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How digital can improve the user experience?

Founded in 1984 with of course no digital purpose but totally revamped in 2015, AccorHotels Arena is at the forefront of the entertainment world in Paris: this modular and multipurpose venue is home to multiple high-profile events held in the City of Lights. The former Palais Omnisports de Paris Bercy, renamed after its recent facelift, is considered in the Pollstar 2016 ranking as one of the top 5 arenas worldwide in its category: with a capacity of 20,300 seats, the site welcomes 120+ events every year, attended by an overall audience of 1.5 million.
 
As you may have red about “the digital challenges of the smart stadiums transformation“, it is not a debatable questions anymore. Fans are waiting from Public Venues to create real and strong experience to enhance their satisfaction.

The challenge of digital marketing

According to Guillaume Lairloup, CIO, “the core business of AccorHotels Arena has progressively changed, and today reflects the contemporary cultural and technological developments that urged us to trigger our digital transformation. » To complete this digital journey and migrate to a high-density Wi-Fi infrastructure, AccorHotels Arena started looking for a technology that would boost user experience on the premises, and make it more simple, friendly and secured.
 
The initial requirement was to make hyperconnectivity a reality, thus providing an always-on experience to all. This required improving the wireless service offered on-site while delivering free and quality Wi-Fi to attendees, as well as guests in lounges and VIP areas. AccorHotels Arena, just like any other large venue that hosts premium events and welcomes their attendees, faces several challenges when it comes to attending upon such huge crowds over a short span of time.
These physical challenges had an obvious impact over the wireless network, and it became a must to adopt a flexible infrastructure that would support a large number of concurrent connections.
 

The solution to launch a strong digital communication

To tackle these issues, Orange Business Services, the integrator in charge on the project, proposed a solution based on UCOPIA, the only player in the market capable of offering scalability to support up to 100,000 concurrent users.
 
Lairloup was aware of customer references from UCOPIA in the entertainment industry: « We were quite confident that UCOPIA solutions would offer premium quality. With a capacity of 20,300 persons, our venue today benefit from a future-proof solution that combines quality and flexibility. » By collaborating seamlessly, the different stakeholders in this project successfully overcame all technical constraints in designing an architecture that resulted in a positive outcome.
“The UCOPIA team proved to be available and committed to making our project a thumping success. They provided first-rate remote support, and this was key in achieving stability and quality in our daily operations”, said Lairloup.