Metro Toronto Convention Centre gets WiFi Phones

VoWLAN: The Wireless Voice Future is Here ... Almost

And this Press release came over the wire to the Bandit

TORONTO, Oct. 6 /CNW/ - The Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) today announced that it has now also added Wi-Fi based wireless telephones to its high tech mix.

This latest technological advance, wireless Voice over Internet Protocol (commonly known as "wireless VoIP", a new kind of wireless telephony), involves the deployment of more than 100 of the latest industry Wi-Fi based wireless phones throughout the Centre.

The MTCC recently unveiled its unique new wireless local area network (LAN) installation, technology which made the facility the world's first convention centre to offer leading edge wireless data communications capability for convention organizers and attendees. The network is capable of handling over 1,000 simultaneous mobile users, offering roaming high
speed Internet access speeds nearly 1,000 times faster than conventional dial-up.
This WLAN has already been recognized by the industry with a Silver Star Award from the 2004 Mobile Star Awards.
With these special phones, recently introduced to the marketplace by industry leader SpectraLink Corporation of Boulder, Colorado, calls to and
from points outside the MTCC as well as between people moving about inside the building will be transmitted wirelessly over the Centre's converged voice and data network. This will give users the freedom to roam the entire facility
while enjoying all the benefits of a traditional wired digital deskset, but with better service and functionality - and no wireless "airtime" charges
applied.

"We're very excited about being able to integrate mobile access to voice communications with our existing mobile data communications on our advanced WLAN," said Bill McDonald, Director of Technology for the MTCC. "This is next
generation communication technology to benefit both our clients and our staff. We expect it will lead to a wide variety of cost savings, efficiencies
and productivity gains for everyone," he added.

The MTCC is equipping 96 of its managers and staff with SpectraLink's NetLink i640 Wireless Telephones, considered a large VoIP deployment by today's standards. The Centre's workforce will use the handsets on a day-to-day basis as they circulate throughout the facility while working with
clients on event coordination details and last-minute problem solving.

The Centre is also making a number of phones available for rental to clients' own event managers and their staff while an event is taking
place on the Centre's premises. At a large event involving thousands of delegates such as those often hosted by the MTCC, a client typically has multiple show/event managers and a dozen or more temporary show/event offices.

These individuals and offices must constantly keep in touch both with each other as well as with a large number of MTCC staff to keep all details of
their event running smoothly. Unlike cellular phones, airtime on the phones will not apply.

"Convention centres strive to be recognized competitively as having cutting-edge technology, attracting clients that are working to fulfill
some of their most important business meetings in these facilities," said Jill Kenney, SpectraLink's Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
"Our products are specifically designed to promote the development of the truly wireless workplace."

The MTCC decided to go the wireless VoIP route with SpectraLink's handsets because they met many of the communications challenges presented by the Centre's particular setting, McDonald noted. Firstly, SpectraLink's technology really leveraged the MTCC's recent investment in its new wireless network while minimizing additional capital costs because it integrated
seamlessly with this pre-existing equipment.

Another key factor in the decision was the need to maintain consistent and reliable business-grade voice quality as well as continuous connectivity
everywhere on the huge MTCC site, which encompasses two million square feet of space and extends more than three levels below ground in many instances.

"These handsets are renowned throughout the industry," said McDonald. "They have enabled us to provide optimal voice communications across our entire premises, which is one of the latest amenities being sought by convention organizers and attendees."

About the NetLink Wireless Telephones

The NetLink i640 Wireless Telephones are small, lightweight (6 ounces) and easy to use. Resembling a cellular phone in both style and size, the ergonomically designed IP handsets are easily portable. Unlike most cell phones, however, they are also extremely rugged. They can withstand the type of heavy industrial use common at workplaces such as the MTCC's,
including being dropped onto a concrete floor from a height of 24 feet without loss of
function or breakage. "We have a lot of concrete here," said Chris Taylor, Manager of Telecommunications for the MTCC, "and we know these phones will get dropped onto the floor from high places, just due to the nature of how they will
be used."

