NEWS
UAE
Al Murooj Rotana overhauls wireless
network with Aruba
Al Murooj Rotana, Dubai, has implemented a wireless
network infrastructure from Aruba, a Hewlett Packard
Enterprise company. The network has improved guest Wi-Fi
satisfaction by 15% and serves as platform for innovation
and introduction of new services.
Faced with intermittent issues such as signal drops and
fluctuations, Renju Ramanadhan, Cluster Director of IT,
Al Murooj Rotana and Al Bustan Rotana, Dubai, knew
he had to overhaul his network to meet customers’
growing expectations. “With 900 to 1000 guests using the
network on an average day, we began to see noticeable
performance issues. Further, as guests increasingly utilised
video and multimedia rich applications, both the speed
and security of the network were brought into question. We
expected and wanted a basic requirement in today’s world
– a very reliable wireless infrastructure to provide stable
connectivity for all our guests.”
The implementation was carried out in two phases starting
with the apartment tower using one Aruba 7200 series
mobility controller and 450 Access Points (APs). Impressed
by the success of the deployment, the team then moved on
the hotel a year and a half later.
For this, an additional controller along with 750 APs were
installed. “Although we didn’t see a single instance of AP
failure in the time we ran Aruba’s solution in the residential
complex, we decided to invest in a second controller for
redundancy. It was easy to do this as we only paid for the
controller and didn’t have to purchase additional licenses,”
said Ramanadhan.
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The Emirates Palace, the renowned
luxury hotel in Abu Dhabi, has
implemented a mobile services tool to
provide guests a new comprehensive
personalized mobile experience. The
solution, offered by ALE, operating under
the Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise brand,
connects guests with hotel services via
their own smartphone device for an
enhanced guest experience.
Located in the heart of Abu Dhabi,
Emirates Palace is a five-star luxurious
hotel operated by Kempinski Hotels
S.A. with 394 rooms and suites, award-
winning restaurants and conference
facilities. Known for its world-class service
and distinct architecture and history, the
www.intelligentcio.com
Emirates Palace IT team were looking for
a way to further improve this service by
allowing guests to seamlessly connect
with the hotel’s services and facilities.
The Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Mobile
Guest Softphone solution enables guests
to leverage BYOD and connect 24/7
to enable a better way to interact with
the hotel facilities, as well access free
in-hotel voice communications via the
hotel’s wireless network. Guests’ devices
automatically become part of the hotel
telephony system and are associated with
respective rooms with a simple QR code
scan. This allows guests to make outside
calls at hotel standard rates, rather than
more expensive roaming services.
Additionally, the mobile concierge
application makes it easy for guests to
add popular extensions of the hotel that
can enhance both their guest experience
and support new revenue streams
for the hotel. Furthermore, guests are
able to connect and register multiple
devices per room, which allows them to
communicate for free within the hotel
premises, which is ideal for tourists or
families who can then avoid roaming
charges to call each other.
INTELLIGENTCIO
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