Marriott International is a global leading lodging company with nearly 4,500 properties in 87 countries and territories. Marriott International reported revenues of more than $14 billion in fiscal year 2015. Founded by J. Willard and Alice Marriott and guided by Marriott family leadership for nearly 90 years, the company is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, USA.

Challenges faced by JW Marriott

Extremists creating unrest across the globe and preying on tourists, led to Marriott properties and its sorts, falling easy prey in the hands of various militant groups. The Marriott properties, sabotaged in 2003, 2008 and 2009 bombings in South Jakarta, Islamabad and Jakarta respectively, alarmed the industry globally. Perturbed by the uptick of terror attacks targeting tourism and hotel industry; being a business leader, JW Marriott decided to address their security strategy.

Situation

Sysware Infotech Pvt Ltd along with VIVOTEK, were both a part of an undertaking that involved transforming JW Marriot Massoorie Walnut Grove Resort and Spa, an Analogue vedio surveillance customer, into an IP surveillance patron. The idea was to bring the property at par with the security trends adopted and followed across the globe. The duo predicted inadequacies that the hospitality giant could suffer using analogue video surveillance solutions viz. reduced image quality and limited coverage area per camera. Furthermore, video storage management and retrieval or playback also could exhibit certain inefficiencies that could not matchup to the evolving security strategy and requirements of Marriott. They could have experienced technical inadequacies to address current threat landscape using a single appliance and adding to the strain were the operational expenses. They wanted solutions that were highly reliable, consistent in performance and more accurate.

Solution offered

JW Marriot Massoorie Walnut Grove Resort and Spa was suggested altering their decision from analogue video surveillance solutions to IP (Internet Protocol) surveillance solutions. Picking best suited models within a given set of budget and specifications in alignment with analogue camera solutions, VIVOTEK along with Sysware Infotech segregated the camera for multiple site types on the basis of lens types such as fixed lens camera; vary-focal lens camera and size of the lenses.

Of which, vary-focal lens cameras were installed outdoors and public areas for maximum FOV (Field Of View). Furthermore, the FOV of these cameras were such that it could be readjusted depending upon the changing needs of the customer. Fixed lens camera were mostly used in corridors or specific counter coverage requirements for example front desk, laundry section and any point of sale section like the pastry shop etc.

Course of action – VIVOTEK

Touted to be its pilot hospitality project in India, VIVOTEK in association with the highly acclaimed system integration company, Sysware Infotech Pvt. Ltd., charted out the entire implementation process in three phases. <strong>#1 Planning phase</strong>: Thriving on their prior experience of working together, VIVOTEK along with Sysware Infotech formulated a complete implementation plan. Comprehending the significance of security in JW Marriott Mussoorie, IP surveillance solutions were planted in their current locations on the basis of the property’s floor plans, site plans, interior plans to better understand the camera utility in those areas. Furthermore, the duo operated within given security guidelines, specifications and budget by the client. <strong>#2 Implementation phase</strong>: Post the planning phase, realizing the criticality of the situation, cameras were deployed in certain areas even before the site was ready and was under construction. The team also had simulators before fixing the cameras to maintain accuracy and get a hang of the situation. Post implementation the devices were further fine-tuned to exploit maximum out of them, within the given specification. <strong>#3 Post deployment phase</strong>: The process of security solutions deployment didn’t end with just the deployment. Post the placement, the entire commissioning was verified and then a user level training was also conducted. Only after the training, was the entire facility handed over to the in-house team.

Products deployed

Total 125 IP network cameras were deployed in the project, including vary-focal indoor dome- FD8131, ultra-mini indoor dome- FD8136, outdoor bullet camera- IP8335H, outdoor speed dome camera - SD8322, and indoor speed dome -SD8121. Each model installed, has different functionality and used case, for instance, speed dome model – SD8323 are being used for outdoor coverage as the resort is spread over 25 acres, on a hilly terrain that experiences extreme low temperature and snowfall. Connecting these cameras, the software installed in the control room was QNAP NVRs.

Benefits to the client

Post installations, the client applauded the ease of management with features like remote viewing. Not only did they experience improved image quality but also the number of cables between the control room and cameras reduced greatly as compared to analogue solutions, mitigating cabling mess. Furthermore, the image quality is maintained with the use of UTP 6 LAN cables in IP cameras, which is better than coaxial cables that deteriorate faster. Led by such positives, JW Marriott was eventually compelled to transform their security guidelines across the country, with VIVOTEK being its most preferred brand.

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Special Thanks

• Sysware Infotech Pvt. Ltd