Overcoming My Difficulty in Handling Telephone Calls Alone When Working As Operator At Novotel Hotel Bandung.

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i Maranatha Christian University

ABSTRACT

Selama saya melakukan kegiatan magang, saya menghadapi kesulitan dalam menerima telepon masuk pada saat bekerja sendiri sebagai operator telepon di Hotel Novotel Bandung. Penyebabnya adalah karena di Hotel Novotel Bandung hanya ada dua operator termasuk saya, selain itu saya juga tidak mempunyai pengalaman yang cukup sebagai operator telepon. Akibatnya tamu hotel tidak dapat dilayani dengan baik, dan saya menjadi stres selama bekerja karena harus mengerjakan semua pekerjaan sambil belajar.

Setelah melakukan penelitian, saya mempunyai empat pilihan solusi untuk mengatasi masalah saya. Pertama, hotel harus mempekerjakan seorang operator lagi. Kedua, saya menjawab pertanyaan dari tamu hotel dengan singkat tetapi tetap sopan. Ketiga, hotel menyediakan fasilitas Internet untuk pemesanan kamar hotel. Keempat, saya berlatih dan belajar untuk

meningkatkan kemampuan dan pengetahuan tentang semua hal yang berkaitan dengan pekerjaan operator telepon di hotel.

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iv Maranatha Christian University

APPENDIX

working as an operator at Novotel Hotel Bandung

- Novotel Hotel Bandung should at least hire one more operator

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1 Maranatha Christian University

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

In Bandung, hotel business is developing fast as a result of the influx of

people from other cities. Almost every weekend Bandung is crowded with

people from Jakarta, Surabaya, and even Malaysia to spend their holiday

by shopping in factory outlets because prices are relatively competitive. In

order to accommodate those people, hotels must offer an excellent service

to their guests. As a result, hotel guests will feel at home at particular

hotels and will return to the same hotels.

In order to serve hotel guests better, front liners, such as receptionist

staff, guest relation officer, marketing staff, and others, play a very

important role in running the business. It is because they are the first

people to greet the hotel guests. In addition to receptionists, hotel

operators also have first contacts with hotel guests; therefore, they must

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2 Maranatha Christian University with all in-coming calls smartly, politely, and respectfully. Besides, an operator

meets the hotel guests’ request of wake up calls by recording them on the

wakeup call sheet and make a summary calls report. Furthermore, the

operator also records messages for hotel guests who are not available at the

hotel, write down messages, makes telephone summary reports, fax summary

reports (27). Considering the quotation above, I can understand that the job

description of a hotel operator is quite complex. She or he needs to have

certain qualifications to support her or his job. Without those qualifications, an

operator will find difficulties in doing her job well.

This term paper is based on my internship as an operator at Novotel Hotel

(henceforth, NH) in Bandung. I discovered that my job was overloaded

because very often I had to work alone and I had to answer two phone calls at

the same time; as a consequence, I felt stressful as my job was unbearable.

As an operator, I had to do some tasks, namely handling calls from hotel

guests who asked for information about online reservation and the rate of the

room hotel, answering calls from hotel guests, and making telephone

summary reports. Unfortunately, the hotel has only two operators, and

naturally we become very busy. As a new operator, I had no experience

dealing with official telephone calls. This is because I was not familiar with the

equipment such as switchboard, wake up call, and sound system related to

the job of an operator. Regarding the above explanations, I decided to

analyze how to handle difficulties in handling telephone calls alone when

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B. Identification of the Problem

Based on my internship as an operator at NH Bandung, I would like to

analyze :

1. Why do I have difficulties in handling telephone calls alone as a telephone

operator at NH?

2. How should I handle such problem effectively?

C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study

The objectives of this study are to discover the reasons why I have difficulties in handling telephone calls alone while I was in my internship as an

operator at NH. I would also like to find the best solution to the problem on

handling telephone calls alone while I was in my internship as an operator at

Novotel Hotel, Bandung.

This term paper will be beneficial to other people, namely hotel staff, the

readers, and I myself. The hotel staff will get valuable inputs concerning

service and satisfaction given to hotel guests. The readers of this term paper

will learn that becoming a hotel operator needs certain qualifications. Finally, I

myself learn to understand the problem of a hotel operator and know how to

solve it.

D. Description of the Institution

Novotel Hotel is a four-star hotel, located in the heart of Bandung City and established on December 10, 2006. The owners are Mr. Christian Wibowo,

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4 Maranatha Christian University The hotel rooms are equipped with complete facilities. This hotel is not only

for holiday makers but also for business people.

Novotel Hotel has 156 rooms with various choices, for example, superior

room, premier room, executive room, and suite room. The most luxurious

room is the suite room, which is large, and designed beautifully; in addition, it

is provided with a living room.

