Cisco To Implement IP Security, Surveillance Infrastructure For Harrah’s Entertainment

  • May 22, 2008

Harrah's Operating Company, a subsidiary of Harrah's Entertainment Inc., has signed a broad-based, 10-year global strategic agreement with Cisco. This strategic collaboration will help enable the delivery of compelling next-generation guest experiences through the use of Cisco products and allow Harrah's to remain at the forefront of innovation in the casino entertainment industry.

Harrah's has established a collaborative relationship with Cisco's Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG), the company's global strategic consulting arm. The strategic agreement envisions that Harrah's will continue to work together with IBSG and other Cisco divisions to assist Harrah's in implementing innovative technologies. This will help Harrah's to accelerate its status as an innovator and enhance its personalized guest experiences and world-class interactive customer relationship management capabilities.

This strategic collaboration will also facilitate the transformation of the company's digital backbone and the implementation of a next-generation security and surveillance infrastructure. The upgrade is designed to significantly improve facility security and safety, support new "smart service" initiatives that enable even more proactive employee service, and help Harrah's deliver on its bold vision to launch the next wave of industry-leading guest experiences.

Harrah's is upgrading its digital backbone to power numerous new capabilities over the next few years and is implementing a new digital security and surveillance infrastructure across North America and abroad. Upon completion of Harrah's digital migration program, Cisco will have helped enable the deployment of one of the largest Internet Protocol networking-based physical security implementations in the gaming and entertainment world.

Among the applications that Harrah's will implement to enhance its operational excellence and customer experience is Cisco digital video technology, which will provide greater visibility to guest areas such as hotel registration desks, valet parking areas and outdoor entertainment venues. This will enable Harrah's to have real-time responses to situations. For example, it could enable new capabilities that would allow additional staff to be dispatched to the hotel check-in area when guest registration lines become too long.

"As part of the 10-year global strategic agreement, Harrah's will collaborate with multiple Cisco technology groups to identify and create new and compelling guest offerings," said Bill Stuntz, vice president and general manager of Cisco's Physical Security business unit. "Through an ongoing dialogue started more than a year ago, Harrah's has embraced the network to serve as a highly secure platform to drive a new customer experience vision that will help it meet its long-term business objectives."

"Harrah's is focused on harnessing new capabilities to transform customer experiences in ways never before seen and in so doing, enabling Harrah's to remain an industry leader in customer service," said Howard Lock, director, transportation and hospitality for Cisco IBSG. "IBSG is helping Harrah's explore, validate and accelerate the adoption of innovation to deliver unique guest experiences, employee empowerment and operational excellence."

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