Dubai, United Arab Emirates – 10th March, 2015 –
Wireless connectivity has become an essential amenity for the modern
traveller and Grand Millennium Dubai, one of the foremost 5-Star Hotels
in Dubai, has successfully deployed a property-wide Wi-Fi network
utilizing solutions from Aruba Networks. This high speed wireless
network has not only drastically improved internet speeds across the
hotel's numerous public areas and 340+ rooms and suites, but also
enabled the management to install wireless IP telephones to meet all
internal communications requirements.
“We strive to
offer the highest level of satisfaction to our guests and
telecommunication is a vital aspect of their everyday activities. We
wanted to ensure that this service was provided to them in a convenient
way and this is mainly why we decided to implement Aruba's solution,”
said Anas Ezzi, IT Manager at Grand Millennium Dubai. The vendor's
strong references in the regional hospitality sector gave Mr. Anas and
the hotel's management the confidence to select Aruba for the
implementation.
“Our goals were
clear and precise,” he said. “We needed to enhance our guests' internet
experience and find a cost-effective and reliable way to facilitate
internal telecommunications. A fast, secure and reliable Wi-Fi solution
would allow us to do all this while also providing ample room for
innovation in guest and staff services in the future.”
Aided by Aruba
integration partner Precedence Technologies, the IT team carried out the
trouble-free deployment in under a month, and without any disturbance
or inconvenience to guests. The implementation included the installation
of two Aruba 7210 Mobility Controllers, 270 Aruba 103H Hospitality
Access Points (APs) and 42 Aruba AP-205 Wireless APs. The selection of
Aruba's AP-103H and AP-205 access points has meant that hotel guests can
enjoy the best coverage even as their roam through the property. This
is because these APs utilize Aruba's patented ClientMatch technology
which transitions the connected device to the best AP without the guest
having to manually intervene.
The mobility
controllers allow the hotel's IT staff to configure, update and manage
all the APs from a single location and offer comprehensive protection to
wireless network users with features that include authentication,
encryption, the Aruba Policy Enforcement Firewall™ and Aruba RFProtect™
for wireless intrusion protection.
According to Mr.
Anas, the system's performance has more than met expectations and there
has been a noticeable increase in guest satisfaction.
Mr. Graeme Kane,
Sales Manager, Hospitality at Aruba Networks said, “To remain
competitive, hotels in the region need to leverage a smarter, adaptive
network infrastructure that delivers stable, simple, smart, secure Wi-Fi
access to thousands of devices at a time and supports mobile
collaboration for guests and staff. Grand Millennium Dubai understood
this need and has implemented a solid, future-proof wireless network
architecture from Aruba. It is encouraging to learn that the solution
has ticked every box on the customer checklist and the results have been
more than satisfactory.”
Mr. Farook Majeed, CEO, Precedence Technologies said, “A
revolution has taken place, from the days when we had one Ethernet port
in the room with the hotels offering guests a wired connection, or a
dedicated hotel business centre often found in the lobby. A couple years
ago, the typical traveller would have carried only a laptop and a
phone. With the mass adoption of smart phones and tablets in the last 3
years travellers now use their devices anytime and anywhere – for
business, personal entertainment, social media engagement and other such
purposes. And when they arrive at a hotel, they expect to connect to
everything all the time. Guests now demand always-on Wi-Fi across the
hotel complex, access to self-service apps and content streaming without
delay. Essentially, providing a memorable guest Wi-Fi experience is now
a fundamental part of customer satisfaction.”
“We are happy to
have been able to implement a state-of-the-art wireless network
infrastructure at Grand Millennium Dubai that provides the highest
levels of performance and security and is sure to delight all users –
whether they be hotel guests or staff.”