Case Studies
Home from home and office from office:
Thistle Hotels and BT Openzone partner for Wi-Fi installation
BT Openzone joined forces with Thistle and Guoman Hotels, which have 37 hotels the length and breadth of Britain, to offer Wi-Fi access throughout all areas of the Thistle and Guoman Hotels estate. Wi-Fi access includes more than 10,000 bedrooms, public areas and meeting and events facilities.
Why Wi-Fi?
The demand was clear. Thistle Hotels carried out a survey amongst their general managers and sales teams to get their views on which technology could help make a difference to their offering for overnight guests and conference delegates. 'Wireless' was the overwhelming response. They also had feedback at industry conferences, where conference booking agents specifically asked them whether Thistle and Guoman Hotels had Wi-Fi availability, as organisers were putting it on their wish-list.
The Director of IT at Thistle Hotels, says: "Customers want to reproduce the technology and access they have at home, so they have a like-for-like comparison when out and about. As many more people are using wireless technology in the home, it made absolute sense for us to replicate this in our hotels. Furthermore, with many of our hotels being in listed buildings, there is a limitation to the amount we can do when it comes to cabling, so wireless was an obvious choice for us."
Finding a solution
With the understanding of how wireless technology could help, the question was 'How?'. The Director of IT adds: "Our strategy was to partner with somebody who 'does wireless for a living' to a world-class standard, who can make sure the service was fit for purpose over many years as technology changes and who can guarantee a huge bandwidth to cope with the increasing number of devices on the market."
Though some hotels use one provider for public areas and one provider in-room, Thistle and Guoman Hotels wanted to try a different route. The IT Director continues: "We obviously looked at the market as a whole, but it was a conscious decision from the outset that we should have one 'standard service' for residents and visitors."
Of course, for BT working with such a premium hotel brand was a great opportunity to demonstrate the flexibility of the BT Openzone service. Chris Bruce, General Manager of BT Openzone adds: "The network of 37 hotels, including 18 in Central London, is undoubtedly a valuable partner estate to add to our network and they are the first large, premium hotel partner to go 'in-room'. We could offer them a wealth of experience as to how our wireless network can make a difference to each and every hotel guest, as well as a brand that visitors will recognise and feel comfortable using."
The resulting solution provided a high-speed wireless internet connection that is equivalent to fixed-line experience for anyone staying at a Thistle or Guoman hotel using a wireless-enabled laptop or wireless-enabled device. Each hotel offers coverage throughout the bedrooms and public areas, allowing users to send and receive emails, upload or download images, browse the internet or access their corporate networks remotely.
Furthermore, leading-edge Cisco LWAPP (Lightweight Wireless Access Point Protocol) equipment was used throughout the hotels and traffic transported via secure high-speed access circuits to BT's internal point of presence (POP) gateway.
Making it work
BT Openzone was successfully rolled out in over 37 Thistle and Guoman Hotels. The hotel company's program and applications manager who was pivotal in the execution of the BT Openzone service, says: "The BT Openzone vouchers are proving to be particularly popular in the London hotels. Conference organisers who have said that they will be arranging their conferences at our hotels again have cited a better service and better bandwidth through BT Openzone as a reason.
"Interestingly, we found that about 10% of Wi-Fi usage was coming from already existing Wi-Fi accounts, rather than vouchers sold in our hotels, demonstrating a real desire for people to take their home experiences of broadband with them when they're out and about. Furthermore, we're very pleased to find that we're getting extra custom, as existing BT Openzone account holders are choosing to visit Thistle Hotels."
The Director of IT continues: "There's definitely a direct correlation between increased Wi-Fi availability and footfall. The lobbies are used more for meetings and we're seeing more people online in our lounge areas. We've also had a great reaction from all our staff, from the sales force through to our CEO."
This great staff reaction was reflected in BT Openzone's training feedback survey, in which Thistle and Guoman employees rated the BT Openzone training 9.5 out of 10. This backed up the wider BT Openzone site partner satisfaction survey where 82% of site managers said: "BT Openzone gives my customers another good reason to come to my business instead of a competitor." And 74% of site managers believed: "My customers spend more time in my business when using the BT Openzone service."
Want to set up wireless internet access for your visitors?
If you're interested in partnering with BT Openzone and would like to speak to one of our sales team please get in touch.