Exploring Next Generation Mobile Applications in the Enterprise: The Case of Wireless in the Hospitality Industry By David Strom November 2007 1 Exploring Next Generation Mobile Applications in the Enterprise: The Case of Wireless in the Hospitality Industry By David Strom In today’s enterprises, wireless no longer equates to portable laptop connectivity and the convenience of accessing email. Wireless is now a ‘must-have’ fixture in enterprise environments, helping to boost productivity and operational efficiencies, improve customer experience and create a competitive advantage in the enterprise. Beyond WiFi networks that support laptops, cellular voice is now replacing landline telephones, 3G and WiMAX services are delivering high-speed data transport, and a variety of wireless technologies are enabling location based services, wireless building automation and personal networking applications. To support this increasing range of wireless applications, enterprises will need cutting-edge wireless infrastructures that provide coverage for a variety of wireless technologies operating across multiple radio frequencies. Several things have changed since the wired networking days in the mid-1990s, positioning wireless as the primary connection medium for a variety of devices. First, the latest incarnations of wireless networks have finally achieved adequately high throughput and low enough latency to compete with wired connections, even for more bandwidth-intensive applications like streaming media and voice over the Internet. Second, more users are mobile, taking their cellular phones and PDAs with them to meetings and using laptops as their primary desktop during the course of their day-to-day computing lives. Third, cellular and voice-over-Internet phones (VOIP) have also replaced desk and landline phones as the primary telephone, making better indoor cellular coverage and ubiquitous IP networks essential for many corporations. With most wireless usage occurring indoors, enterprises will need to focus on making indoor wireless coverage as reliable and dynamic as employees, guests and customers expect outdoors. Achieving sufficient indoor wireless coverage on a facility-wide basis will be the key to adopting the next generation of breakthrough mobile applications and their underlying technologies. Let's talk about how the newest generation of wireless applications will bring mobility into the enterprise. 2 What’s Beyond WiFi? WiFi (802.11 standards-based protocol for WLAN technologies) has been around for more than a decade, undergoing a series of improvements in protocols evolving from the original two- megabit/second networks of the past. As a result, WiFi networks continue to enjoy strong adoption, not only for basic laptop connectivity, but also for more advanced applications such as real-time location services (RTLS), cost-effective wireless VoIP, and new devices (i.e. specialized voice badges) and applications are also taking shape. In addition to WiFi, other wireless technologies are finding important roles in today's work environments, often enabling new breeds of wireless applications. For example, emerging sensor applications are leveraging ZigBee and the 900MHz frequency band for low-cost, facility- wide wireless connectivity. Application developers are also looking at other wireless technologies such as Mobile WiMAX, Radio Frequency ID (RFID), and Ultra Wideband to address next-generation wireless connectivity needs. The chart below showcases just some of the new wireless technologies and applications impacting the enterprise Wireless Technologies in the Enterprise Type Technology Range Effective Throughput Standards Status Applications Cellular/PCS 5-10 miles Complete Deployed by major wireless operators for mobile phones & PDAs 3G Services EVDO & EDGE 5 miles EVDO: 500Kbps EDGE: 150Kbps Complete High-speed mobile data. Offerings from Verizon, Cingular and Sprint Fully Mobile Mobile WiMAX 2-3 miles 3-70 Mbps 802.16 mostly done High-speed mobile data & multi-medial applications. Fixed products now; mobile products in 2008 WiFi 200 feet from AP 1-150 Mbps 802.11a/b/g well adopted; 802.11n finalized next year High-speed enterprise data Wireless VoIP Real-Time Location Services ZigBee 200 feet from node 20-250 Kbps 802.15.4 mostly done First products out now for Building Automation and Asset Tracking applications Enterprise RFID <10 feet from detector 10 kbps Evolving Asset tracking, mostly in manufacturing and warehouse facilities Ultra Wideband 30 feet 50 - 500 Mbps 802.15.3 drafts of two incompatible standards -- Cable Free USB & WiMedia First products out now for short-range, high-speed data transfer & cable replacement. Some location applications Personal Area Bluetooth 20 feet <1 Mbps 802.15.1 well adopted Wide deployment for short range cable replacement- headsets, keyboards, etc. 3 Expanding Role for WiFi WiFi networks are rapidly expanding within most enterprise environments, opening the door for new applications beyond basic laptop coverage. Voice-over-IP