Executive Travel

Name: Chas Brown

Company: Industrial Relations Outsourcing, Toronto

Hotel room voice mailboxes may not be as private as you think!

Voice mail in hotels is a popular feature, being both cost-efficient for hotels and convenient for business travelers. Hotels offer guests an identification code number for their voice mailboxes, creating the impression that their message will be both private and secure. But the industry norms for the codes are well known among both frequent guests and hotel employees.

In most systems, guests are given a telephone number that allows them to call in and receive their voice mail messages from any touch-tone telephone. The standard access code is the room number and the first four letters of the guest’s last name. Although guests can change it, they often do not bother or do not know how.

Thus, anyone who has previously stayed at the hotel or has knowledge of the system can often call and listen to the messages of any guest.

Guests should also be aware that, even though it is against hotel policy, hotel employees can often enter guests’ private mailboxes,

maybe late at night when things are quiet. They are more likely to be seeking amusement by listening to messages from prostitutes or angry spouses than looking for sensitive business information.

Sheratons, Four Seasons and many other chains in North America operate such systems in many of their hotels. Many celebrities are aware of the possible privacy infringement from past experiences with the tabloid press, and they insist on receiving written messages.

At present, the best way to ensure complete privacy while staying at a hotel is to never discuss anything of a confidential or highly personal nature on hotel voice mail systems or on an incoming hotel telephone line.

This is true even when there is no voice mail system. Hotel telecommunications staff can stay on the line after transferring a call. There is no indication that the call has not been disconnected at the switchboard unless background noise is heard, which is rare when operators use headsets. If you receive a call that is highly confidential and you must discuss the matter immediately, tell the caller you will call right back. When an outgoing call is being monitored, the guest will hear a beeping sound to let the guest know a third party is on the line.

When checking into a hotel, ask the front desk attendant how to change the voice mail code. If it is not possible to change the code from the the suite itself, insist that it be changed to something other than the first four letters of your last name. It is always preferable to key in your own code number.

Another option is to request that you receive written messages only. Then callers are always aware that a third person is involved in the message-taking process, and they may hesitate to leave messages that are not intended for others.

Do you have advice for fellow business travelers or a travel-related experience you would like to share? Please mail your typewritten contribution to Executive Travel, Business Section, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053. Or fax it to (213) 237-7837. Or send it electronically to 3666973@mcimail.com on the Internet. Please be as detailed as possible and include your name, title, company and a daytime telephone number.