Fouquet's Barrière Paris — Photo by HOIST

Superior bandwidth, highest dependability and a pro-actively managed network – Hotel Fouquet's Barrière Paris is setting new standards in Wireless guest Internet services. Making use of Swisscom's hospitality expertise and Ruckus Wireless' smart Wi-Fi technologies, the hotel differentiates its services where today's guests are most sensitive: on their own personal devices such as their Smartphones, media tablets and laptops.

Ever more guests use their handheld devices to Skype and videoconference with colleagues, family and friends, to download and upload personal images, to stream videos and to access content through their preferred apps. Especially at an internationally renowned luxury establishment like Hotel Fouquet's Barrière Paris, demand for wireless bandwidth keeps increasing at a breathtaking pace. The hotel, belonging to Lucien Barrière Hotel Group and being part of the Leading Hotels of the World, has now leveraged Swisscom's expertise as the industry's leading Wi-Fi network provider for its competitive positioning.

"Today, our Wireless networks carry about 60% of our total data traffic", explains Jerome Olliveaud, Chief Information Officer for Lucien Barrière Hotel Group. "Many of our guests arrive with a number of personal devices which they want to you use in their suites or guest rooms, in our private gardens or at the Fouquet's Restaurant without having to search for an Internet plug. It is essential that we offer them a dependable coverage and supreme performance wherever they go on our property. To offer such user comfort, Swisscom has assembled and delivered all the necessary elements: Industry-leading technology, a Wi-Fi network that is laid out for all types of usage in all hotel areas and a customised Internet portal that allows guests to connect in three clicks thanks to the recognition of his profile through our front-office software."

Hotel guests now benefit from exceptional speed, enabled by Ruckus Wireless' smart antenna technology. It uses multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) transmission – in compliance with the new IEEE 802.11n standard – which supports data ranges of up to 300 Mb/s. Moreover, Ruckus' BeamFlex technology virtually eliminates transmission errors, thereby sustaining consistent and high performance. The new Wi-Fi services at Hotel Fouquet's Barrière Paris are available at no charge.

Swisscom has created an optimised Web portal for all handheld devices, including iPhones, Androids, Blackberries, Windows-based mobile phones and media tablets. Interfaced with the hotel's Property Management System, the portal reflects the hotel's unique brand personality. It is available in Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Russian.

To ensure a superior guest experience at all times, Swisscom pro-actively monitors the hotel's network 24/7. Specific resources are deployed for immediate troubleshooting so that bandwidth bottlenecks can be detected and counteracted before they occur. Through Swisscom's advanced network reporting tool, the hotel's IT staff has real-time access to all network-relevant data as well as a wealth of network analytics.

"We are proud to deliver our new generation of managed Wi-Fi network services at Hotel Fouquet's Barrière Paris", comments Leo Brand, CEO of Swisscom Hospitality Services. "Designed, delivered and managed from one source, our Wi-Fi networks offer the best user experience and most consistent Internet service in hotels, much superior to standard hotspots or 3G connectivity in terms of cost, performance and branding. As a dedicated hospitality provider, we offer hoteliers everything to achieve 100% guest satisfaction. In addition, their IT staff love our reporting tool which gives them full control over their network. We have nothing to hide – our services are fully transparent towards our hotel partners."

James Calderbank, EMEA Sales Director of Ruckus Wireless adds: "We see more and more mobile devices driving an exponential demand for Wi-Fi connectivity in all areas, but especially in hotels where guests frequently arrive with 3 or more devices they want to connect. A simple and reliable connection for these devices is a key part of the hotel's interaction with their guests, and the system Swisscom have installed at Fouquet's Barrière will ensure this is delivered."

About Hoist Group

Hoist Group is the complete hospitality partner for hotels, health care institutions and public operations. With more than 20 years of proven hospitality experience, Hoist Group is the market leader in innovative High Speed Internet Access, conference services, TV & content solutions, PMS and back-office software as well as other guest-facing amenities. Many hotel chains, flagship independent hotels and public hospitals have entrusted their IT to Hoist Group. Based in Sweden, the company has offices in a total of 18 countries in the EMEA region. Learn more about the company at www.hoistgroup.com.