Best Western UK Builds Online Reservation System On Ebone's Network

The online reservation system is particularly useful to customers, since they can book hotels in other time zones across the world. Best Western's UK reservation system, which is restricted to 12-hour availability, complements the online system and is part of Best Western's global booking system serving around 50 million guests world-wide each year.

Mike Goryl, Head of IT at Best Western said: "Quality of service is paramount in the hospitality sector, and we had to ensure that this was reflected by our chosen network partner. Having considered a variety of operators, Ebone demonstrated the quality of service associated with such an experienced provider with a robust and secure network infrastructure."

Leo McCloskey, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Ebone said: "When integrating traditional business practices with Internet-based services, it is vital for businesses to feel they have the support and security from their network partner. Our experience and infrastructure allow us to deal with these issues, letting our customers focus on what they do best - serving their users. We continue to be at the cutting edge of innovation, assisting businesses such as Best Western to realise the true power of IP."

Best Western's new online reservation web site uses Ebone's IP and broadband network to deliver high availability, high performance service.

Best Western GB has 350 independently owned two, three and four star quality hotels within its portfolio ranging from busy city centre hotels to quiet retreats in country and coastal locations.

As an Ebone customer, Best Western has direct access to Europe's largest, 10Gbps fibre-optic Internet backbone and backed up by over a decade of IP and broadband networking experience. Flexibility in Ebone's network service capability means it can expand to meet Best Western's requirements at any given time.

About Best Western

Best Western International is the world's largest hotel chain with more than 4,000 hotels in more than 80 countries and territories. It is a membership organisation of independently owned and operated hotels that provides marketing, reservations and operational support to its member hotels.

About Ebone

Ebone, a division of Global TeleSystems, Inc. GTLS is the original and most experienced broadband IP and optical networking company in Europe. Its fibre network extends more than 25,000 kilometres, reaching virtually all major European cities and serves 25% of European Internet users. It was the first IP network to operate at 10 Gbps. Ebone delivers tailored networking services to over 150 European and North American telecommunication carriers and service providers and 4,000 European and multinational corporations. It has operations in North America and in 66 European cities, with operating headquarters in London. For further information, please visit us at www.ebone.com

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