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| About ISE |
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To support the Hospitality industry ISE distributes various carrier grade products in Africa. These products are used to deploy Public-access networks in large public access locations such as Airports, Hotels, Convention Centers, municipal HotZones and small site deployments.
These products comprise of the Nomadix™ Gateway network appliance, CerebusServer™ software billing solution for broadband Internet Service Providers and Managed 802.11 Wireless Smart Mobile or MESH solution Access Points.
Service Providers and venue owners deploying Public-access networks require solutions that enable mobile users to securely and easily connect to their network regardless of their location or configuration. Once connected, the provider must be able to charge the user directly for the service or extract revenue through a settlement charge for a user that roams into their network.
The Nomadix™ family of gateways includes several patented special features that are very crucial for this type of system like DAT™ and iNat™. These features assure a complete transparent connection of the users without the need for any configuration changes on the user’s laptop, PDA or mobile phone. Nomadix™ boasts true IP plug and play.
A Nomadix™-enabled network allows bandwidth usage to be limited on a per device (MAC Address/User) basis. This ensures equitable distribution of bandwidth in heavily congested Public access networks. The bandwidth for each device can be defined asymmetrically for both upstream and downstream data transmissions and billing plans can be associated with bandwidth levels. Users can also dynamically switch between bandwidth plans giving the network operator opportunity to sell higher bandwidth at a premium.
CerebusServer™ is a complete Server-side software solution for broadband Internet Service Providers. It integrates service creation, billing, rating, roaming, customer care, reporting, device independent content delivery and value-added location-based services. CerebusServer™ is a centrally managed all-in-one solution that streamlines the rollout of hotspot services and is based on a pre-paid model.
When deploying a Public Access network in a Hotel or public space there are two ways of approaching. The first is to deploy only a public access network to service the guest and the second is to deploy a network with both Public and Private services. The latter gives the advantage of one WI-FI infrastructure to support restaurants and retail shops within the Hotel property, whether owned by the Hotel or concessions, which can use the hotel’s wireless LAN infrastructure for point-of-sale (POS) and other business systems.
Equipped with “communicator” style voice-over-wireless-IP (VoWIP) badges, handsets or PDA soft phones, the hotel staff can talk instantly from anywhere in the hotel. VoWIP can decrease hotel employees’ cell phone bills significantly and improve communications. Wireless can play an integral part in hotel security, such as video surveillance or to broadcast security bulletins.
Providing wireless LAN services to a hotel requires both Private and Public services, which makes choosing the right wireless LAN solution a complex task. As with a private enterprise, the Hotel’s IT department must protect its core business applications such as Reservations, Property Management, point-of-sale, inventory and back-office applications, while at the same time providing secure, always-available wireless Guest access.
When selecting a wireless LAN system, a hotel should consider the following requirements:
Multiple Wireless Devices. A hotel must accommodate a vast array of user devices including laptops, handhelds and VoWIP phones – both company-approved by the Hotel and any number of devices belonging to guests.
Virtual Private Groups. Given the diversity of hotel employees and guests who will use wireless, the IT department will need to create virtual private groups, each with the appropriate access rights and wireless encryption for strong security. Different users, from housekeeping to waitering staff to finance to guests, will have different access permissions, roaming policies and billing profiles.
Authentication. To accommodate private and public access, the wireless LAN must support various authentication options, including open authentication, media access control (MAC) address authentication, web authentication and 802.1X authentication.
Encryption. A hotel wireless LAN should support different encryption types by user group. For instance, IT will want rigorous security and encryption for employees, however it may give guests unencrypted access.
Flexible Billing. Many hotels rely on an ISP to deliver public network services. Guests are redirected to a web portal where they submit credit card billing information. The hotel may split the revenue with the ISP or pay a flat fee per customer. Either way, the hotel must have the flexibility to choose an ISP and billing structure.
VoWIP and IP Multicast. Supporting Voice and Video over the wireless LAN requires some special considerations. Seamless support for VoWIP means users connect to the wireless LAN once, authenticate and roam freely. Also, some VoWIP handhelds and communicators can only use WEP or MAC-address authentication. Efficient support for IP multicast is a must to avoid overwhelming precious wireless LAN bandwidth.
Reliability and Resiliency. High availability is essential for a wireless LAN that’s home to reservations, point of sale, hotspots and other business-critical systems. Redundant power supplies and network connections are recommended to ensure fault tolerance.
Planning and Configuration Tools. No hotel or Resort can afford to install a wireless LAN that recklessly wastes IT resources. A wireless LAN system must be easy to configure, install and operate. In-room wireless access must be no-fuss as technical support calls eat away profitability.
A Hotel may need to set up and tear down Wireless LAN services rapidly to accommodate events in ballrooms or conference areas or the property may undergo a renovation. Consequently, good wireless LAN planning and configuration tools enable a Hotel to adapt the wireless LAN to its changing business needs. The more agile the wireless LAN system, the more sophisticated and profitable a service provider the hotel can be.
