Top Tourist Destination Launches Mobile App and Gigabit WLAN, Providing 1.6 Million Annual Guests with Indoor Wayfinding, Proximity Notifications and Point of Interest Information
Aruba,
a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company (NYSE:HPE), today announced
that Toronto’s CN
Tower, acclaimed entertainment and dining destination and the
tallest freestanding structure in the Western Hemisphere, has deployed
Aruba’s Mobile
Engagement solution as part of a wireless infrastructure upgrade.
Designed to enrich and personalize the on-site experience for the
Tower’s 1.6 million annual visitors, while helping to drive ticket sales
and encourage return visits, the new Aruba Gigabit wireless LAN delivers
complimentary high speed Wi-Fi to guests throughout the Tower along with
innovative mobile engagement services.
“To be a top tourist destination today, organizations must be able to
meet the wireless connectivity expectations of their guests,” said Kevin
McManus, Director, IT for CN Tower, which is owned and operated by
Canada Lands Company, a federal Crown corporation, and is the first
tourist destination in Canada to use Aruba’s Mobile Engagement solution.
“Our visitors want to be able to use their mobile devices to check
email, keep in touch with their friends and family, and share photos and
accounts of their on-site experiences via social media. Deploying this
new Aruba infrastructure allows us to provide our guests with the
connectivity they need as well as additional amenities – like our new
mobile app – that will enhance their visit.”
As part of its 40th anniversary celebration, the 553.33 meter
tall (1, 815 ft, 5in) CN Tower launched its “CN Tower Experience” app.
Developed with assistance from Aruba partner Access 2 Networks (A2N),
the new app’s “blue dot” indoor navigation capability helps visitors
easily find locations of interest in the Tower, including three levels
of observation, two world-class restaurants, a casual café, the KidZone
play area, a 5,000 square foot gift shop, and the exciting EdgeWalk
attraction, the world’s highest outdoor walk on a building. The Tower’s
mobile app, which already has 4,000 downloads, also delivers proximity
notifications, marketing messages and other valuable on-site information
while offering visitors a mobile-friendly way to purchase tickets and
make restaurant reservations.
“The CN Tower has a lot to offer visitors, and our new mobile app gives
us a powerful way to engage with our guests throughout the experience
and tell them all about those features,” said Lisa Tompkins, Director of
Sales, Marketing and Communications for the CN Tower. “We view the new
wireless infrastructure as an extension of our website and mobile
marketing efforts. It is an incredibly valuable tool for delivering
added value to our guests and helping them get the most out of their
visit with us. It is also encouraging our visitors to come back and see
us again in the future.”
In addition to daily visitors, the CN Tower hosts 300-500 events each
year, ranging from private dinners, team-building exercises and weddings
to corporate events and product launches. For some of these events,
wireless access that goes beyond the complimentary Wi-Fi in the Tower is
required. “Some of our parties need dedicated, higher bandwidth wireless
connectivity for their events,” said McManus. “With Aruba’s ClearPass
Policy Manager and AirWave
network management, we are able to quickly and securely turn on that
service and meet the unique bandwidth requirements for those groups.”
AirWave performed so well managing the APs in the CN Tower that the IT
team expanded the deployment to encompass APs in their corporate and
regional offices as well. “The granular visibility into the network –
including devices, applications and users – that AirWave delivers and
the ability to manage all of our APs from a single, intuitive console
were key drivers behind our decision to utilize AirWave for our other
locations as well as in the CN Tower,” said McManus. “AirWave gives us
the insights and centralized control we need to effectively manage our
network organization-wide and to proactively optimize network
performance for all of our users.”
Looking ahead, the CN Tower is hoping to leverage its new Wi-Fi
infrastructure to support safety improvements such as always-connected
panic buttons for employees that work in remote sections of the Tower.
It is also planning to take advantage of Aruba’s Analytics and Location
Engine (ALE), which works with Aruba wireless LANs to collect presence
data about Wi-Fi-enabled mobile devices.
“We are excited about the possibilities that Aruba’s ALE presents to us
for streamlining our operations and further improving the guest
experience,” said McManus. “We can envision using ‘dwell time’ data to
provide us with an accurate picture of wait times at elevators and other
points of interest, to better manage visitor traffic, especially during
our busy summer season.
Tompkins noted, “We are using this anniversary milestone to acknowledge
the past, but more so, to look ahead to the future; taking steps to
ensure we continue leveraging leading-edge technology to provide our
visitors with the best possible experience is a key strategy to ensure
they will continue coming back for the next 40 years.”
About Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company
Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, is a leading provider of
next-generation networking solutions for enterprises of all sizes
worldwide. The company delivers IT solutions that empower organizations
to serve the latest generation of mobile-savvy users who rely on
cloud-based business apps for every aspect of their work and personal
lives.
To learn more, visit Aruba at
http://www.arubanetworks.com
.
For real-time news updates follow Aruba on Twitter and Facebook,
and for the latest technical discussions on mobility and Aruba products
visit Airheads Social at
http://community.arubanetworks.com
.
©2016 Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, Aruba’s trademarks
include Aruba Networks®, Aruba The Mobile Edge Company® (stylized),
Aruba Mobility-Defined Networks™, Aruba Mobility Management System®,
People Move Networks Must Follow®, Mobile Edge Architecture®,
RFProtect®, Green Island®, ETips®, ClientMatch®, Virtual Intranet Access
TM
,
ClearPass Access Management Systems
TM
, Aruba
Instant
TM
, ArubaOS
TM
,
xSec
TM
, ServiceEdge
TM
,
Aruba ClearPass Access Management System
TM
,
Airmesh
TM
, AirWave
TM
,
Aruba Central
TM
, and ARUBA@WORK
TM
.
All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.
Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company
Pavel Radda, +1-408-419-0294
Senior Director of Corporate Communications
pavel.radda@hpe.com
or
LSH Communications for Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company
Lori Hultin, Principal, +1-818-879-4651
lori.hultin@hpe.com