UK's Largest Brewer and Pub Owner Improves its Pedigree by
Selecting Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi for Nationwide Wireless Upgrade
LONDON and SUNNYVALE, Calif., Jan. 22, 2013
/PRNewswire/ -- Ruckus Wireless, Inc. (NYSE: RKUS) today
announced that it has been selected by Marston's PLC, one of the
UK's leading brewers and pub operators, and the world's largest
brewer of cask ale, to supply Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi equipment for use
within its pubs and restaurants nationwide.
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With over 2,000 locations across the UK, Marston's wanted to
better leverage Wi-Fi to improve the customer experience and
increase the efficiency of its operations. Pubs, restaurants and
retail outlets of all kinds are looking for new ways to attract
customers, keep customers more engaged and leverage Wi-Fi analytics
that could provide insight into innovative new services.
Customer use of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets in
UK retail environments continues to increase rapidly. In a
recent survey by eConsultancy, 43% of respondents in the UK said
they had used their mobile devices to compare prices and look at
product reviews while out shopping, up from 19% in 2011. And
according to an OnDevice Research survey, 74% of respondents
in the UK would be happy for a retailer to send a text or email
with promotions while they're using in-store Wi-Fi.
"Marston's had installed Wi-Fi over three years ago and has
always taken a very active and early adopter role in the use of
technology in our operations," said Rob
Derbyshire, operations manager for Marston's Telecom.
"But since that time–with the rise of Wi-Fi-enabled devices of all
shapes and sizes– the world had changed–making Wi-Fi no longer
simply nice to have but rather a strategic necessity."
To improve service efficiency and guest access, Marston's is
installing Ruckus ZoneFlex dual-band 802.11n Smart Wi-Fi access
points (APs) both indoors and outdoors.
These Smart Wi-Fi products support line of business applications
such as in-store electronic point-of-sale (EPOS) systems that staff
access using tablet devices to provide a more flexible way to take
orders, settle bills and provide a greater level of service.
"Ultimately we are a business that must turn a profit," remarked
Derbyshire. "That said, we understand how our customers work, live
and play as well as the role that wireless technology has in their
lives. As a result, we have found that providing fast and
reliable Wi-Fi has both a direct and indirect impact in increasing
revenue."
Previously Marston's had installed in its pubs a single Wi-Fi
access point based on conventional Wi-Fi technology. But
recently, the demand for Wi-Fi access has increased as more users
armed with more devices try to simultaneously access the network.
This raised concerns over capacity, coverage and performance.
"Interference was becoming an issue. Coverage was becoming an
issue. Reliability was becoming an issue," explained Derbyshire.
"We needed a Wi-Fi system that could handle a large number of
concurrent user connections, extend signal range, maintain stable
connections and deliver higher aggregate throughput," explained
Derbyshire. "Yet when it came to each vendor's offerings, these
requirements seemed to compete against each other."
To Cloud or Not to Cloud
Marston's evaluated a number of Wi-Fi products, including
cloud-based offerings, but found dramatic differences in price and
feature/functionality. With few to no IT staff in each pub, an easy
to deploy and simple to manage Wi-Fi system was required. In turn,
Marston's initially believed that a cloud-based solution would work
best.
"Meraki's system had a compelling user interface but the
recurring annual licence costs per AP made the overall solution
much more expensive," said Derbyshire. "This fact, along with lower
client capacities and a number of feature and architectural
limitations, such as inter-AP roaming performance that go along
with a cloud-based solution, just didn't work well in our
environments. Our first priority had to be delivering the best
possible wireless experience to customers. Believe me, the
combination of great ale and great Wi-Fi creates strong customer
loyalty," he said.
Marston's ultimately tested and selected the Ruckus ZoneFlex
solutions and began its Smart Wi-Fi rollout. The Ruckus kit gave
Marston's the flexibility to deploy standalone APs or multiple APs
with local controllers – all of which could be centrally
managed.
"Ultimately, it came down to performance and reliability.
The Ruckus system simply delivered a demonstrably better Wi-Fi
experience using more thoughtful technology designed to deal with
constantly changing environments and user behaviors."
Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi access points integrate patented BeamFlex
adaptive antenna array technology that directs radio frequency (RF)
energy toward each client, continually picking the fastest path for
each packet. This provides greater coverage and the ability
to deliver stronger Wi-Fi signals to users, even as environmental
conditions change. Ruckus adaptive antenna arrays also
support dual-polarization, allowing signals to be transmitted and
received at different angles. This enables more consistent Wi-Fi
connectivity to devices such as tablets that are constantly
changing orientations.
In its Wi-Fi testing with Ruckus gear, after two days of
deployment, Marston's found that over half of its transactions were
going through staff tablets along with a significant increase in
client Wi-Fi connectivity.
Marston's is deploying single or multiple Ruckus ZoneFlex 7363
APs inside its pubs and restaurants along with outdoor Ruckus
ZoneFlex 7762 APs in garden areas. Wi-Fi management is performed
remotely by accessing local ZoneDirector Controllers or standalone
APs, and the Ruckus FlexMaster Centralized Wi-Fi Management System
enables all these environments to be managed from a single
location.
Looking forward, Marston's see endless possibilities to leverage
its new, in-store, Smart Wi-Fi networks. "With carrier-class
technology now in place, we view the network as a utility that we
can use for almost any application we can think of such as
multimedia delivery, location-based applications, push-to-talk
voice for our staff – the list becomes endless," concluded
Derbyshire.
ABOUT MARSTON'S PLC
Founded by John Marston in 1890
as Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries plc., Marston's PLC is a
leading independent brewing and pub retailing business operating a
vertically integrated business model with over 13,000 employees
worldwide. Marston's operates around 2,150 pubs and bars situated
across England and Wales, comprising around 1,650 tenanted or
leased pubs and around 500 managed pubs at the heart of thriving
local communities offering a welcoming environment and value for
money. The company operates five breweries throughout the UK as
well as a range of divisions including Marston's Inns and Taverns,
Marston's Pub Company and Marston's Beer Company. The company
is listed on the London stock
exchange under the symbol MARS.
ABOUT RUCKUS WIRELESS
Headquartered in Sunnyvale,
CA, Ruckus Wireless (NYSE: RKUS) is a global supplier of
advanced wireless systems for the rapidly expanding mobile Internet
infrastructure market. With 2011 revenues of $120 million, the company offers a wide range of
indoor and outdoor "Smart Wi-Fi" products to mobile carriers,
broadband service providers, and corporate enterprises, and has
more than 18,000 customers worldwide. Ruckus technology addresses
Wi-Fi capacity and coverage challenges caused by the
ever-increasing amount of traffic on wireless networks due to
accelerated adoption of mobile devices such as smartphones and
tablets. Ruckus invented and has patented state-of-the-art
wireless voice, video, and data technology innovations, such as
adaptive antenna arrays that extend signal range, increase client
data rates, and avoid interference, ensuring consistent and
reliable distribution of delay-sensitive multimedia content and
services over standard 802.11 Wi-Fi. For more information,
visit http://www.ruckuswireless.com.
Ruckus Wireless, Inc.
Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi
Marston's
Ruckus BeamFlex
Ruckus FlexMaster
SOURCE Ruckus Wireless, Inc.
