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Dusit Thani Dubai Leverages Aruba Technologies to Deliver Complimentary, High-Performance Wireless Internet to Guests
Published Apr 6, 2014
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In its on-going effort to maintain its position as an iconic 5 star hotel, offering the best service and experience to its guests, Dusit Thani Dubai has leveraged Aruba Networks' mobility controllers and wireless access points to provide secure high-performance wireless internet access across the hotel’s 321 rooms and suites, business centre meeting rooms and executive boardroom, and its 600-person capacity ballroom. The solution has helped the hotel meet the technological and financial challenges of providing its guests with complimentary high speed wireless internet access. Dusit Thani touts flexibility, affordability and security as the key features of the solution which also meets stringent Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards.
Bertram Shajiev, IT Manager at Dusit Thani who was in charge of the technology decision process said, “We realised that our network had to be both complimentary and wireless, so we knew we needed a solid platform.” Guided by Precedence Technologies, a UAE based IT services company, Shajiev was encouraged to visit sites that had deployed Aruba's network technologies. “Their solutions were extremely convincing and also very appealing from the financial perspective. The fact that Aruba does the wireless side for Lucent helped persuade us too,” he said.
Precedence Technologies Director, Tanveer Mohamed said, "We suggested Aruba for a number of reasons, most notably our experience with the company and their solution's ability to identify and fingerprint devices and apply the appropriate quality of service for each type of device. With Aruba, the customer is happy so there are fewer support calls for us. Plus it is easy to add important applications such as Aruba ClearPass for guest access and Aruba Airwave for management."
The project involved the installation of Aruba 3600 and 3400 mobility controllers, AP-93 access points in the hotel rooms and AP-105 access points in areas with higher user density such as banquet halls and public areas. While Precedence Technologies managed to smoothly deploy the wireless network and integrate it with the newly laid out wired LAN infrastructure, unexpected interference arose due to the proximity of a 3G mobile phone antenna working close to the 2.4GHz WiFi frequency band. This problem was quickly resolved by leveraging Aruba's adaptive wireless technology. Tanveer Mohamed said, "The AP-105s are dual-band so we were able to configure them to push most users to the 5GHz band."
The involvement of Aruba's highly skilled local partner was a key factor in the smooth implementation of the project. Shajiev said, "They were very competent and had a really good focus on developing the network.” Precedence Technologies' specialist knowledge also proved helpful during network commissioning.
Since its deployment and optimization, the Aruba solution has not only performed beyond expectations but has also greatly simplified network management. The vendor extended support in the form of trainings on wireless networks to Dusit Thani's in-house IT team, thus enabling them to easily carry out daily administration and maintenance. "Soon after project completion, I observed the output from our tests, and I informed our corporate headquarters to make Aruba technology standard across our properties and install it in any new hotels we build, because it solves a lot of problems,” said Shajiev.
With the use of mobile devices in the region still sky-rocketing, Dusit Thani Dubai intends to upgrade the Aruba network by adding a third controller for extra reliability. Software upgrades to the existing controllers will translate to cost savings while ensuring that the solution meets future demands. Shajiev and his IT team also plan to deploy 20 more wireless access points to increase coverage and intend to implement Aruba's AirWave solution to simplify administration, monitoring and troubleshooting.
Zeeshan Hadi, Territory Manager, Dubai at Aruba Networks said, “We have delivered a solution that not only meets the hotel's current requirements, but can also be scaled an upgraded in a straightforward and cost-effective manner. This will enable Dusit Thani to utilize the solution to the maximum of its potential for years to come. Such a platform enables them to offer high-performance reliable wireless connectivity to guests as a complimentary service.”
"I am very happy with our Aruba network, and readily recommend it to others because it really does make our life easier. Our goal is that Dusit properties are the hotels of choice for Dubai visitors and the Aruba network is an important factor in achieving that goal," concludes Shajiev.
Posted by
VMD - [Virtual Marketing Department]
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