vendors are now leveraging that pervasive WiFi coverage to enable facility-wide Voice-over-WiFi services. As the costs to operate VOIP applications continue to drop, corporations are more motivated to switch their analog phone systems over to their corporate data networks and reap the savings in their monthly phone bills. Examples of some of the more popular wireless VoIP solutions include: Solution Description Cisco 7921G Operates on 802.11/b/g and 802.11a bands. Ascom VoWiFi Phone Operates on 802.11b/g band; supports 802.11i authentication and 802.11e QoS features. SpectraLink NetLink 8000 Operates on 802.11/b/g and 802.11a bands. Vocera Badges Offers a light-weight, hands-free, 2-way voice communication over 802.11b networks. To expand these WiFi systems, enterprises are deploying increasingly dense networks of ceiling-mounted WiFi Access Points, providing natural triangulation points for emerging location- aware applications. Depending on the density of the AP deployment and the sophistication of the vendor’s algorithms, these WiFi-based location solutions can typically resolve the location of “tagged” objects to within 15-20 feet, which opens the door to many new business applications. The table below highlights examples of WiFi-based location awareness offerings: Solution Description Cisco Location Appliance Supports asset tracking for up to 2,500 devices and has a 90% accuracy within 30 feet. Trapeze Location Appliance Can track up to 2,000 devices with a five-minute granularity for up to 30 days. Aeroscout Engine Uses WiFi and active RFID networks to perform Web-based visualization and automated alerting. Bringing Mobile Technologies Indoors In addition to WiFi, Cellular adoption rates have skyrocketed as cellular services continue to replace landline communications. Increasingly, guests and employees enter facilities with their own cellular devices in hand with the expectation of using them wherever they go. “Single device enforcement is an outdated concept that never took hold. Most organizations can’t force employees to use one service provider, plan or device,” notes Jeff Kunst, Vice President of Marketing for MobileAccess. In addition, visitors and guests have to communicate while on the road and cellular services are still the most convenient way to stay connected. Wireless operators have also enhanced their offerings with two newer efforts for delivering high-speed data services: one is Evolution Data Optimized (EVDO) from Verizon and Sprint, and the other is Enhanced Data for Global Evolution (EDGE) from Cingular. The two efforts have different technical specifications. EVDO has download speeds of 400-700 kbps, which is significantly faster than Cingular's EDGE that ranges from 75-170 kbps. While these rates aren't close to wired Ethernet speeds, they are about five to ten times faster than current cellular data speeds and reinforce the wireless value proposition for enterprise customers. Then there is the much-anticipated launch of Mobile WiMax. WiMax encompasses two different service approaches that when implemented together will allow wireless coverage over several square miles of territory. One style of WiMax is used for fixed point-to-point connections (say 4 between two Internet providers or two radio towers) and another connects mobile users. The fixed products are shipping today. "It ends up looking like a wired Ethernet connection to the user, and has the same simplicity of use. Plus, the similarities to WiFi are going to make WiMax successful," says Scott Richardson, vice president and general manager of Intel's Service Provider Business Group. Mobile WiMax products will be launched later this year. "While the fixed version of WiMax will become quite popular, the real emphasis is on mobile and being able to carry a wireless LAN card and stay constantly connected. If this works, we may not need cable and digital subscriber lines anymore," says Craig Mathias, a wireless consultant and analyst for the Farpoint Group. "The first products that we'll see for Mobile WiMAX will be PC Cards for laptops, new types of cell phones and gaming devices," adds Richardson. "Korea is the leading market right now and they are getting one to three megabits per second in typical performance." New Tools for Inside the Enterprise Application developers are tapping new wireless technologies and unlicensed frequency bands to deliver specialized wireless solutions for use within the enterprise. Within this new range of solutions, ZigBee technology stands out. "ZigBee is a mesh technology and operates at a very low data rate," says Kunst. "So it is useful for applications that aren’t sensitive to a few seconds delay to transport data across from one end of the enterprise to the other." As an additional benefit, mesh networks are easy to deploy since one can build a basic ZigBee network with just a few wireless elements. The protocol operates at relatively short distances (typically less than 50 feet from the radiating point) typically using the 900 MHz