Mandarin Oriental standardises on Ruckus Wi-Fi wall switch

The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group's flagship North America property in New York has standardised on the Ruckus Wireless' Wi-Fi wall switch to address demand for IP-based services and wireless capacity. According to the team at Mandarin Oriental, the move to install Ruckus Wi-Fi wall switches in every room was driven by three issues including capacity, coverage and user density. Another key concern was available Ethernet cabling in each room to connect a IP-based devices such as minibars, IPTV, VoIP phones, in-room environment control systems as well as Wi-Fi-based service optimisation applications used by hotel staff. Housekeepers with iTouches use the Wi-Fi network for service optimisation applications such as tracking tasks and keeping guest disruptions to a minimum. And Mandarin Oriental front-of-house staff use Mtech's HotSOS application over the Wi-Fi network to address guest-related service issues. In addition to deploying the Ruckus ZoneFlex 7025 Wi-Fi wall switch in all the guest rooms, Mandarin Oriental, New York also installed ZoneFlex dual-band 802.11n access points in the meeting and conference areas to support a higher density of concurrent users. Redundant ZoneDirector 3000 WLAN controllers provide a single point of management and control for the entire wireless infrastructure. The ZoneFlex 7025 Wi-Fi wall switch integrates 802.11n Wi-Fi technology with wired Ethernet ports in a small-footprint wall jack that allows them to use their existing wired infrastructure to deliver a set of IP-based guest services over multiple virtual LANs (VLANs). Deployed as a standalone device or centrally managed by any Ruckus ZoneDirector wireless LAN controller, the ZoneFlex 7025 Wi-Fi wall switch provides four 10/100 Mbps Ethernet jacks and two uplink Ethernet wiring options. The Ruckus Wi-Fi wall switch can provide PoE power to a device such as an IP phone and native connectivity to digital phones through a single digital PBX pass through port.