ISE has the tools to deliver what the Hotels need from a wireless LAN: A wireless infrastructure over which they can cost-effectively and reliably deliver a range of private and public services.
The ISE solution accommodates challenging hospitality locales by supporting diverse user devices and a range of authentication and encryption options. Hotels and Resorts can accommodate a range of service options and billing models with high operational efficiency.
Hotel’s cannot afford to deploy staff to service guests requiring Internet Access. The Advanced Plug and Play features of Nomadix™ enable the seamless connectivity of the Guests, sending of email as well as the transparent use of VPN (Virtual Private Networks) services. Nomadix™ also allows for protection from virus’ with automatic quarantining of an offender from the network. Users are identified and billed according to their Media Access Control (MAC) address, username/password, and/or port identification number. Gateways can be managed remotely via the built-in Web Management Interface where various levels of administration can be set. The provider is able to charge the user directly for the service or extract revenue through a settlement charge for a user that roams into their network.
To enable , CerebusServer™ is deployed integrateing service creation, billing, rating, roaming, customer care, reporting, content delivery and value-added location-based services. CerebusServer™ is a centrally managed all-in-one solution that streamlines rollout of hotspot services and minimises associated costs for any service provider, operator or venue owner. Services are available from day one, ensuring instant revenue generation and allowing service providers to implement their own business models.
Location portals are branded to the location and are the end-user interface to the CerebusServer™. When a user opens a standard web browser in a Hotspot the access gateway automatically redirects the user to the login page. The portal contains different login and payment options as well as the customer self-care features. Service providers can also create and manage location-specific content, services and applications that are available on the location portals. Location portals are completely customisable and they can be managed centrally from CerebusServer™.
With CerebusServer™ service providers can centrally define and manage unlimited number of products (pricing plans) using any combination of time, volume, and bandwidth. Pricing plans can be assigned to subscribers, locations or location groups. Payment methods include credit cards, vouchers, scratch cards, pre-paid cards and subscriptions.
2 Way PMS billing (automatic bill to room) for WI-FI is also available and is unique to the ISE solution.
An example of a location portal is presented below:
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Nomadix Gateways are placed on premise between the Router and the Local Area Network. There are three gateways in the range. The Nomadix™ AG 5000 is for deployment in large public access locations such as Airports, Convention Centers and municipal HotZones. The AG3000 can be used when deploying Wi-Fi service in mid-sized locations and the AG 21000 is the ideal “HotSpot in a Box” for single cell, small site deployments. The AG2100 has a built in wireless Access Point.
All Nomadix gateways offer Software Subscription which allows the gateways to be upgraded remotely as new firmware is released, thereby keeping your gateway current at all times.
The patented Home Page Redirection (HPR) feature intercepts existing browser preferences to present the user with a “Welcome” page for sign-up and login. HPR can also function on a per-subscriber basis by referencing a regular customer’s RADIUS profile. In addition to this important pre-redirection capability, NSE also offers post-login and “Goodbye” redirection to maximise the branding opportunities for service providers and HotSpot owners.
A similar capability is available with Location-based Content, which can be used to promote services that are in close proximity to the user. For example, a business traveler waiting at Gate14B could be informed of dining and retail establishments in that terminal. Helping users self-select additional services, potentially from paid ads and sponsorships increases customer satisfaction and maximises revenue.
The Nomadix™ gateway has the unique ability to produce marketing material during a user session. This feature is optional and can be activated and deactivated on demand. The delivery of the marketing material is done by forcing a popup advert of the clients choice to appear during a user internet session. The popup does not disrupt the session but must be closed by the user. If the user is running a popup blocker on their PC/Notebook, the popup will convert to a web page, forcing their chosen web page into the background until marketing page has been closed. The choice of marketing material is specific to each Nomadix™ gateway. This allows for targeted marketing within a group that has various sites. The amount of time and priority between Popups can be determined by the client/marketer as well as the order of the specific Popups being displayed.
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A Software Planning Tool delivers unprecedented pre- and post deployment planning and management capabilities. It includes the Virtual Site Survey and capacity-planning tools, automatic configuration and one-click deployment system-wide, radio frequency (RF) coverage verification and RF topology mapping. It streamlines all aspects of wireless LAN planning, deployment, management and operations using scanned building floor plans to apply attenuation factors to building obstacles and to plan for overall capacity. It identifies where access points should be located and automatically configures them once they’re installed. Hotels can plan a complete wireless LAN installation and easily reconfigure existing space based on facilities drawings.
The system provides the ultimate in mobility management by allowing IT to locate users on the network and view their usage statistics and create a history of each user’s activity, which can be used for troubleshooting or billing. Hotels can track user roaming activity, collect statistics on the duration of wireless LAN sessions and view other management information.
