The Mandarin Oriental Hotel
Mohegan Sun Resort & Casino
Wireless Solution
The Mandarin Oriental Hotel
 Background: The 2.8 million square-foot Time Warner Center houses the Mandarin Oriental, New York. The Five-Star hotel occupies the top 20 floors of the Center's two towers and includes 251 guest rooms. Whether for business or pleasure, the hotel offers many amenities including floor-to-ceiling views of Manhattan, an exclusive 14,500 square-foot-spa, and a total of 7,000 square feet of meeting space that includes a spacious ballroom. The mandarin Oriental, New York, caters to more than 225,000 guests annually. Services include twice-daily maid service and VIP check-in.
The Challenge: The Mandarin wanted to provide wireless communications to all its guests, regardless of the purpose of their stay. The hotel's goal was to offer uninterrupted wireless services throughout the building, including in elevators, parking garages and stairwells. Additionally, to ensure the safety of their guests in the event of an emergency, the Mandarin wanted to enable first responder contact with seamless two-way radio communication.
However, the materials used to construct large structures like the Time Warner Center and Mandarin Oriental can distort radio frequency (RF) signals and interrupts wireless communication, thus hindering the use of WiFi, cellular phones and the radios used by first responders and security staff.
The Solution: When Dave Heckaman, regional director of IT during the hotel's construction, was charged with implementing a wireless communication infrastructure, emergency preparedness and the safety of thousands of people was his top priority. Heckaman needed a wireless system that acted as a utility capable of distributing a wide range of standard protocols seamlessly throughout the building.
To meet this need, Heckaman's team selected InnerWireless' Wireless utility, a strategic shared wireless broadband infrastructure, which supports a full range of wireless devices and applications, including cellular/PCS, wireless PDSs, Blackberry devices, LANs, two-way radios, pagers, and more.
InnerWireless worked closely with Heckaman and his team to design and engineer a system that would meet their needs. InnerWireless brought in experienced RF engineers to conduct a comprehensive site survey, taking into account building construction materials and coverage requirements.
InnerWireless' team of experiences project managers oversaw every aspect of the system design, procurement, installation, testing and acceptance, working closely with all involved parties to ensure a quality installation with minimum disruption to the building's construction timeline and opening.
"With the InnerWireless system operational since October 2004, the hotel staff says the benefits of having InnerWireless are immensurable solely because of the enhanced guest safety," said Heckaman. "What began as an insurance policy against wireless communication failure soon materialized into a remarkable amenity for the mandarin and its guests."
Hotel operations are more efficient as guest services are enhanced by the pervasive wireless coverage. For instance, prior to check-in, a VIP guest can request that hot tea arrives in his suite shortly before he does. While the guest is checking in, the front desk can notify the member of the catering staff in charge of that room via their hotel-issued PDA, so by time the guest reaches his room his tea is ready and waiting for his enjoyment.
The Mandarin Oriental Hotel sought to provide its guest with seamless wireless coverage for their use and, most importantly, their safety, and in the process, took a large leap forward in becoming a true 21st century facility.
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Wireless Solution
Mohegan Sun Resort & Casino
 Background: Mohegan Sun is the largest, most distinctive and spectacular entertainment, gaming, shopping and meeting destinations in the United States. Situated on 240 acres along the Thames River in the rolling southeast Connecticut countryside, its lavish amenities, stunning décor, and lush setting attract millions of visitors each year.
The convention center and meeting area offer a prime venue for East Coast meetings with more than 100,000 square feet of space, including 25 meeting rooms, an elegant grand ballroom and a professionally managed business center.
A 1,200 room casino resort with world-class features and amenities, Mohegan Sun is a popular meeting and convention facility that caters to business professionals and other guests who use a variety of wireless devices and services. To support the communication needs of its convention area visitors and guests, Mohegan Sun wanted to offer consistent, reliable, wireless coverage for access to multiple mobile services and applications.
The Challenge: The aesthetic design of the Mohegan Sun building incorporates an external coating that reflects sunlight. While creating a spectacular visual image, this reflective coating also blocks radio frequency (RF) signals, making it extremely difficult for cellular/PCS signals to penetrate the structure.
Keeping with its reputation for providing outstanding amenities and services to its guests, Mohegan Sun wanted to provide seamless wireless connectivity and reliable access to multiple wireless services in the convention center and meeting rooms, including PCS/cellular service and public Wi-Fi for high-speed data and Internet access. Moreover, Mohegan Sun wanted a solution that didn't require disruptive upgrades and additional equipment every time a new wireless service provider, protocol or application was added.
The Solution: Mohegan Sun owners have a clear and progressive vision of the power of wireless services and applications for their guests and as an enterprise. Early on, they recognized the benefits and value of installing InnerWireless' unified broadband delivery system, The Wireless Utility, in the convention center and meeting area. Capable of supporting multiple services, protocols and applications, The Wireless Utility met the wireless service provider and Mohegan Sun's requirements.
InnerWireless' system was installed in late 2002. In January 2003, a national service provider's GSM service was added to the system, so their subscribers would have consistent, high-quality coverage throughout the convention area to conduct business and stay in touch with friends and family.
Mohegan Sun's owners say the benefits of partnering with InnerWireless and offering their guests access to wireless services through unrivaled wireless connectivity gives Mohegan Sun a competitive advantage that helps keep them at the forefront of the meeting and convention business.
"Mohegan Sun prides itself on providing would-class services and amenities to out guests and patrons," sad Jonathan Arnesen, Mohegan Sun's senior vice president of operations. "As such, we want to offer cutting-edge technology that provides convenient, high-speed wireless connectivity to our guests in the convention and meeting areas. The Wireless Utility is ideal for our facility because it allows us to readily add new services without system upgrades, and it delivers a consistent, reliable blanket of in-building wireless coverage."
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