Westin Long Beach Hotel Hosts Local Businesses and Events in High-Tech Meeting Space Protected by Furman
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Competition is stiff among hotels that want to host events and corporate meetings for local businesses. To attract the event planners and meeting managers, the Westin Long Beach Hotel in Long Beach, California, recently transformed its large ballroom into a 4-room convertible space with divisible walls. To further enhance the space, the hotel turned to local integration firm Spinitar to incorporate the latest audio system and technology. According to Rudy Zavala, Associate Systems Designer at the firm, the goal of the installation came down to three things: simplicity, functionality and reliability.
“One big ballroom is great if you want to host large receptions or conferences, but the ability to split the space into four smaller rooms offers the hotel greater revenue opportunities and opens access to smaller parties and budgets,” Zavala explained. “But it’s not as simple as just putting in some convertible walls. Separate rooms mean you need separate audio systems and control interfaces that can also function as a single unit when the room is fully open for a larger event. To do this we used QSC’s Core 500i network audio solution backed by the protection of a BlueBOLT-enabled Furman F1500-UPS to ensure smooth, effortless operation 365 days a year.”
Routing all the power through the Furman UPS boasts multiple advantages. Utilizing the BlueBOLT cloud-based power, energy and network management platform, the device enables Spintar to access the equipment at its power source from anywhere in the world using any Web-enabled device. In case of a locked-up device or system power issue, the integrators can do remote hard resets of the touch panels, amplifiers and network switcher, even the entire QSC system if needed, greatly reducing service calls. This provides efficiency for both the hotel and the integrator, saving them time, money and frustration.
Featuring Furman’s advanced Series Multi-Stage Protection (SMP) surge/spike protection circuit, Extreme Voltage Shutdown (EVS) and Linear Filtering Technology (LiFT), the F1500-UPS provides the hotel with professional-level protection, filtration and backup combined with features engineered specifically for the needs of A/V systems. Fully programmable, the unit features an intuitive LCD front panel interface, which displays valuable system and diagnostic information, such as battery time remaining based on current load and voltage input/output. Additionally, critical load management capabilities allow hotel employees to prioritize allocations of battery power to connected equipment while the unit’s programmable IR blasters provide safe shutdown of remotely based equipment.
“Easy-to-use is an all encompassing term,” Zavala concluded. “This means that guests must be able to walk in to the space and use the system right away, every time. Additionally, the hotel managers and staff should be able to operate the meeting rooms without worrying about complicated technology. The GUI we created for the audio system is a floorplan of the space, with each touch panel opening up to its section of the room, and all the other sections are available by simply flipping to the next page of the interface. This way presenters can quickly use the input panels to hook up a microphone, iPod, or video player to one section or the whole room, while setting volumes for each specific area.”
Best of all, the system is designed to be easy-to-use for the integrators themselves. Incorporating the Furman F1500-UPS into the system simplifies the configuration, ultimately saving Zavala and his team time and money through BlueBOLT remote power management.
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