Executive Travel talks with Frank Anderson, technology butler at the Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park.

What does a hotel technology butler do?
Guests will bring their laptops, cell phones-whatever technology they might need-to the hotel, and sometimes they have problems. It might be with connecting their laptops to the Internet. Or cell phones might not work, and they’re not sure why. Or they might need a printer or fax machine. You will have a guest who has a deadline, and when they can’t get connected right away, there’s obviously a frustration point. Getting up to that guest and taking care it is paramount. The hotel has it covered 24 hours a day. There’s a team of people. If someone were to come in at 3 a.m. on a Sunday and have problems getting connected, we have engineers on-site that take care of those needs. When you travel, if you’re not sure how your system works, having somebody there to take care of it is going to make a world of difference to you.

Do you solve guests’ technology problems on the phone or in the room?
On the phone is the first route to go. In some cases, that works fine. In other cases, you need to go [to the room] to point to things and show [which] cables need to go where.

Is helping guests with technology problems the full extent of your job description?
I am the property systems manager. I take care of everything in the back of the house. But in time of [guests’] need, I’m definitely there for them first.


How many guest calls do you get in a day?
Sometimes we can have a full house, and there might be just 40 people online and everybody’s fine. And other days it may be slower, and 50 people are online and you get 10 people with problems. Of those, 99 percent are easily fixed. Often it’s just a matter of unchecking a box.

What is the most common technology problem guests have?
We get a lot of business travelers who stay at our hotel. The way most companies have their network set up at their office, you’re able to connect at the office with no problem. But when you leave your office, you may need to make some changes. We live in an age when information is the most expensive thing out there, and security is so huge. Companies lock down computers because they don’t want that information to get lost or stolen. So, when you travel with your laptop, fixing the problem can be more than unchecking a box. It could be you need to call the company and check with their technicians.

When you get to that point, is it you or the guest who talks to the home office?
In most cases, the guest says, “Here, talk to my computer guy.” Other times, the guest will get on the phone, and I’ll stand in the background.

What tricky situations have you encountered?
Everybody personalizes [his or her] computer. And when you go up to a guest’s room, you want to remain as composed as possible and ignore everything you see on the computer. But occasionally, you will run into circumstances where somebody might have downloaded something they shouldn’t have, and suddenly panic sets in for them. You need to be nonchalant when you go up there. You help them out to the best of your ability and don’t embarrass them.

What advice would you give business travelers about technology?
The first thing I would say is to get to know your computer. There’s not a lot to it, but you should spend some time and get to know how it works, particularly if you’re traveling. It will make your life easier if you know what to expect. If you’re traveling for your company, talk to your IT guy and ask simple questions. You might say, “I’m going to these cities and staying at these hotels. What do I need to know to get my email, to get into our corporate system?” Usually a five-minute conversation will do it.

What technology do you think has benefited business travelers most?
Email. It’s got to be the biggest thing out there right now. Even six or seven years ago, the term email wasn’t around in travel, and Joe Businessman was thinking, “How can I get my fax?” Now everyone’s walking around with their BlackBerrys and PDAs and phones. You can conduct business around the world with email, through cell phones and your laptop. I’d imagine it’s just going to get bigger from here.