Mandarin Oriental Takes Hotel Services to a New Level with Smarter Wi-Fi From Ruckus Wireless
The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group has selected Ruckus Wireless to support a variety of guest and administrative services for its prestigious hotels throughout Asia Pacific and Europe. Mandarin Oriental is just one of 65 new hospitality customers that Ruckus has signed over the last 60 days.
The Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi system is providing Mandarin Oriental and its guests with reliable and ubiquitous wireless high-speed internet connectivity, and is being used as the foundation for converged services.
The acclaimed collection of Mandarin Oriental hotels that have installed or are evaluating installing the next generation Wi-Fi system from Ruckus include their hotels in Tokyo, Manila, Jakarta, Sanya, London and in Hong Kong. In Manila, for instance, Mandarin Oriental has deployed a single smart Wi-Fi network with some 200 indoor Ruckus ZoneFlex Smart Wi-Fi APs to support guest wireless access as well as in-house communication for hotel staff equipped with SpectraLink VoIP over Wi-Fi phones.
Like many hotels around the world, Mandarin Oriental has seen a dramatic uptake in Wi-Fi usage across all of its properties as guests now travel with a myriad of Wi-Fi-enabled devices. Today, guest wireless access in Mandarin Oriental hotels averages from 60 to 80 percent usage.
"Wi-Fi is much more than an amenity for our hotels; it is a fundamental part of the technology infrastructure, a core part of the hotel product and, importantly, a key expectation from a significant percentage of our guests," says Nick Price, CIO/CTO of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. "Good Wi-Fi is also not an option, nor is it an accident. It takes knowledge, research, time and some considerable effort to deliver - but what a difference it makes. At Mandarin Oriental we install the best Wi-Fi technologies that we can find to offer the very best possible Wi-Fi service to our guests. Ruckus is a core component of the Mandarin Oriental Wi-Fi solution."
"Hotels are highly dynamic environments where delivering actionable information to the point of need quickly and reliably is fundamental to the provision of good customer service," says Price. "Guests are mobile, our employees are mobile, and therefore our business application portfolio must also be mobile. Much of our effort is directed towards mobile applications today, and this will only increase into the future. A wireless infrastructure that can be secured for simultaneous use by both guest internet access and hotel guest service applications is a key driver in our success, and it positions us well for the future."
According to Mandarin Oriental, an increasing array of devices and applications are ideal candidates for future wireless support such as:
- Rapid response systems using Mtech's HotSOS (Hotel Service Optimization System)
- Preventative maintenance using Mtech's HotSOSGo on Windows mobile devices
- Housekeeping management using Mtech's REX on Apple iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad devices
- Wireless point-of-sale terminals using Infogenesis on Atigo tablets or Window mobile devices
- In room check in applications and minibar management
- IP based CCTV cameras
"We clearly see Wi-Fi as a strategic tool for helping us deliver, both directly and indirectly, the legendary services that our guests have come to expect when they visit any of our properties around the world," says Price. "We continue to look for ways to leverage new technologies, such as those provided by companies like Ruckus Wireless, to help us achieve these goals."