and 2.5 GHz frequencies. The biggest issue for ZigBee is the lack of an existing market. "It is just getting started in the hospitality market," says Yair Oren, the CTO for MobileAccess. In addition to ZigBee, applications developers are also taking advantage of the license-exempt 900MHz spectrum to provide facility-wide support for an array of building automation applications. This frequency band is becoming popular in applications that control environmental systems within a facility, like HVAC and lighting, and also for monitoring remotely located equipment, like door locks and fire extinguishers, in real-time. Within the enterprise, RFID is another wireless solution that is picking up momentum. RFID is decades old, having come into vogue several years ago as a means to track inventories using inexpensive radio transmitters the size of dimes that are inserted into the packaging and shipping pallets of merchandise. “RFID is appropriate for tagging palettes of goods moving around or where one-way communications are more appropriate, said Harold Clampitt, CEO of wireless VAR American RFID Solutions. While its roots may be in the warehouse, RFID approaches are finding there way into more mainstream use within the enterprise and are being incorporated location-aware applications for tracking assets and even people. Wireless Gets Personal Another commonly known technology is Bluetooth, which has always been popular for short- range applications with cell phone headsets, but is not well-suited for facility-wide communication. "Bluetooth does not have a very impressive range," says Oren. "And its battery power consumption is relatively high. As compared to Bluetooth, ZigBee is a better choice for broadly deployed sensor-type applications with low duty cycles,” says Oren. Ultra Wideband represents yet another series of efforts that comprise two incompatible groups of products: one is called WiMedia and the other is called the Cable-free USB. Both are aim to 5 connect short-range devices such as cameras, printers, cell phone headsets, PDAs, and other devices that would normally be connected via USB cables. Ultra Wideband technologies can also be leveraged to support location-based applications in certain cases. Industry Case Study: The Wireless Hotel of the Future With the proliferation of new WiFi applications, the availability of carrier-based 3G/4G services, and the emergence of specialized applications built on ZigBee, 900MHz, and other technologies, today’s enterprises have a broad range of wireless tools at their disposal. The challenge is in selecting the best technologies and applications for satisfying overall business objectives. Consider the case of hospitality, an industry that is employing state-of-the-art wireless services and applications in multiple dimensions – to address immediate customer expectations, to create new levels of customer service, and to streamline hotel operations. Customer Satisfaction – The new “must have” Situated on vast properties, hotel and resort complexes cater to the demands of both business and leisure travelers who rely on the convenience of wireless mobility while away from home. Guests arrive with an unpredictable variety of devices and service plans, but they still expect their cell phones, PDAs, Blackberry devices, and laptops to work throughout the property just as they do at home, in the office, or at the local Starbucks. Once upon a time, in-room color TV was considered a novelty; it’s hard to imagine a guest room without it today. From a customer satisfaction perspective, facility-wide coverage for core wireless services is rapidly finding its way into that same “must have” category. For premium properties that host conventions and corporate gatherings, the stakes are even higher. Event organizers often send advance scouts to potential venues to ensure that attending executives will have “5-bar” coverage for their cell phones and Blackberry devices. Those hotels suffering inadequate cell coverage risk losing valuable event revenue and future repeat business. Strong WiFi coverage is also becoming an integral part of the guest experience and hotels are gradually phasing out in-room Ethernet connections as more travelers come to expect hotel- wide WiFi so they can roam from their rooms to the conference center and restaurant without missing a moment of Internet access. Plus, many aspects of the modern guest room are moving toward Internet-protocol (IP) based control. The door lock, the phone, the mini-bar all will one day have their own IP address and stay connected wirelessly across the corporate backbone. With these trends in mind, hotels are making wide-scale efforts to enhance their indoor wireless infrastructures to meet the modern travel expectations of their guests. State-of-the-art deployments will typically provide facility-wide support for WiFi along with coverage for all the major wireless operators in the area. This sort of multi-service infrastructure requires a fairly large investment to provide coverage across the entire hotel grounds, but it also makes it easier than ever for hotels to upgrade their bandwidth offerings as technologies change. New Applications for Customized Services Beyond providing the core cellular services and WiFi connectivity expected by guests, hotels are now experimenting with new wireless applications to deliver that ‘wow’ factor. "Software has matured, wireless networks have evolved, and hotel owners have recognized they have to go after premium guests and offer premium services," says Kunst. 