The system provides rogue detection, making it simple to locate rogue access points, unauthorised users and ad hoc networks. Its security capabilities enable hotels and resorts to treat the RF environment as part of their “property,” detecting potential wireless LAN users and then deciding whether to allow or disallow access.
The MESH solution has self-configuring and self-tuning abilities to allow for true Plug-and-Play networking. The multiple redundant paths add robust resiliency and when properly arranged, eliminate single points of failure and potential bottlenecks. Should a link become congested or a node fail the MESH automatically redirects traffic to an alternate route.
Smart Mobile is the only WLAN architecture with intelligent switching, which combines both centralized and distributed data forwarding based on the requirements of the underlying application. Configured and controlled by Mobility Exchange™ (MX™) controllers, MP’s perform encryption and can also enforce policy and forward data, depending on the application needs.
The result is optimized traffic flow, radically reduced latency, and massive scalability. Smart Mobile WLANs can support the most demanding wireless applications indoors and outdoors, including voice over WLAN for thousands of users, and are 802.11n ready.
Over the past three years the market has moved from wired to wireless. ISE’s Public Access Solution is currently the most widely deployed in Africa.
Enterprise Clients:
Telecom Namibia
Lesotho Telecom
EcoNet Africa
Tetra Mobile
Old Mutual
MediClinic
Netcare
Hospitality References:
Sun International
Protea Group
Holiday Inn
Legacy Hotel Group
Jumeirah Group (Dubai)
The Hospitality solution is installed in over 40 Hotels in South Africa, deployed by Telecom Namibia for their countywide Hotspot rollout, is used by Lesotho Telecom for service to 1000 remote sites and Ecoweb for the deployment of the Zim Sun group of Hotels in Zimbabwe and Malawi.
ISE installed sites Africa – as at November 2006
Western Cape
Table Bay Hotel, Lord Charles, Spier Wine Estate & Hotel, Cape Town Lodge, Village Lodge, St Georges Mall Hotel, BMW Pavilion, Waves Edge, Winchester Mansions, Tygervalley Protea, Bloomberg Guest House *****, Caprice Restaurant Camps Bay, Café Vespa, The Bay Hotel Camps Bay, The Hollow, Constantiaberg Hospital - Mediclinic, Knysna Quays Protea, Protea King George, Riempies Oudtshoorn , Green Beans coffee shop, The Portswood, The Commodore, The Ritz Hotel, Hermanus Beach Club and
Wilderness Dunes (25 locations)
Gauteng
Melrose Arch Hotel, Midrand Protea, Waterfront Protea Centurion, Wanderers, Garden Place Guest house, Gold Reef Protea, Wiesenhoff coffee shop, Samrand Hotel Protea, Habitaz business suites
Pretoria Manor Protea, Tladi Lodge, Silver Oaks Shopping Centre, Bakubung Pilanesberg, The Airport Grand Hotel, Centurion Lake Hotel, Michelangelo Hotel, Michelangelo Towers, Raphael Penthouse Suites Sandton and Sunny Side Park Hotel (19)
Mpumalanga
Kruger Gate Hotel and Kruger Park Lodge (2 locations)
Kwazulu Natal
Blue Waters Hotel, Benjamin Guest House, Edward Hotel Durban, St Augustine hospital, Parklands Hospital, Circus Circus coffee shop and Castle Burn Drakensberg (7 locations)
Miscellaneous
Labadi Beach Hotel Ghana, Brookes Hill Suites – PE, La Cote D-Azur Wilde Coast, Protea Hotel Bloemfontein, Kwa Maritane - Pilanesberg, Tshukudu - Pilanesberg and Cresta Lodge – Botswana (6 locations)
Namibia
Arebush Windhoek, Travel Café Airport Windhoek, FurstenHof Hotel, Teleshop Merua Mall, News Café,
Out of Africa, Cresta Lodge, Bank of Windhoek, AUAS City Hotel, Indian Restaurant, Out of Africa,
Stadt Hotel, Makalana BST, Nest Hotel - Luderitz, Bayview Hotel 0- Luderitz, Langholm Hotel Walvis Bay
Wimpy Otjiwarongo, The Court Yard Hotel - Walvis Bay, Windhoek Country Club and Swakopmund Hotel (20 locations)
Zimbabwe
Crown Plaza, Holiday Inn, Rainbow Towers, Meikles, St Lucia and Econet Wireless (6 locations)
Mozambique
Holiday Inn (1 location)
Botswana
Cresta Hotel Group (1 location)
Dubai
Mina Al Salam, Al Qasar and Dar Al Masyaf (3 locations)
Lesotho Telecom (90 locations)
This does not include integrators who have deployed Nomadix™ Gateways utilising the GBIA billing platform.
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