Hotel-wide, high-speed Wi-Fi with latest Aruba wireless solutions
Having a wireless infrastructure built on solutions from three different vendors meant that despite his team's best efforts, Jun Vales, IT Manager, Shangri-La Hotel and Traders Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri, Abu Dhabi was unable to deliver the quality of Wi-Fi that guests demanded.
"We had a complicated environment that was tedious to manage and did not perform up to our high expectation," said Vales.
An overhaul for service excellence
With Aruba, we have the performance, coverage, scalability, and security needed to exceed guests' expectations by introducing innovative solutions and services. In an industry that is defined by its ability to deliver truly memorable experiences, this is an essential competitive differentiator.Jun Vales,IT Manager, Shangri-La Hotel and Traders Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri, Abu Dhabi
Traders Hotel's existing system not only suffered performance, management and stability shortcomings, it began to raise issues when guests tried to connect newer 801.11ac enabled devices onto the network.
"This was an inhibitor to the innovative new guest services we planned to launch, all of which required a stable and secure wireless connection," explained Vales.
With the previous implementation, improper planning of the cabling and Access Point (AP) positioning resulted in large dead zones which Vales and his team were keen to remedy. They were, therefore, eager to engage with a vendor that didn't just provide the best products, but also had extensive hospitality-specific solution experience.
Aruba outshines the competition
The Hotel was looking for an 802.11ac based solution that offered quality and performance at a competitive price point. Security and scalability were also key criteria as the solution would be used to support payment systems.
As per the Group's policy, Vales floated a tender and accepted proposals from four vendors. While each was globally reputed, there were clear reasons why Aruba stood out from the pack.
Unmatched support and the HPE advantage
"Aruba was already in use at the Shangri-La Dubai, and we were aware of the other high-profile hospitality chains in their customer base. Best of all, despite the strengths of technology, their team made every effort to guide us with expert knowledge and best-practices," said Vales.
One value-addition that truly set Aruba apart for Traders Hotel was that it is part of the Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) brand. This meant selecting Aruba would simplify his hotel's IT roadmap. "We had HPE core switches and were confident that when we upgraded these, we wouldn't face any integration challenges if we selected Aruba's wireless solutions," explained Vales.
Deploying the very latest Wave 2 solutions
Traders Hotel's IT team decided to utilize Aruba's latest Wave 2,AP-303H access pointsin its 302 guest rooms. Specifically designed for hotels, these APs can be easily deployed in multiple convenient configurations and feature a host of capabilities such as built-in Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE) beacons, as well as advanced visibility and control to support future innovation.
"We are the first hotel in the UAE to utilize this cutting-edge solution and believe the investment will ensure that we have no need to upgrade for at least the next three years," said Vales.
Seamless property-wide roaming
该团队还为走廊使用了32个Aruba AP-207 AP，宾客公共区域的9个Aruba AP-315访问点和酒店室外室的3个AP-275访问点。该APS网络可确保客人区域的100％Wi-Fi覆盖范围，这是令人印象深刻的40％改善。
Furthermore, as each AP features Aruba's ClientMatch technology, guests can seamlessly roam through the entire premises, with their devices being automatically transitioned between APs for consistently high-performance connectivity.
Keeping it all under control
Vales was keen to ensure that his team would no longer face the management challenges they had previously endured with their Wi-Fi system. He therefore chose to utilize twoAruba 7200系列移动控制器, one of which would be for redundancy.
A rapid deployment
What stood out to Vales during the deployment, was the ease with which Aruba's APs could be installed. Since the team decided to use the cabling infrastructure already deployed for the IPTV system, it simply meant plug-and-play installation with zero network downtime.
"The controllers permitted us to push configurations onto the APs remotely so we only needed to enter guest rooms for a very brief time. With minimal effort, and no disturbance to guests, we managed a steadily fit-out 30 rooms per day," said Vales.
Aruba's technical expertise shines through
威尔士人提供了一个具体的例子的阿鲁巴岛的前女友tensive technical experience and affiliation with HPE proved to be beneficial during the deployment phase.
"While installing the Wave 2 APs, some of our core network switches started to raise errors. While this baffled the implementation partner, Aruba's team had dealt with this issue before and were quick to advise that it could be resolved by simply updating the firmware of the switches," he said.
An instant and noticeable improvement
With the new Wi-Fi infrastructure in place, patrons now enjoy seamless roaming and dedicated speeds of up to 16Mbps per device across the entire property.
尽管在每个房间都部署了AP，但Vales指出，每个AP都足够强大，可以扩展横跨相邻房间的覆盖范围。他说：“走廊AP的信号还穿透了我们为我们提供多个冗余的房间。在不太可能的情况下，AP失败的情况下，我的团队会通过控制器即时通知。”
虽然没有计划，但Wi-Fi的承保范围甚至延伸到酒店的后台区域，而Vales表示对工作人员来说是“意外但非常受欢迎的好处”。
Helping the helpdesk
Upgrading to Wave 2 802.11ac technology allows the Wi-Fi system to support the latest smartphone, tablet and laptop devices.
This ease of connectivity and the significant improvements in coverage and performance have resulted in a noteworthy drop in helpdesk calls pertaining to issues with internet connectivity.
Ushering a new era of guest services
该酒店推出了许多尖端的基于Wi-Fi的服务。其中包括无纸化的宾客服务，这些服务简化了餐厅的入住和退房过程以及基于iPad的菜单。
酒店已经取代其GPRS-based付款期限inals with secure Wi-Fi Point of Sales (POS) systems, and now provides staff with a 'walkie talkie' app for convenient and cost-free communications within the Hotel premises.
A clear road ahead
"We have already agreed to implement AirWave for network management as that will give us granular visibility and the ability to monitor client behaviour, proactively troubleshoot and plan for capacity," said Vales.
"Beacons are another very interesting solution and we are already sharing technical details regarding this with our management. With beacons, we plan to have apps and information that drive our marketing initiatives," said Vales.
A partner for ongoing success
Vales likens Aruba's support to that of a 'family' stating that their post-implementation service has been remarkable. "Their personal and professional approach perfectly complements the market leading solutions they provide," he said.
"With Aruba, we have the performance, coverage, scalability, and security needed to exceed guests' expectations and introduce innovative solutions and services. In an industry that is defined by its ability to deliver truly memorable experiences, this is an essential competitive differentiator," Vales concluded.