6 For instance, wireless access control applications can easily boost customer satisfaction and improve hotel operations by putting door locks “on the network”. Magnetic room keys are a frequent source of frustration for guest and staff alike; the cards get de-magnetized forcing an extra trip down to the lobby to get the card reprogrammed. In some cases, a bellhop must actually come to one’s hotel room to open the door – an irritating and time-consuming process. Hotels are now deploying wireless door locks, like those available from Schlage, that communicate to the front desk using the 900MHz band or a technology like ZigBee. With these locks, the front-desk can easily resolve guest key failures remotely and obtain real-time updates about room entry. In addition, these wireless locks are significantly less expensive for the hotel to install and maintain than wired alternatives. But this is just the beginning. Ultimately, the idea is to provide guests a smart ID key that won’t just open their door, but will also contain profile information about the kinds of services guests are interested in and their preferences. "It will know what you drink, what amenities you need, and when special offers are available," says Kunst. With such a smart key, hotels can use combinations of wireless technologies to proactively deliver hotel or advertiser content directly to guests as they move about the property. Using location-aware applications that record and manage guest preferences, the hotel can wirelessly track a guest’s movements using technologies like ZigBee or RFID and then push customized content, such as restaurant or amenity suggestions, to the guest’s wireless device of choice using cellular or WiFi services. For example, hotels could let guests know that the bar is offering a special in the convention area after the last meeting gets out. "The day of the wireless application has arrived in these resorts," says Kunst. "You can now walk into a hotel with a PDA and start getting your complete conference schedule and hotel specials based on your preferences, sent to you right on your phone. From the time you enter the premises to the time you leave, the hotel is making your stay as comfortable and customized as possible." Enhanced Operations While wireless applications may be essential for the guest experience, they also offer tremendous benefits in the “back of the house”, enabling the hotel to function more efficiently and cost effectively. Of course, the core wireless service and applications valued by guests, such as strong cellular and WiFi coverage, will also pay dividends for the hotel staff. With the ability to communicate from any place on the property at any time, staff can be more efficient and more responsive to the needs of the guests. But, there are other classes of wireless applications that can have an even more tangible impact on hotel operations including those associated with asset tracking, building automation, and sensor control. Asset Tracking In hospitality venues, nothing sits still – guests, staff, and objects ranging from room- service carts to poker chips are in constant motion. Keeping track of all these moving parts or failing to do so, can impact productivity and increase operating costs. Enter the world of real-time location services: the next frontier for wireless. Hotels are now beginning to leverage technologies like RFID, WiFi-based location applications, and ZigBee to more closely track scarce or high-value resources. In hotel environments, the problem is often not the loss of materials, but the loss of human assets; employees exit the hotel complex and never come back. 7 "The Vegas casinos are having issues with housekeeping staff literally disappearing off the premises, where they just vanish out of the building," says Kunst. "While they have security cameras, you can't monitor every building exit, and they are now looking at putting in real-time location services to keep better track staff movements during work hours." Casino venues are finding other creative ways to put wireless tracking technologies to work, such as by monitoring poker chips. By implanting RFID elements into poker chips, the casino can “follow the money” as it moves from table to table. This gives the casino the ability to account for all the chips in play, follow the betting behaviors of players, and detect counterfeit poker chips. Ultimately, this sort of wireless application gives the casino a wealth of information that can prevent fraud and streamline