The tubes
Let’s stay for a while in the eighties. You will be surprised, but the everyday flow of business was the same like today, but the means have drastically changed. In a large 5 star hotel with multiple outlets and the banquets, basic processes remain in principle the same, the only difference is that now technology is fully integrated with the business, while then it was primitive and expensive.
For example, there was the need to establish a way of communication from the outlets to the Front Office Cashier; somehow to send the restaurant charges for posting to the guest folios.
Ah, I forgot to mention, those days the cashiering function was part of the accounting. The receptionists had no physical access to the cashier desk. Between the cashier clerks and the guests there was a big glass pane with round holes, like those you can see today in the ticket tellers at metro stations.
On the other end, in all outlets there were checkers/cashiers. The position of the restaurant cashier became obsolete after many years in the late nineties, and after the full implementation of computerized cashiering systems. In the early eighties the outlets were equipped with NCR 42’s, a very reliable machine. In case of a power failure there was no need to have them connected to a UPS; the cashier could still operate them by using a crank! Gradually and as the electronic age was already at gates, they had been replaced by NCR 250’s.
Perhaps in another post it will be worthwhile to elaborate a bit about the cashiering function in the outlets, but for the moment let’s see how the generated volume of restaurant charges was communicated to the front desk. Remember, these are the eighties, no computer networks were available, so there had to be a way to communicate the guest charges to the front desk for posting!
To have the checks carried by the staff was one option, but it was not the preferred method, there had to be a system to send a batch of checks from a remote outlet (the roof 10 floors above for example) to the front office fast.
There was a system in place: the Pneumatic Tube Transport!
Pneumatic tubes (Pneumatic Tube Transport or PTT) are systems that propel cylindrical containers (canisters) through networks of tubes by compressed air or by partial vacuum. All outlets (the telephone operator included) were connected with the Front Office Cashier with such a tube.
Next to the restaurant cashier’s station there’re were two valves, one to send the canister with the restaurant checks and another to receive them. The later was pointing in a leather basket, where the canisters were dropped. At the front office cashier, there was big rectangular shaped leather basket with all receiving tubes with their valves. There were also the respective outgoing ones to send the canisters to the outlets.
During rush hours, the noise from the incoming tubes at the front office was enormous. Sometimes things felt out of control, when the incoming tubes (with restaurant checks) were too many and the checkout lines were growing fast; imagine, someone had to dedicate time and open the canisters, sort the checks and place them into the guest folio trays for posting…
Like all systems, the PTT occasionally used to fail and canisters used to get trapped in that chaotic tubing system. In certain instances could take hours until the system was up and functioning again. Inevitably there were lost charges, but despite the fact the whole charging system was manual, there was a backup procedure! But for this and the cashiering functions, there will be another post.