阿鲁巴802.11ac addresses density and performance while also helping boost revenues for fast ROI

With his organization hosting more than a million guests a year and catering to tech-savvy conference clients, Matt Ballif's existing Wi-Fi network could no longer handle skyrocketing mobile device densities and accompanying demands.

"Not long ago, good wireless coverage was all we needed," says Ballif, Director of Event Technology at the Grand America and Little America Hotels in Salt Lake City. "Over time, hundreds of devices began connecting simultaneously in our various meeting and conference spaces. This became a real struggle."

Seeking a Flexible, Scalable, High-Density Wi-Fi

To replace his ill-performing hodge-podge system and insufficient management tools, Ballif sought a flexible, high-density enterprise WLAN his organization could leverage to generate event revenues and answer customer requests on the spot.

他说：“例如，如果一个小组来找我们在现场要求一定数量的带宽，我们需要一种方法来迅速提供它。”

Ballif补充说：“总的来说，我们需要一个高性能的解决方案，这将帮助我们从活动业务中获得足够的收入，以便在1500间客房中更新Wi-Fi。”

阿鲁巴的解决方案答案会议，活动和客人需求

With Aruba, our technology-savvy customers say we’re providing them with Wi-Fi amenities others can’t.
马特·巴利夫（Matt Ballif），Director of Event Technology, Grand America and Little America Hotels

As the flagship properties among a portfolio of hotels and resorts, the Grand America – a AAA Diamond Award-winning, Forbes Star operation – and the Little America – a beloved local landmark – would also serve as proving grounds for a portfolio-wide Wi-Fi modernization.

最终，升级将包括圣地亚哥国际评级的威斯盖特酒店和犹他州2002年奥林匹克雪盆滑雪胜地等物业。

For the robust, reliable and scalable Wi-Fi needed to support such premier facilities and their discerning clientele, Grand America collaborated with trusted partner Red Sky Solutions to select Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company. Also, throughout the project, Red Sky provided specification and installation services for the hotels.

无线局域网地址Varied Demands

To supply high-performance, high-density wireless connectivity for 100,000 square feet of meeting and event space, Ballif’s team deployed Aruba 802.11acindoor access points(APs) and7200 Series Mobility Controllers.

Additionally, the hotels invested in Aruba’s network management tool, AirWave, for optimizing Wi-Fi experiences.

即时提供定制的带宽

现在，巴利夫（Ballif）为他的顾客提供了他们所需的任何带宽，而不会为其他活动与会者或酒店客人降低经验。

“最近，一个小组要求超过500MB的带宽，” Ballif说。“我们的Aruba基础设施不仅使我们能够提供它，而且我们还可以调节带宽以确保没有单个设备消耗超过3MB。”

他补充说，该策略确保没有人或一小部分用户垄断了该小组的分配连接性。“而且，根据我们收到的反馈，每个人的移动体验仍然很棒。”

Supporting first-class attendee experiences

新的Wi-Fi还可以轻松处理设备密度。在一次活动中，大美，在150 x 150的会议空间中，每天平均每天使用800个设备。

“In the past, such device densities proved problematic,” Ballif says. “With our Aruba infrastructure, we delivered the top-notch attendee experience our customers requested.”

AirWave Enables New, Value-Added Services

根据Ballif的说法，Airwave的好处不仅仅是精简和自动化其大量WLAN的管理。除了提供对每个AP的可见性外，Ballif还触手可及地利用信息，以协助进行故障排除和网络计划。他甚至为客户提供新的增值报告服务。

强大的，颗粒状的报告使客户满意并建立忠诚度

Ballif leverages AirWave’s robust and granular reporting capabilities to supply event managers with Wi-Fi utilization statements – at whatever level of detail they require. “Before, it was frustrating because customers would ask about bandwidth consumption and we had no answers,” he says.

“Now we give customers a meaningful statement,” he adds. “The data useful to the customer and it helps with relationship building to encourage repeat business.”

实现重大投资回报率 - 快速

With all the new capabilities supporting the hotels’ event revenues, Ballif predicts a quick payoff on the Wi-Fi investment. “Our ROI will probably be less than a year and a half,” he says.

“In other words, the entire upgrade – both meeting spaces and guest rooms – is being funded by the revenues generated by our event business,” he adds. “As wireless is often mission-critical for our customers, it’s clearly also a key factor to our success.

Immediate Success + Future Opportunities

向前迈进，Ballif计划评估Aruba的ClearPass Policy Manager, which would allow the hotels to define policies based on user roles. “This would enable us to offer tiered services to hotel guests and event attendees,” he says.

In addition, the parent company is testing阿鲁巴Beaconsand theMeridian Mobile App platform在其Sun Valley爱达荷州度假村物业。官员对与移动应用程序和信标部署相关的潜在营销和促销服务感兴趣，并允许客人使用各种能力，例如寻路，可以在度假村周围导航。

精通技术的客户给Wi-Fi两个大拇指

According to Ballif, the new Aruba infrastructure is already an overwhelming success on many levels, particularly in terms of revenue and retention.

他说：“许多精通技术的活动和酒店客人都告诉我们，我们正在提供大多数物业无法做到的技术设施，使我们独一无二。”“我们的无线基础架构对于继续为客户提供如此高的服务至关重要。”