an otherwise complex accounting process. Building Automation In addition to asset tracking challenges, a large portion of a hotel’s operational costs involve HVAC, lighting, and energy controls, so hotels want to keep these systems running as efficiently as possible. Many are seeking closed-looped control solutions that optimize the behavior of these systems in real-time based on data collected from thermostats, motion detectors, and other types of sensors. But, these building automation projects typically require connectivity among hundreds of endpoints, potentially creating a costly and disruptive wiring project. Luckily, manufacturers are incorporating wireless technologies into their building automation solutions, enabling wire-free connectivity for all kinds of devices without the need to install a special cable run back to a wiring closet. Typically, these building automation applications will use unlicensed 900MHz spectrum or ZigBee technology to communicate among system elements. "We are seeing a couple of our member companies that are moving rather aggressively in supporting sensor applications, including building energy management," says Bob Heile, chairman of the ZigBee Alliance. "Holiday Inns are putting in after-market HVAC systems based on ZigBee. It is all about battery life and low-cost installation, and these are very important when going into existing buildings that you don't want to rip all the walls open to rewire." Wireless Sensor Monitoring An interesting type of building automation application is the wireless monitoring of sensors that would otherwise require regular human observation. Wireless monitoring has become more cost-effective with the advent of new technology options, including ZigBee and the 900MHz band, and many hotels are primed to adopt these types of solutions as a means of reducing staffing requirements. For example, an innovative application from Mija uses pressure sensors to monitor fire extinguishers. Large hotels and casinos can be equipped with hundreds, if not thousands of fire extinguishers and, in order to avoid liability issues, each one must be checked on a monthly basis to ensure that it is filled and operable in case of an emergency. This application monitors fire extinguisher pressure in real-time, so the hotel does not need to deploy inspectors to physically inspect each device. 8 "This type of seamless service happens behind the scenes and creates a safer environment for guests while lowering overall operating costs because fewer inspectors are needed," says Kunst. Hotels are realizing a strong ROI on basic and new mobile applications and their growing mobile ecosystem is proof that wireless is here to stay. Whether it’s the use of wireless technology for guest services or to improve hotel operations, hotels may be a testing ground for many new wireless innovations and hospitality is an industry worth watching. Summary: Coverage is King There are many exciting new wireless applications that bring new levels of service – and complexity – to the enterprise network. These mobile applications are compelling because of the potential productivity gains they can create. However, before an enterprise can take advantage of emerging mobile applications and new wireless technologies, an underlying blanket of indoor wireless coverage must be established for wireless to work. Since most buildings are constructed using glass, steel and concrete materials which hinder wireless RF signals from entering facilities, wiring for wireless is the first step in adopting new technologies. And, once wireless connectivity is established indoors, signals have to be properly distributed in order to reach end points with minimal loss and degradation. "Smart pre-planning is especially important when a customer is going to be running ten or more different wireless applications and services at the same time, but the good news is that it’s finally possible to do it all with the right infrastructure," says Kunst. Ultimately, bringing compelling new applications online underscores the importance of first providing a universal, pervasive, always-ready, always-there blanket of dynamic wireless coverage across a campus or set of buildings. And a coherent long-term plan for handling all of these emerging wireless infrastructure needs is a must. About the Author David Strom is the current editor-in-chief of DigitalLanding.com, a site for helping people learn how to be more productive with their digital lifestyle. He was the former editor-in-chief of Tom's Hardware and Network Computing, the author of two computer books and thousands of magazine articles on Internet security, computer networking, and other technical topics. He writes frequently for the New York Times, Computerworld, Information Week, eWeek, Information Security, and other IT-related publications. He is a frequent speaker at many industry events and writes blogs and records podcasts on numerous technical subjects. He lives in St. Louis, MO and can be reached at david@strom.com . 9