By Sarah Cade
This month we chatted to Stuart Gray, who heads up our support team. Revered by Avondata clients and colleagues alike, it was a pleasure to find out more about Stuart.
Hi Stuart! Can you tell me more about your time with Avondata?
I’ve been with Avondata for the majority of my working career!
When I was a teenager, I worked as an apprentice, repairing computers for a company. I used to travel over multiple sites fixing old computers for students.
Straight afterwards I joined Avondata when I was 19 years old, over 20 years ago. I started off in installations, which involved me travelling around the country to different hotels. I enjoyed this as I love getting to know our clients and spending time with them.
I later spent some time in the development side of the business. However, now I’m back on client relations, heading up the Avondata support team.
As you can imagine, my role has changed as tech has evolved. We moved to Microsoft Windows very early on and there was a point in my career where I was teaching clients how to use a computer mouse! Rezcontrol PMS is cloud-based, so I’ve come through a whole generation of technology from the big old servers to tablets and mobile phones.
What do you enjoy about your current role at the company?
An important skill that has taken me through my whole career is problem solving – I love helping clients out with a tricky problem. My team is great and we can usually solve something together if it is particularly difficult.
My day-to-day role consists of ensuring that the support team are answering tickets, I’m there to back them up if they require it. If multiple tickets crop up with a similar problem, I liaise with the correct development team to propose the best course of action.
We like to keep our clients up-to-date with our progress as much as possible, letting them know priority levels and timescales.
If you were a hotel owner, what part of Rezcontrol PMS would you find the most useful?
That’s a good question! My favourite aspect of Rezcontrol PMS is how many devices you can run at once, whether it’s a tablet, mobile or desktop. It is easy to use and has multiple features, beneficial for every aspect of hotel management and we continue to regularly enhance it.
We’ve recently updated our online check-in which is probably the most useful feature we’ve introduced, as it benefits both our clients and their guests.
Great answer! How do you spend time outside of work?
I’m a family man, so when I’m not in the office, I’m usually with my family. This entails lots of weekends spent at parks, zoos, and children’s parties.
What is your rainy day, go to movie?
I like comedy, so I would have to say Monty Python’s Life of Brian.