Las Colinas Live! Enriching People’s Entertainment in a Live, Multi-purpose Complex with Innovative Communication Services

An interview with W. F. Beuck III

 

 

Las Colinas Live! is a first-of-its-kind entertainment venue that will showcase the history of Texas and complement the Irving, Texas, Convention Center. William F. Beuck III, Executive Director of Texas Spirit, talks to us about the role IP communications technology will play in meeting the needs of the more than five million visitors expected annually when it opens its doors for business in 2009.

 

Can you give us some background on the Las Colinas Live! project?

Beuck: We are developing a public-private partnership ... with the Irving Convention Center ... to build a multi-purpose entertainment venue called Las Colinas Live! The exclusive entertainment complex is set on a 40-acre site, and includes an 8,000-person concert hall, 2,000-person equestrian arena, 140-room five-star hotel, a video production studio and cinema, and 200,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space, to serve over five million visitors each year.

We’re using the name Las Colinas Live! because the facility will feature a vast array of live entertainment. The venue is designed to capture the spirit of the Old American West. As the history of the horse is very important in Texas, one of the principal ideas for the facility is to depict the history of the mustang. Las Colinas Live! will feature venues for equestrian and sporting events, music festivals and entertainment. The facility will host live equestrian activities [such as] arena polo, show horse activities and various kinds of festivals on an annual basis in conjunction with the local hospitality industry. We believe that when people come to Texas they expect to see a horse, and we want to combine all of the above activities to provide our visitors with a [rich set of Western] experiences within our 40–acre site.

We intend to create in Las Colinas Live! the world’s premier multi-purpose entertainment facility. In order to achieve this, we need to differentiate our facility by [harnessing] innovative information and communications technologies for both guests and staff, while ensuring a very high-quality end–user experience for our customers.

Could you briefly explain how you came to work with Alcatel-Lucent as your technology partner to deliver this experience?

Beuck: : We were looking for a trusted technology partner and adviser to provide an integrated communications solution for the Las Colinas Live! entertainment venue and chose Alcatel-Lucent as our principal technology partner. Their solution includes a high-throughput IP/MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) backbone infrastructure and robust distribution network that will provide the bandwidth and quality of service needed to support the most advanced, innovative services for guests and staff, including IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) for Video on Demand; VoIP (Voice over IP); and digital and analog voice connectivity.

Alcatel-Lucent is responsible for the turnkey deployment of the network infrastructure. Not only is Alcatel-Lucent managing the implementation of its own technology, but it is also in charge of all third-party systems that support voice, video and data services throughout the facility. This includes the integration of advanced end-user applications including IPTV and VoIP, asset and personnel management systems based on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) as well as facility-wide WiFi and IP-based video surveillance and recording.

Las Colinas Live! is fully outsourcing network maintenance and operations to Alcatel-Lucent, including database administration and application management. Alcatel-Lucent’s Network Operations Center (NOC) nearby in Plano, Texas, will provide remote monitoring of the facility, 24/7.

What will this solution offer your customers?

Beuck: : We were looking for ways to provide a smooth and seamless experience for our clients because we’re in the people business, and people will come here to relax and enjoy themselves. With Alcatel-Lucent’s solution, we are able to create this experience. From the moment guests arrive in the area, they will be able to use their cellphone or mobile device to find out where things are occurring. Even before people arrive, we will use [web services and wireless technologies] to help guests know where they can park and how they can move efficiently on the highway system. We will create a personalized experience for our visitors, from the time they arrive to the time they leave.

It is important for us, in our line of business, to provide quality of service excellence for our end users. Alcatel-Lucent gives us confidence that this will become a reality with its end-to-end implementation and project management, and 24/7 active system monitoring at the Alcatel-Lucent NOC (network operations support and fault management center).

We want our customers to interact with the facility and believe that the best way to do this is by using advanced technology. We plan to use the Alcatel-Lucent network for all activities — from helping our best customers find a place to park, to helping the waiter predict which dinner specials would interest a certain diner.

Through the use of RFID technology, we will be able to deliver a more efficient service to our customers: we plan to offer an RFID-based membership card to our VIPs and other high-ARPU (average revenue per user) customers. The RFID card and the facility’s infrastructure will help us predict what these customers want and the best way to address their needs. The customer will be able to pay for everything using their RFID membership card: the card becomes a ticket to events and an extension of the facility. Through an interface with an analytical marketing application, the RFID card will help us determine the patterns and habits of our customers and anticipate their next moves. Our goal is to know what our customers want before they know that they want it.

RFID is not just going to help us understand our customers better, but will also help us drive efficiencies throughout the complex. The RFID system will help us manage and track high–value assets, control access for guests and employees, manage inventory and provide additional security to our VIPs.

Why is this security issue so important?

