Popular New York Museum Selects Aruba WLAN to Streamline Operations for Events Including Salute to Freedom Gala Event During Fleet Week New York
Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company (NYSE:HPE), today announced
that New York City’s Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, an educational
and cultural non-profit institution centered on the aircraft carrier Intrepid,
has deployed an Aruba wireless infrastructure to streamline operations,
improve sales and personalize engagement with its one million annual
guests.
The Museum will rely on the Wi-Fi network during its public events
surrounding Fleet Week New York, beginning May 26, 2016 – including a
Gala event – to improve ticket-purchasing, check in and security
operations. In addition, the Museum is piloting Aruba’s Mobile
Engagement solution to enhance its visitors’ experience with wayfinding,
notifications and other valuable on-site information.
The Intrepid Museum offers a unique experience for visitors, as much of
the more than 250,000 square foot complex is housed on the Intrepid
itself. The complex includes a Welcome Center, the legendary aircraft
carrier Intrepid, the space shuttle Enterprise, the
world’s fastest jets and a guided missile submarine. The Museum
“fulfills its mission to honor our heroes, educate the public and
inspire our youth by connecting them to history through hands-on
exploration while bridging the future by inspiring innovation.”
Intrepid Museum’s Vice President of Information Technology, Vincent
Forino, knew that having a solid wireless infrastructure to provide
museum guests with Wi-Fi connectivity was a vital component in achieving
the Museum’s overall goals.
“Visitors expect reliable, free Wi-Fi,” said Forino. “They come to the
museum with multiple devices and want to use them for social media,
email and communication of all types. We want to provide them with a
great experience, while leveraging the infrastructure for our own
employees to connect and for marketing and sales initiatives.”
For its hosted events, including the annual Salute to Freedom Gala
during Fleet Week, the Intrepid Museum is counting on the Wi-Fi to
streamline the ticketing and check-in processes, as well as improve the
efficiency of security operations. The Museum will use mobile tablets
for check-in during the Gala dinner and for “line busting” during other
events, allowing guests to purchase tickets while in line from museum
employees armed with the tablets. The Museum will also use the
Wi-Fi-connected tablets to sell memberships and tickets to future events
and will provide security personnel with the tablets so they can enter
information about a security issue as it happens and from wherever they
are located.
Previously, the Museum had two different Wi-Fi networks – one for public
use and one for internal museum operations – but they needed a more
cost-effective network solution that would allow them to use the same
infrastructure for both purposes. Working with partner, Comm
Solutions of Malvern, PA., the Intrepid Museum designed their new
Aruba WLAN so that the same access points are used for both the public
Wi-Fi and a more secure, internal wireless network. The museum is using
a mix of 802.11ac indoor and outdoor access points to blanket the entire
pier, Aruba Mobility Controllers and AirWave for network management.
“With the Aruba network, I can now take my laptop from my office to the
board room and share confidential files and documents without worrying
about a museum visitor using the Wi-Fi and accessing that secure
information,” said Forino.
According to Forino, ensuring pervasive Wi-Fi coverage that can handle,
for example, 500 people on the Intrepid’s hangar deck all accessing the
network simultaneously, was the Museum’s first priority. The next step
is building applications for the network that can deliver additional
value to visitors while expanding marketing and sales opportunities for
the Museum. The Intrepid Museum has purchased Aruba Beacons and is using
a pilot application based on the Meridian Mobile App Platform to
determine how best to use mobile engagement.
Forino noted, “This is an aircraft carrier, so most people are not
familiar with how to get from one location to another. I’m excited about
using wayfinding to help our visitors optimize their time and see as
much as they can during their visit. We want them to enjoy their
experience so much that they’re anxious to return.”
The Museum is also looking at the Aruba Mobile Engagement Solution to
enhance their exhibit experience so that when a visitor comes within
proximity of a specific exhibit, additional information, details or
history about it can be sent to the visitor’s device. In addition, the
Museum is interested in using push notifications to alert visitors to
future events or activities at the Museum such as their Astronomy Night,
notify visitors of special discounts and promotions, and gather survey
information so that the museum can better address visitors’ interests
and ensure repeat visits.
Although the Museum evaluated several vendors’ solutions including those
from Cisco and Juniper, Forino believes that selecting Aruba was the
right decision.
“This was not a casual undertaking,” he said. “Aruba has a reputation as
an innovative technology company and had the support team, relationships
with business partners, vision and product depth. I believe we made a
wise choice.”
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.
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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