Logicalis

Logicalis WLAN enhances guest experience at Millennium & Copthorne hotels

Logicalis transformed Millennium & Copthorne Hotels’ guest network from a wired system to a wireless one, enhancing its guest experience and increasing its operational efficiency and revenue by 10-20%.

Challenges

The rising prevalence of guests using mobile devices like smartphones, laptops and tablets means hotels are faced with the pressing need to cater to such devices in order to attract and retain guests.

Most hotels provide basic internet connectivity via a physical LAN cable, but this restricts the mobility of guests. “Physical cables are hard to fix if something goes wrong, and they are incompatible with smart devices like smartphones and tablets,” said Mr Edwin Huay, Assistant Director of Information Technology at M&C. A more feasible solution would be a wireless LAN (WLAN) network.

Hotel guest demographics have also changed over the years. Business travellers and holiday-goers now have a deluge of premium hotels to choose from. Today’s guests can easily pick a hotel that has guest WLAN capabilities over one without it.

Given this trend, M&C decided to transform its guest network infrastructure from a wired system to a wireless one. Installing a more flexible and scalable network infrastructure would offer guests the flexibility to stream videos and music, check email, and even use Voice over IP (VoIP) applications while being mobile in their rooms and around hotel premises.

In regards to finding a suitable service provider, he shared that “speed of service is key in the hospitality sector. In this industry, competition is rife, and with just one bad experience, we can lose a guest forever.”

Solution

The maturity of wireless technology meant that M&C had a wide range of vendors to choose from. However, M&C was looking beyond just a vendor with technical capabilities, but more of an implementation partner that could deliver on its promises quickly and efficiently. M&C found this in Logicalis.

To ensure guests received the best end-user experience, M&C placed the vendors through a rigorous proof-of-concept. Logicalis managed to impress M&C with excellent response rates during each step of the selection process. With seamless collaboration from Logicalis, M&C was able to meet internal timelines and begin implementation of its guest WLAN services from March 2011.

Logicalis’ guest WLAN solution was implemented in four hotels in Singapore: the Copthorne King’s Hotel, Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, M Hotel and Orchard Hotel. Guests at these hotels were able to access the internet through the WLAN service when implementation was completed in September 2011.

In addition to the WLAN service, M&C also tapped on Logicalis’ expertise in managed services to provide ongoing support for all four hotels.

Mr Huay had high praise for Logicalis. He said, “One of the key things we looked for were responsible vendors – and we saw this in Logicalis. Everyone we worked with was quick with their delivery. Whatever the sales team promised, the back end staff delivered.”

Benefits

After implementation, M&C experienced immediate benefits, both operationally and in terms of guest revenue. “The Logicalis solution led to an increase of revenue of about 10-20%,” said Mr Huay. M&C’s guests were also able to access the internet from all corners of the hotel and move around freely without the restriction of cables. “There is no doubt that this enhances guest satisfaction,” he emphasised.

Speaking of how Logicalis’ solution had the potential to greatly increase M&C’s operational efficiency, he shared that “We have plans to really reap the benefits of this increased mobility. Housekeeping services can tap on assigned mobile devices to identify which rooms to tidy up first. This would raise staff productivity.”

“In fact, the possibilities are endless. We could even extend this service beyond housekeeping services, and look into developing special apps that raise productivity in other areas. For example, during peak check-in periods, guests can just check-in remotely on their mobile devices. This makes life easier for everyone, including our staff.”

The four hotels in Singapore were the first M&C establishments in Asia to deploy the Logicalis WLAN solution. Because of the proven benefits of this service, Mr Huay shared that “M&C is already looking ahead. We are planning to implement the WLAN solution first across regional hotels, and then globally. We are already in talks with our global branches to enhance the hotels' entire networking infrastructure.