The Grand Hotel in Malahide has completed a project to equip all its guest bedrooms with fixed-line, broadband Internet access using existing telephone cable.
LAN Communications implemented a set up using Long Range Ethernet (LRE) technology to extend the reach of the Internet to all 150 guest rooms using existing telephone cabling, thereby eliminating the need for a costly network upgrade.
Normally, Category 5 cabling is required to carry high speed data services, but the LRE technology negated the need for such a cabling upgrade. The Grand Hotel has dabbled in innovative technologies in the past. ‘As the first hotel to offer video conferencing facilities to corporate clients back in 1996, we were always cognisant of the need to stay ahead of the technology curve,’ said Ernie Brenner, financial controller. ‘Having already established a trusted partnership with eircom, who provided
wireless connectivity to all public areas of the hotel, we chose its subsidiary LAN Communications to meet the challenge of finding a connectivity solution compatible with our existing telecommunications infrastructure.’
According to Neil Wisdom of LAN Communications, the cost and disruption associated with replacing the cabled infrastructure for a hotel which is almost 170 years old would have rendered the project uneconomic and impractical.The LRE system comprises four core components. Each guest bedroom is equipped with a CPE (Customer Premises Equipment) device and POTS splitter. Guests simply plug into the CPE device which acts as a bridge between the LRE and Ethernet and the POTS (Plain Old Telephone System) splitter enables the co-existence of data and voice traffic on the same telephone line, supporting full 802.1p Quality of Service (QoS). Once connected to the CPE device, guests are presented with a welcome page, which provides them with information on hotel services and acts as an access point to the Internet.
Each CPE device is connected back to a 24 port rack-mountable switch, located in the communications room. This provides fast and easy enterprise-type switching performance, fully compatible with ADSL traffic. Lastly, Cisco’s Building Broadband Service Manager (BDDM) integrates with the hotel’s management system, Fidelio and
controls on-line usage and billing for each guest. The LRE system can provide dedicated bandwidth for voice and data services at 15Mbit/s per user.
‘This technology deployment is part of an overall marketing strategy to increase penetration into the business segment of the market through enhanced guest services,’ said Paula Corry, marketing manager, Grand Hotel. ‘We have developed an in-house marketing package to generate awareness of the service and are very encouraged by strong take-up rates amongst guests.’
10/01/05
Subscribers 0
Fans 0
Followers 0
Followers