阿鲁巴Gigabit Wi-Fi + Meridian delights 2.2 million visitors, boosts vendor services and improves operations at SFP

Assisting over 2.2 million annual visitors with navigating 435 acres of indoor and outdoor facilities, while serving the business needs of thousands of event vendors, are top priorities for Jason Eddy.
"We host events year-round and generate over $336 million in direct spending for the local economy," explains Eddy, VP of Information Technology for State Fair Park in Oklahoma City. "We need to meet the mobility needs of guests, vendors and staff alike."

Seeking a Comprehensive Enterprise Solution

As a large public venue (LPV), State Fair Park’s existing patchwork of disparate wireless systems was increasingly insufficient.

"We wanted to give the general public a better experience," Eddy says. "We also needed to improve support for our event vendors, who rely on us for services and the infrastructure required to do business."

With the help of its local partner, RFIP, State Fair Park selected Aruba Networks, an HP company. “Aruba met all of our requirements, which included solutions for streamlining Wi-Fi security and management.”

802.11ac WLAN and Mobile Engagement Answer the Needs

为了满足当前的需求并为更大的未来移动依赖性做准备，SFP部署了包括Aruba 802.11ac在内的普遍企业Wi-Fi系统室内和室外接入点(APs) and7200系列移动控制器。

Also, the organization further increased efficiencies by unifying its wireless and wired network with Aruba’s移动性访问开关。Plus, SFP adopted Aruba’s vendor-agnostic management toolsAirWave, for optimizing Wi-Fi experiences, andClearPass, for strong security.

埃迪说：“除了现代化我们的Wi-Fi外，我们还更新了有线网络。”“ Aruba的移动性访问开关和企业管理工具对于整合和简化我们的基础架构至关重要，以集中我们的精益IT员工网络管理。”

Meridian-powered OK State Fair App shows nearby attractions

For mobile engagement, SFP adopted Aruba’sMeridian Mobile App Platformto augment guest services, offer turn-by-turn directions to amenities and provide advertising opportunities for event vendors.
SFP市场和公共关系副总裁Scott Munz说：“我们的新OK州博览会应用程序为年度俄克拉荷马州博览会的大约900,000名参与者提供实时援助，这是我们目前最大的单一活动。”

他补充说：“客人，供应商和员工都喜欢该应用程序，其中包括对公平布局的详细可视化。”“每个人都可以迅速找到自己喜欢的公平活动，并发现最接近玉米犬，肉桂卷或任何适合自己心情的地方。”

ClearPass提高安全性，简化访问管理

Adopting ClearPass Policy Management provides State Fair Park with the robust security features of a wired network in a wireless environment, says Eddy. The application combines context-based policy management with next-generation AAA (Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting) services for comprehensively managing network access policies, onboarding and managing devices securely, and admitting guest users.

此外，将ClearPass与Mobility Access Switch相结合，使SFP通过发出单个单独的一组凭据（无论设备如何）来提供无忧的用户访问。每个人每组一组凭据，组织可以根据预设的政策要求提供或限制访问权限。

轻而易举地分开和管理交通
根据埃迪（Eddy）的说法，部署ClearPass已大大提高了安全性，并使客人和供应商流量与内部运营分开。他说：“我们依靠ClearPass自动将网络流量分开，并根据我们设定的基于角色的策略安全地在板载设备上。”

他补充说：“我们有五个隔离的网络，全部由ClearPass管理。一个是为公众提供的，其余的支持供应商和公司运营，例如使用手持式扫描仪访问我们的票务系统，并允许我们的食品服务运营来进行Point--销售（POS）交易。”

AirWave Optimizes Wi-Fi & Steers Devices Clear of Obstacles

For maintaining overall Wi-Fi health and unifying management of its multivendor network, State Fair Park implemented AirWave to optimize Wi-Fi performance. AirWave’s map-like interface provides critical and granular visibility into each AP, including real-time and historical connection information.

从第一天开始，我们与阿鲁巴的经验非常出色。Jason Eddy,VP of Information Technology for State Fair Park in Oklahoma City

In addition, AirWave exposes sources of RF signal interference and automatically moves mobile devices to a cleaner channel.

“在其许多功能中，Airwave可以监视连接到每个AP的设备的数量和类型，” Eddy说。“这有助于我们确定是否需要对Wi-Fi布局进行调整。我们还依靠Airwave来检测流氓接入点的存在和位置。”

VisualRF helps minimize troubleshooting, reduces downtime

SFP还利用了Airwave的VisualRF，该VisualRF将应用程序报告添加到设备信息中。结果，以前花费数小时解决的问题可以在几分钟内完成。这通过运营效率，降低停机时间和合并管理工具集可产生可观的节省。

“We really appreciate VisualRF,” Eddy says. “It helps us manage traffic loads and pinpoint possible issues even before they affect mobile users, so we can fix them fast.”

Big Wins For Guests, Vendors and Operations

Today, State Fair Park's #GenMobile guests have reliable, high-performance Wi-Fi and the popular mobile app to help get them where they want to go. #GenMobile are the new breed of tech-savvy mobile device users.

In addition Aruba's tools give SFP critical insights on connected devices. “From Aruba's robust statistics we know that roughly 60% of our app installations have been on the iOS platform,” Munz says. “This type of information is key to developing new types of marketing and advertising campaigns.”

例如,SFP正在考虑工作的选择g with event promoters to present visitors with opt-in notifications and promotional offers as they enter the specific building where a vendor is located. “We can leverage our Aruba ClearPass and Meridian infrastructure to do that,” Munz says.

阿鲁巴powers mobile engagement at new expo center and beyond
Another benefit of the Aruba infrastructure will be fully realized when SFP opens its new Expo Center. The 279,000 sq. ft. building will include 201,000 sq. ft. of contiguous floor space. This will enable bringing new national and international events to Oklahoma City.

“由于世博中心是一个最先进的设施，我们期待在参加活动时为客人提供出色的移动访问，” Munz说。“而且，我们希望通过其移动设备以新的创新方式吸引他们。”

向前迈进，SFP将探索各种部署的选项阿鲁巴Beacons, with Bluetooth Low Energy, to deliver guests more location and contextual information as well as provide vendors with further customer engagement opportunities, says Munz.

Providing more services, more efficiently, from Day One
Operationally, Gigabit Wi-Fi is providing SFP with more opportunities to serve vendors without added overhead. Just one way is extending its facilities management application to mobile devices.

埃迪说：“我们为设施人员提供了更新现场工作订单的能力，例如当展览人员要求更多的椅子或桌子上的桌子时。”“更新站点上的工作订单使我们能够加快所需设备的交付。在阿鲁巴之前，这些能力是不可能的。”

As SFP continues to roll out new mobile capabilities to its staff, vendors and guests, there’s palpable excitement for what the future holds. “Our experience with Aruba from Day One has been excellent,” says Eddy. “I can’t speak any more highly about it.”