Strong Signals
by James J. Hodl
December 1, 2008
Beau Rivage casino-resort in Biloxi, Miss., recently installed a system from InnerWireless.
Multiple antenna systems that move all voice and data services through a single network boost customer service in casinos like the Beau Rivage in Biloxi and provide added value to guests
Talk
around the gaming industry currently centers on the interconnected casino
floor, which would offer customers
more and better gaming options. This technology remains a couple years off from
widespread implementation.
Yet another form of
interconnectivity that improves communications not only in the casino area, but
also throughout the entire hotel or resort property is available today. And
casinos are embracing these advanced wireless systems not only to keep closer
contact with staffers, but also to provide added value for
customers.
The advantages of adding
these wireless communications systems to casino properties are obvious, said
Bill Holman, senior vice president/sales at InnerWireless Inc. of Richardson,
Texas.“Since the wireless revolution began, the one big impediment is dead
spots in buildings and other areas where radio-based signals are blocked and
phones go silent,” Holman said.
To alleviate this problem,
casinos need a good distributive antenna system (DAS) that can handle the many
different radio frequencies (RFs) on which communications signals may ride, he
added. For this need, InnerWireless offers its Horizon unified broadband
wireless distribution platform.
DAS systems work through
the use of strategically placed smaller antennas that connect to a larger
antenna that links to the outside world through a base station. The smaller
antennas are embedded in the ceiling where they are out of sight, and thus do
not mar the casino’s décor with unsightly cables and other hardware. Proper placement
of these smaller antennas assures persuasive signal strength coverage even in
RF-unfriendly areas as below ground floors, stairwells and
elevators.
The Horizon system allows
up to eight communications devices to simultaneously access an antenna. With
the addition of carrier-grade components, Horizon’s passive edge coverage
ensures consistent signal levels for optimal device
connectivity.
And the hardware doesn’t
take up much room. The antennas fit compactly above ceilings, and the base
station occupies a 3-square-foot area.
Horizon is engineered to handle radio signals on
all the frequencies that might be used in a casino property. These include the
compact two-way Motorola handsets used by housekeeping and room service crews,
Nextel phones, low-band public service radios, and PCS and cellular telephones
that guests and employees use for personal calls. Having all signals pass
through a single carrier eliminates the need for casinos to install separate
systems for two-way radios and cellular telephones.
A most recent addition
to Horizon is Wi-Fi Internet access.
“Not too many years ago,
the ability to plug a laptop computer into an in-room jack to link to the
Internet was a technological advance. But now guests don’t want to be limited
to working on their laptop at the desk nearest the jack. They may want to work
on the bed, in a conference room, or even at a table in an on-premises
restaurant.” Holman said.
It was the ability to
guarantee mission- and life-critical wireless communications that appealed to
the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi,
Miss. It decided to add the Horizon system when it renovated the property after
Hurricane Katrina. During the 2005 hurricane, first-responder rescue and medical
personnel reported that their two-way radios didn’t work everywhere within the
building. So parent company MGM Mirage and Beau Rivage vowed that this
situation would never occur again, said Beau Rivage director of technology
Keith Johnson.
The multiple-access
Horizon system now covers every nook and cranny (even elevators and stairwells)
of the Beau Rivage property, which at 32 stories tall and covering 3.2 million
square feet is the tallest and largest building in the state of Mississippi. That the
system is installed out of sight, yet provides extra amenities – some that
won’t be added to other casinos for years to come – for its support staffers
and customer communications devices is a plus, Johnson
said.
Hospitality Network,
offered by Las Vegas-based Cox Business, also offers added communications
services, although not all of them are wireless.
With this package of
communications services, hotel- and resort-based casinos can provide total
connectibility for customers' cellular/PCS telephones. However, it offers both
hard-wired and wireless Internet connections.
“Not everyone is Wi-Fi
enabled, and some business travelers for security reasons are forbidden to
access the Internet on wireless systems,” said John Fountain, vice president of
technology at Cox Business. “So with the Hospitality Network, we install both
Internet access ports in rooms, but also enable high-speed access by Wi-Fi. But
to use the latter, customers must register with the hotel to gain access, and
hotels have the option to charge an additional fee for using its Wi-Fi
service.”
The Wi-Fi service serves
not only enabled laptop computers, but also Palm Pilots, Pocket PCs, iPods and
similar devices, Fountain said.
Hospitality Network also
offers Internet TV, on which guests can use a wireless infrared keyboard to
surf the Internet on their in-room television set, and to read and send
personal e-mail.
Other features of the Cox
system include such coaxial cable-delivered services as in-room cable TV,
Video-on-Demand, Music-on-Demand, and Interactive Games. Interactive Guest
Services enable guests to not only get information on any on-premises service,
but to browse restaurant menus, place dinner or golf reservations, and order
merchandise and room service.
Businesses and trade
groups staging conventions or trade shows can add meeting-specific video
presentations on the cable TV system, Fountain said. This last feature is being
promoted by the new Encore at Wynn Las Vegas to get the convention
trade.
Numerous wireless voice
and data services also are supported over the MobileAccess Universal Wireless
Network offered by Sprint Converged Network Solutions, Based in Overland Park, Kan.
These include mobile phones, BlackBerry devices, PDAs and Wi-Fi enabled laptop
computers, which move these signals simultaneously over a multiple antenna
system.
The Sprint multi-carrier
system also is put to other uses in some casinos.
The Borgata Hotel Casino
and Spa in Atlantic City
uses its system to minimize the downtime at slot machines.
When a guest hits a
jackpot, an alert is sent directly to the handset of a slot technician, who
checks the incoming code numbers. Based on the more than 1,000 different
combinations, he knows exactly which slot machine needs a payout and for
exactly how much money. In that way, a customer gets paid faster and the slot
is back in play quickly.
Borgata security personnel
also put the system to good use. With the system, security personnel are
equipped with camera phones that can instantly relay photos of problems
requiring immediate action, or even photos of potential miscreants that can be
sent to other on-floor security people to keep an eye on, or even show the
door.
Sprint recently signed
contracts to install its Wire-It-Once wireless communications architecture in
the M Resort Spa and Casino being built in Las Vegas.
Probably the most
technologically advanced wireless systems will be in the MGM Mirage's $8 billion
CityCenter, which is scheduled to open late next year in Las Vegas.
CityCenter will include
the largest distributed antenna system in the world, covering more than 14
million square feet, and will include more than 6,500 antennas coupled with more
than 2,900 wireless access points that will enable Wi-Fi connectivity in every
square inch of the campus. Wireless Internet connectivity will be eight times
faster (128 kilobytes) than the average U.S. guestroom today. One gigabyte
of bandwidth can be access through a fiber-optic connected jack in every room.
Wireless connections will enable guest to contact guests in other rooms, or
simply to have the mini bar replenished, a CityCenter spokesman
said.
Other
advanced technological features will enable the hotels to wirelessly send
signals to rooms to greet the new guest when he first enters. As the guest
enters, lights will turn on, curtains will automatically part, and the TV set
will turn on to display a list of automated controls for guests to personalize.
James J. Hodl
is a Chicago-based freelance writer covering the
gaming industry. He can be contacted at +1 773 777 5710; or by e-mail at
j.hodl@worldnet.att.net.
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