This hotel also offers a number of facilities for the guests to enjoy; such as

a restaurant, a bar lounge, a premier lounge, a ballroom, meeting rooms, free

WIFI, free shuttle buses from and to the airport or station, Dolfi Kids Club, a

massage spa, a swimming pool, and a fitness center.

E. Method of the Study

The process of collecting data for this term paper was done during my

internship as an operator at NH. Besides, I obtained the data from observing

how a telephone operator worked when she was on duty. The operator gave

me a demonstration of how to answer phone calls politely and how to operate

the equipment. Next, I studied my internship journal carefully in order to find

accurate information from what I had experienced as a telephone operator.

Furthermore, I read some relevant books from Maranatha Christian University

library. Finally, I found some theories from the Internet to support the writing

of my term paper concerning operators. The data is used to analyze the

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F. Limitation of the Study

My term paper focuses on how to handle telephone calls effectively. The

subject of this research is I myself as a telephone operator working at NH,

Bandung, starting from January 2011 to March 2011.

G. Organization of the Term Paper

This term paper starts with the Abstract, a summary of the whole term

paper in Indonesian. Then, there is a Declaration of Originality, which contains

a statement from myself about the authenticity of the paper. Next is

Acknowledgements, which contains the list of people who have supported me

during the writing of this term paper. After that is Table of Contents. Then,

there are four chapters as follows: Chapter I is the Introduction, Chapter II is

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CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

During my internship as a telephone operator at NH, I encountered a

serious problem namely I have difficulties in handling telephone lines alone.

There are several causes of my problem. First, there are only two operators

at NH to handle the hotel guests. Second, I do not have any experiences as a

Hotel operator. Naturally, this problem has brought two negative effects both

for the hotel guests and for me. The first effect is some of incoming calls from

hotel guests cannot be handled properly. The second effect is that I become

stressful during working hours. There are three potential solutions to deal with

the problem. The first solution is the hotel should at least hire one more

operator. Second, the hotel should improve the function of the online

reservation facility. Third, I increase my skills and knowledge in handling

telephone calls for self development.

Having discussed the problem in the previous chapters, I would like to

present the best solution to solve the problem. The chosen solutions are the

first and the third potential solution, namely the hotel should at least hire one

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18 Maranatha Christian University calls for self development.

The reason I choose the above solution is because of the following

consideration. First, it will eliminate the stress for the operator because now their

work is shared with the other operators. Second, hotel guests will feel happy

because an operator can work properly and give the good service. As an

operator, I need to be proactive to develop my work performance as a hotel

operator. Therefore, I should improve my skill and knowledge to support my

work. In an article entitled “Front office”, it is stated that “Nevertheless, most of

the small hotels (20-30 rooms) are trying to keep the general structure of front

office and delivery services, having at least one employee for each of them” (par.

5). From the quotation I can see that small hotel has at least one staff for every

department. Naturally, big hotels or starred hotels need to have more than one

operator staff in order to provide good service to hotel guests. When there are

enough operator staff, of course the needs of hotel guest concerning reservation,

asking for information and others can be met. Moreover, in the article “Telephone

Operator Duties”,it is stated that, “It is vital that the switchboard operator has

good communication skills and is detail oriented” (par. 3). From the quotation I

can see that an operator must improve their skills and knowledge.

To conclude this term paper, I present several points concerning my

experience as a hotel operator. I realize that being a professional hotel operator

needs certain requirements, which include knowledge and skills: knowledge

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19 Maranatha Christian University for skills: skills to operate the equipment, how to handle guests complaint,

language skills, and communication skills. Hotel guest can only be served well if

the operator can fulfill their needs. To end my term paper, for my suggestion I

mention several things: new operators must be ready to work under pressure

when the hotel is fully booked. Therefore, an internship is very important for an

operator and for the hotel I suggest that it should have enough operator staff in

order to handle the guests properly. Finally, I also suggest that an operator must

have basic knowledge about computer and language especially English as an

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Maranatha Christian University

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Printed Sources

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Darsono, Agustinus. Front Office Hotel. Jakarta: PT Gramedia Widiasarana

Indonesia, 2011

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2011. < http://www.hospitality-school.com/handling-guest-complaint>.

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Maranatha Christian University “How much do Telephone Operators make?” degreefinders.com. 2011. 6

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<

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Maranatha Christian University “What it’s Costs to hire and Train New Employees”. infographicsarchive.com.10

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Your-workplace/3115/cid779.aspx>.

Overcoming My Difficulty in Handling Telephone Calls Alone When Working As Operator At Novotel Hotel Bandung.

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

APPENDIX

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

B. Identification of the Problem

C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study

D. Description of the Institution

E. Method of the Study

F. Limitation of the Study

G. Organization of the Term Paper

CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY