Yes, affordable luxury is indeed an oxymoron, or as some industry insiders would put it, “It’s like trying to square a circle.” Enter Swisscom: fully equipped with a square cookie-cutter in their hands. The Swiss specialists in IT and media solutions were granted a mission to equip a ground-up construction of the new CitizenM hotel in Glasgow with a convergent IP network infrastructure that could be managed remotely, without any onsite staff resources. Since it was a new construction, Swisscom could more easily cluster all IT functions from the blueprint-phase of development into a unified network infrastructure, thus allowing the hotel’s different applications to “talk to one another”. At CitizenM Glasgow, one set of cables delivers IPTV, music and entertainment; the control of the window blinds, room lighting and ambiance; the room temperature and air conditioning; as well as the hotel’s security system (CCTV).Thanks to this network design, installation and management, the hotel employs one person for every five rooms as opposed to the industry average of one person for every two rooms. CitizenM can reserve their trained staff to provide the most courteous and professional service where the guests want it the most, such as at the bar or any other area of the hotel where they should feel at home. Mr. Levie also states, “Swisscom is our single partner for all IT needs. Working with a professional service provider in this specialized area allows us to focus 100% on our guests.”A wireless overlay network supports wireless Internet access (available free to the guest), the hotel’s voice solution and the management of the room cards. Remarkably, Swisscom has integrated its own applications (high-speed Internet, IPTV and entertainment) with those of third parties: central reservations, property management, and customer relationship systems are provided by an Austrian company, whilst the off-site...