ZFV – Reliable, Flexible, and Connected

Everyday life in the hotel and catering industry is fast paced, the communication channels are becoming more and more complex. It is essential to ensure that employees can communicate with the help of a flawless network connection – and this is also the case at the ZFV-Unternehmungen, one of Switzerland’s leading hotel, catering, and bakery companies. The employees are hosts in the almost 200 establishments in all four parts of the country and must be able to always contact each other.

The well-being of guests is the top priority at ZFV. Whether taking a food order or passing on feedback, a stable connection is needed to support the highest possible customer satisfaction. Relying on the in-house WLAN via fiber optic cable is not always enough here.

ZFV uses a digital telephone system (PBX) for internal communication. Employees have a virtual landline number that they can use via voice-over-IP (VoIP) on their smartphones. The smartphones then access the local WLAN in the company for voice communication. WLAN reception can sometimes be inadequate within and especially between buildings. This is where Digital Republic’s mobile subscriptions come in. By additionally equipping employees’ smartphones and tablets with a SIM card, the connection works automatically via the mobile 4/5G network even in places without WLAN coverage. This ensures a reliable connection under all conditions.

Many devices at ZFV are already connected via Digital Republic SIM. An important requirement that the company places on a provider is the ability to scale. For ZFV, it is important to be able to quickly increase the number of SIM cards when needed or to stop subscriptions when demand decreases, for example, due to a pandemic.

As pacing is very high in the industry, ZFV appreciates having found a solution in Digital Republic that allows uncomplicated and quick management of mobile subscriptions in the online customer portal. The speed of the SIM cards can be adjusted as required, or a subscription can be paused at any time until the end of the current 30-day period. In addition, the use of the mobile Internet as a fallback solution means that costs are particularly important. Paying only for what is actually needed is essential for ZFV, according to the company. “We don’t want any unpleasant surprises,” says Gérard Korda, Head of IT Operations at ZFV Unternehmungen.

Pioneering spirit, humanity and responsibility are the values on which ZFV bases its corporate philosophy. Digital Republic believes that with fair, transparent rates and a dynamic start-up spirit, it can help ZFV live its values in its chosen connectivity solution.

As service oriented as ZFV would like to be towards its customers, the company appreciates Digital Republic’s personal support, which comes into play in exceptional cases when problems arise with the SIM cards and the customer portal should not be self-explanatory at times.

“We have chosen the right product as well as the right partner and are happy to have entered into a good partnership,” says Korda. Thank you ZFV! Digital Republic is pleased to contribute to the networking of mobile devices in the hotel and restaurant industry.

It is a great compliment to even be mentioned in the Gastrojournal and the Hotellerie Gastronomie Zeitung with interviews.