The senior director for EMEA of enterprise networks company Ruckus, Steve Johnson, revealed on Monday (15 May) what he called: “The most exciting announcement Ruckus has made in the hospitality industry.”
Speaking at Arena’s International Hotel Technology Forum in Barcelona, he announced the launch of Ruckus Networks' hospitality suite.
An adaptation of the Ruckus One platform, the new suite is specifically designed to increase efficiency and customer experience in the hospitality sector through turn-key artificial intelligence (AI), Wi-Fi 7 and internet of things (IoT) solutions.
The network has been designed to enable the offer of personalisation to customers, allowing hotels to plug in their own applications to meet guests’ needs. In this way, Johnson hopes that Ruckus Networks could offer brands a new avenue for personalisation and – subsequently – guest loyalty, as customer-centric software could be supported on the network.
He offered the example of individual portfolios, which could be connected to Ruckus Networks to allow visitors to access a digital room key, set preferences and make requests for toiletries or blankets without leaving the room.
“This is about personalisation and digital security,” said Johnson. “It is about understanding who we are as individuals.”
Embedded across the platform, the suite also includes Ruckus AI, a solution for efficient technology management which will offer visibility into all aspects of the network. It will mean that management “remains in control” according to Johnson, but it will also streamline safety processes.
“It will inform you when it sees anomalies; this means it’s telling you that there is going to be a problem before there is a problem,” said Johnson. “It will also give you a recommendation about how to resolve that and what you should be doing.”
According to Miguel Fonseca, IT systems manager at the Royal Garden Hotel – an adopter of Ruckus AI: “Customer complaints around Wi-Fi disruptions have reduced by 90% since relying on Ruckus AI. Praise and formal surveys indicate an overall increase in guest satisfaction around excellent Wi-Fi connectivity across our entire property throughout guests' stays.”
The suite will also include Ruckus’ Wi-Fi 7, its WAN gateway and its IoT suite.
