hotel with not only phone service, but also wired and wireless high-speed Internet access. The cost difference was significant.

"We saved about $20,000 on the initial VoIP installation cost when compared to putting in an analog system and a separate wireless Internet system in the building," said Mike Griffin, president of Griff Properties.

But the cost savings for Griff Properties won't end there, Griffin said, because the hotel flies the Microtel flag and, consequently, must offer free local and long-distance domestic phone calls and free HSIA to guests. Griffin said that policy, which went into effect a little more than a year ago at Microtel, can be expensive for owners and sent him searching for a VoIP solution for his to-be-built hotel last year.

In the end, Griffin chose Scitec as his hotel's VoIP solution provider. Scitec then proceeded to install its 2000PDV IP Server at the property, which manages VoIP voice calls, wired and wireless HSIA and IP video camera surveillance. Griffin added that 75 Grandstream Networks Inc. VoIP phones were also installed throughout the hotel.

"The IP Server allowed us to bring in one T1 line, which gives us broadband, which in turn allows us to have telephone and Internet traffic on one line," Griffin explained. "Without the server and VoIP system, we would have had to install data and voice lines. Through the use of VoIP we were also able to eliminate the use of a long distance carrier that we would have had to pay monthly service fees to."

Griffin further pointed out that since guests are allowed to make free domestic long-distance calls at his property, using a long-distance carrier would have cost the hotel thousands of dollars a year, with no return on investment to show for it.

With the VoIP system, Scitec simply charges Griff Properties less than 1 cent per call for a long-distance connection.

"Right now, we feel like we're saving $8,000 to $10,000 a year on our long-distance bill," Griffin said. "Some other Microtel owners are retrofitting their properties for VoIP and others are simply buying long-distance minutes in bulk. I just thought VoIP would end up being the standard down the road anyway."

After the phones were purchased- at a price of $75 a phone- Scitec set up the network over the course of three days, Griffin said. "Each phone is a separate computer, so each one has to be put on the database and there also needs to be an IP address for each phone," he said, adding that because everything was installed as part of a new construction project, the process was ultimately easier.

But Scitec also provides a VoIP solution, called VoIP-In-A-Box, that makes it easier for current hotels to switch to a VoIP system. The technology allows hotels to use their existing analog phones, but, at the same time, redirects long distance and international calls over the Internet at low flat monthly rates.

Based on an actual 30-day performance for a 72-room property, VoIP-In-A-Box can save a hotel 37.5% on its telecommunications costs per month, according to Scitec.