Beuck: : We believe that the most important service we can offer to our guests is safety and security. The Alcatel-Lucent network is a key factor in our ability to provide peace of mind to our customers. With an IP-based security monitoring system, we will be able to see and react to more than we could with an entire team of security personnel patrolling the complex. We will be able to monitor the entire facility centrally and respond to events as they occur. Through digital image analysis, we will be able to utilize advanced security applications to help us identify dangerous or threatening behavior and proactively intercede to control an event before it escalates.

What were your expectations of Alcatel-Lucent?

Beuck: : We expected a partner in the technology realm that truly believes in our business, that understands and listens to what we have to say and what we’re trying to accomplish, yet takes a fresh approach to the way that they construct and design for us.

 

We expect Alcatel-Lucent to help us see into the future and leverage the communication lines of tomorrow to help us grow our business. We need to be able to anticipate how people are going to connect with each other in the future, we need to understand what it means to our business when someone says the world is moving to IP, and we expect Alcatel-Lucent to be there to help us understand it all.

This has turned into a very good partnership with Alcatel-Lucent and one that we hope will continue into the future.

Why did you select Alcatel-Lucent as principal technology partner?

Beuck: : We are in the entertainment and live–show business and have little knowledge of the telecommunications world. This is where Alcatel-Lucent comes in. We did quite a bit of due diligence on a number of companies to make sure that we chose the right partner. Alcatel-Lucent’s approach was very fresh and innovative; they were thinking out of the box and didn’t think in the same way other technology companies might.

They really listened to what we had to say and what our main objectives and goals were for our real–estate project. We are not technology people, and we didn’t really describe what we needed in a technological way. But Alcatel-Lucent listened to what we had to say and created something very significant for our project.

Alcatel-Lucent can deliver the entire package: from core network infrastructure, to custom application development, to long-term operations and maintenance. With the tight operating margins characteristic of the hospitality industry, we need to be able to control operating costs. Alcatel-Lucent was willing to partner with us and help us build and run the entire network. Instead of just offering a component of the network or a single application, Alcatel-Lucent is providing us with all the necessary equipment and services, end-to-end integration and support, operation and maintenance.

Finally, Alcatel-Lucent looked at our project from an end-user perspective which, in the hospitality business, is the most important aspect. Without the end user we have no project. The team at Alcatel-Lucent viewed our project as if they were one of the end–user customers themselves. They envisaged how they would enjoy the experience, how they would participate in the activities and entertainment, and whether they would tell their friends or family about the project. The excitement level that the Alcatel-Lucent team generated out of the project showed our teams that we had indeed picked the right partner.

In what ways do you feel a development company like Las Colinas Live! needs a telecommunications network like Alcatel-Lucent’s?

Beuck: : Everything runs over a network today — from restaurant cash registers to theatrical lighting systems. We had two options: go to each system vendor and let them put in the network they needed to run their system, or find someone to help us build a single network that could serve all of our connectivity needs.

Partnering with an end-to-end network integrator like Alcatel-Lucent, we could build a single network that would offer the reliability that each system needs, develop operational efficiencies through managing only one network, and trust that Alcatel-Lucent would support the network’s long-term operational needs through its comprehensive network management services offering.

Working closely with Alcatel-Lucent, we discovered additional technology and investment opportunities to expand our market. With a vast array of live entertainment in our concert hall, equestrian arena and other venues, Las Colinas Live! can benefit from the solution’s high-definition content creation, distribution and storage network, to broadcast these events live using a compatible IPTV platform. Alcatel-Lucent is helping us identify the right service delivery methods and partners to provide entertainment services and video content to a global audience through web delivery and conventional distribution networks. While we estimate that we will have approximately five million visitors annually, with this innovative technology we will be able to multiply the number of people that we reach many times over in terms of the audience that can watch a particular activity hosted in the entertainment center.

What plans are involved in setting up this type of business?

Beuck: : The first step was to determine the relationship between the private– and public–sector players. Since the city of Irving is going to be investing substantially in the development of the Las Colinas Live! project, we needed to make sure that their needs will be met by a project like this.

It is paramount that all stakeholders share the same idea of what we are trying to achieve, that we all have the same vision for the scope and the design and, finally, the same objectives relating to the type of clientele that we’re trying to reach. Las Colinas Live! is situated in a unique location in the Dallas, Texas area, and is aimed toward an upscale market.

Are you considering any further developments for the future?

Beuck: : Yes. Las Colinas Live! is a unique project that really combines the public and private sectors. We intend to develop an upper-scale facility suitable for corporate boardroom and shareholder meetings and product announcement-type programming. In conjunction with the hotel and the multiplicity of entertainment and food venues on site, visitors will have access to all they require within the 40-acre site. We believe that this project will ultimately become a prototype that can be replicated in many communities.

William F. Beuck III is Executive Director of Texas Spirit, Dallas, Texas
Email: WillBeuck@dclimits.com

 

Jean-Marc Mezin , Director, Business Development, Alcatel-Lucent Services, Enterprise and Government Services, Vélizy, France, conducted this interview with the help of Seth Lynch. For more information, please contact jean-marc.mezin@alcatel-lucent.fr or seth.lynch@alcatel-Lucent.com