Deliver Reliable, Affordable and Secure Broadband
Service providers looking to expand their local market presence should look no
further than area hotels. The hospitality industry is learning quickly that meeting
planners and business travelers select hotel properties based on reliable, secure
broadband wireless service. These property owners and managers won’t settle for
less, as the sales staff at one popular hotel can attest.
The four-star, Radisson Plymouth Harbor Hotel in Plymouth, Massachusetts is
housed in a historic building. With 175 guest rooms and 15 meeting and event
rooms, the hotel attracts business travelers and meeting planners looking for local
flavor. Yet convenience comes first, as the hotel found when an event organizer had to cancel a conference — with one-third of the property reserved — due to the absence of high-speed Internet access in guest and meeting rooms. To reduce the risk of further lost
bookings and to preserve its high ratings standards, hotel management turned to area service provider Community WISP.
The goal was to quickly provide Internet access to the hotel without the time and expense of
laying new wiring, which would further impact bookings and compromise the hotel’s unique
historical ambience. Using affordable and reliable solutions with the Viadux products,
Community WISP brought the hotel up to high-speed so it could win back business and
maintain its four-star rating.
Viadux Products Met The Challenge
Community WISP’s site assessment team observed that the historic building presented two specific challenges: use existing infrastructure and preserve aesthetics. Behind the historical facade, the Community WISP team needed a connectivity solution that would deliver broadband throughout the building over existing twisted pair POTS wiring. In addition, the team realized that intrusive rewiring or a cable installation might detract from the hotel’s period architecture. The solution employed used eight Viadux 24-port gateways to provide Internet over existing telephone wiring to each of the hotel’s guest rooms. Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) was installed in each guest room and in the conference center.
The rapid deployment and cost-effectiveness of this Viadux solution provides broadband service providers such as Community WISP with a competitive advantage for hospitality industry customers. Providers also incur lower ongoing capital expenses and operational
costs, through the ability to remotely monitor and configure service with Viadux equipment.
Guest Usage Patterns and Billing Methods Can Determine Payback Period The hospitality industry faces unique challenges in deciding whether broadband access should be complimentary or fee based charge. A hotel’s reputation rides on providing consistent performance, as guests expect 100% uptime. But actual usage may be sporadic, depending
on occupancy rates. Based on industry standards, the average nightly "take" rate for high-speed Internet ranges from 3-10% of occupied rooms.
Taking that into consideration, many hotels — including the Radisson Plymouth Harbor — are providing Internet access at no additional charge to the room guest. If a hotel chooses to bill hotel guests for Internet usage, Motorola offers solutions that allow Viadux equipment to work with Nomadix gateways and other billing gateway systems. Helping Businesses Save Costs, Reduce Onsite Services, Retain Customers As the service provider, Community WISP delivered pre-sales installation and configuration services, and now provides post-sale network management and tech support services to Radisson Plymouth Harbor Hotel management as part of a negotiated long-term service contract. This helps Community
WISP maximize revenues through expanded service area and maintenance contracts, minimize service delivery costs through reduced site visits and remotely-managed gateway products, and increase customer satisfaction through fast and reliable data transmission.
What’s more, the Radisson Plymouth Harbor now offers easy Internet access in every guest room and throughout the hotel. Meeting planners can now rest assured that when their event is held at the hotel, attendees and presenters alike can stay productive with online product demonstrations, videoconference capabilities and interactive training sessions.
Why Viadux Products Are Part of Motorola’s WiNS Portfolio
Viadux is a leading provider of in-building broadband access products that enable service providers to deliver high-speed data, video and voice services to small-to-medium enterprises and residential customers located in Multi-Tenant Unit properties. With Viadux equipment, in most circumstances, there is no need for additional or special wiring and no distance limitation — so users can enjoy quick, low-cost installation. The equipment can be integrated with a broad array of WAN interfaces including wire-line, fixed wireless,
optics, satellite and cable. |