Posts Tagged ‘wireless solutions’
About GE Capital
GE Capital, Americas is a leading provider of commercial loans and leases to mid-market businesses across diverse industries. They work closely with customers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico to meet a wide variety of financing requirements.
About Courtyard by Marriott
Courtyard by Marriott is a brand of hotels owned and operated by Marriott International. The hotels are designed for and cater to business travelers. All rooms feature large desks, couches, free high speed Internet access, and filling breakfasts.
Most of its locations have full-service restaurants, and all have 24-hour “mini-marts,” for the guests convenience. It competes with other mid-priced business-oriented hotels like the Hilton Garden Inn.
The first location was built in 1985 in Atlanta and was Marriott’s first sister brand. The brand was intended to target business travelers who desired quality service at affordable prices. As the market changed and Courtyard grew, they have begun to cater to the leisure traveler as well. Most locations have a swimming pool or fitness center, mini-fridges and microwaves for rent, and offer family rates.
Marriott spent $2 billion in the mid-1980s on building out the Courtyard by Marriott chain in order to target a wider demographic. Overall, the chain is focused on accommodating guests and growing their target clientele.
About the Situation
Harris Communications was contacted by the Portland, Oregon Marriott Hotel because they lacked reliable cellular reception in the administrative and staff offices, banquet rooms as well as some hallways. In this particular case the area experiencing poor coverage was limited to one section of the hotel on the first floor. The main concern for Marriott staff is that they were not able to communicate and ensure guest satisfaction from an administrative standpoint as well as when parties and business engagements were being held in the banquet rooms. An ancillary issue was that guests were not able to use their cell phones when in those areas as well.
Nature of the Solution
We were able to design a copper solution that covered the area most in need of cellular enhancement. In this particular case, the hotel was a Green Building, which commonly attributes to poor cellular coverage. The design and installation was for a multi-carrier solution and was cost effective as it covered the pre-determined area as opposed to the hotel in it’s entirety. We were able to send our crew out to Portland and complete the installation on time, on budget and ensure the system was fully functioning prior to our departure.
Summary
The Hotel now has reliable cellular reception in the administrative offices as well as the banquet rooms. This ensures that the staff can communicate internally which will result in greater guest satisfaction. As an added bonus, groups that book events in the banquet rooms will benefit from cellular service as well. The guaranteed reception aligns with the customer service and event planning that Marriott strives to offer guests. Another success story from Harris Communications!
Spotty Cell Reception in Charlotte, NC
This is not a surprise to Harris Communications! We hear about the spotty reception and dropped calls that plague our peers and friends throughout Charlotte.
The problem is troublesome enough that it made it’s way into the Charlotte Observer.
Dropped Call Doldrums
If you are frustrated by poor cell phone reception and dropped calls in your facility, you are not alone. Hospitals are notorious for poor to nonexistent cell phone coverage.
Harris Communications recently completed the 2nd and final phase of the commercial cellular project for the Van Andel Cancer Institute. This facility’s 2nd phase is a Leed Certified building and we extended our 1st phase multi-carrier distributed antenna system (DAS) into it adding Nextel in addition to providing in-building coverage with Verizon and AT&T.
VAN ANDEL CANCER RESEARCH INSTITUTE
We completed a commercial cellular repeater solution for The Van Andel Institute (VAI). Founded in 1996, the vision was an institute that would have an impact world-wide in enriching and enhancing lives through biomedical research and education.
PCS
Personal communication service (PCS) is a second-generation mobile communications technology also referred to as digital cellular. The digital service, which works over CDMA and TDMA interfaces, operates at the 1900 MHz frequency range.
4G mobile technology is the name for the next generation of mobile devices such as cell phones. It became available from at least one provider in the US in 2009.
The use of G, standing for generation, in mobile technology covers the major advances of the past 20-30 years. 1G technology involved the first widely available mobile phones. 2G technology, which began in the early 1990s, switched to a digital format and introduced text messaging. 3G technology improved the efficiency of how data is carried, making it possible to carry enhanced information services such as websites in their original format. The latest iPhone is the best known example of 3G and 4G technology.
4G mobile should use enhanced security measures and offer drastically faster speed. A second goal is to reduce blips in transmission when a device moves amongst areas covered by different networks. Within the United States, there are two major systems using 4G mobile technology. One is known as WiMax and is backed by Clearwire, a firm whose majority owner is Sprint Nextel. The competing system, Long Term Evolution or LTE, is backed mainly by Verizon. It was expected to be ready for testing in 2010 but not available for widespread use until 2012 LTE’s backers hoped to overcome this disadvantage by offering faster speeds and producing cheaper equipment.
Unlike previous generations of mobile technology, 4G mobile will be widely used for Internet access on computers as well as carrying cell phone communications. Customers in areas which have strong 4G coverage will be able to use it for a home broadband connection which doesn’t require any cabling to their household. It can also be used for accessing the Internet on the move without having to be in a wireless hot-spot such as those offered by some bakeries, coffee shops, airports and libraries.
If you would like to learn more about 4G or the wireless solutions that Harris Communications offers, CONTACT US today.
Hello! I read an article a few weeks ago and have been meaning to share it with you. This article focuses on the spotty coverage that accompanies the IPhone.
Harris Communications has conducted site surveys throughout the United States. The purpose of a site survey is to determine what type of solution and design will work best for a specific facility. In most cases it is not feasible to provide an accurate estimate based on square footage of a facility alone. There are quite a few variables that structures can contribute to each project. The best way to get an accurate and efficient solution is to schedule a site survey prior to commissioning a design.