Hotel phones, unfortunately, are designed for voice transmission. An average phone call from a room lasts around two to three minutes, but hotel Internet users, a growing breed, are typically on-line, tying up the phone system, for an hour or more. According to a survey last year by Radisson Hotels, an up-market chain with a sizable business clientele, 83.2 per cent of its guests travel with portable computers.
More users mean an overload on the phone lines and a longer wait to download information.
Hoteliers say that some business travellers, used to more sophisticated systems at the office, leave their computers on and connected even when they go out. That also ties up phone lines and creates difficulties for other users. When people tried to call us or dial out, they constantly got a busy signal. According to Mr. Labrosse, dialling into the Internet from a hotel-room phone can easily take 10 minutes or longer. Like Guest-Tek, TravelNet Technologies is relatively new.