Other key features include a high-resolution LCD screen which enables the user to receive, display and respond to text messages sent from the
MTCC's corporate desktop. Users can also access a complete dial-by-name directory for the Centre's staff. In addition, the wireless phones have all the same capabilities of any modern business phone, including menu-driven softkey
functions, voicemail a "hold" button, conference calling, call transfer, call forwarding, and audible and vibrating ringers.
And going even one better than a regular phone, the NetLink Wireless Telephone's "push-to-talk" feature turns the handset into a two-way
speaker-phone type of device that can "multicast" to a number of other users simultaneously. The system also offers multiple channels (up to a
maximum of eight), enabling the MTCC to dedicate specific channels to its various
departmental staff (banquet, a/v, services etc.) at the same time as offering a private channel to an event client.

Finally, the phones can access other internal VoIP telephone
numbers as
well as those on the Centre's existing PBX analogue telephone exchange
and
those externally, so there is no need to switch phones at any point
during the
day.

About SpectraLink

SpectraLink Corporation is the leading U.S. manufacturer and
provider of
wireless telephone systems. An industry pioneer, the company is driving
the
adoption of Wi-Fi wireless LAN technology to serve the communication
needs of
mobile employees in the workplace.

About the MTCC

The Metro Toronto Convention Centre is the largest and most
celebrated
convention and trade facility in Canada and one of the finest in North
America. It has welcomed more than 25 million visitors in its short
history
and is considered a world-class, tier-one facility. Arguably, it is the
best-equipped, most up-to-date, most centrally located and most
attractive
convention centre available in Canada today.
With more than 460,000 square feet of flexible exhibit space and
more
than two million square feet of total space spread across two separate
buildings, the MTCC hosts over 700 events annually, ranging in size from
large
international conventions to small local corporate meetings, for groups
ranging from as intimate as 40 people to as large as 40,000. Premier
events
held at the MTCC include: Toronto International Auto Show, PDAC Show and
Real
World Linux 2004.
Located in downtown Toronto, the MTCC is surrounded by the city's
prominent sports arenas including the Air Canada Centre and the SkyDome.
Nearby attractions include the CN Tower, the Hockey Hall of Fame,
theatres,
hotels, retails shops, and more. Convention attendees can also enjoy a
dizzying array of more than 7,000 fine restaurants and 13,000 hotel
rooms just
minutes away from the Centre.


BACKGROUNDER ON THE MTCC'S RECENTLY INSTALLED WLAN

Since January 2004, the MTCC's new wireless local area network
(WLAN) has
been providing guaranteed seamless wireless service to users walking
anywhere
inside the Centre's massive building. Unlike older technology, this
wireless
LAN is not subject to "fading" and so does not require users to
re-connect and
re-authenticate each time they walk past an access point, which can be
both
time-consuming and frustrating.
"This entire installation is a truly revolutionary new technology
and is
proving to be a huge resource for our clients. It's smarter than most
wireless
networks and allows us to provide clients with Internet access and
networking
capability, our staff with access to our corporate network, as well as a
wireless portable telephone system - all on a single antenna
infrastructure,"
explains Bill McDonald, Director of Technology at the MTCC.
"Our customers have diverse data networking and wireless
expectations,
and our goal is to meet or exceed these expectations," he adds. The WLAN
recently won a Silver Star in the "Deployment: WLAN" category of the
2004
Mobile Star Awards for the MTCC and its solution provider Chantry
Networks.
The Mobile Star Awards recognize the industry's top mobile products,
deployments and leaders as chosen by subscribers of MobileVillage's
twice-monthly newsletter Go Mobile.
Recognizing that demand for wireless connectivity has exploded
over the
past year from both convention attendees and organizers eager to use
their new
wireless enabled laptops and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), the
MTCC came
up with this innovative new WLAN solution designed specifically for
convention
centre use.
"There's no question that the race is on for top convention
centres and
other venues to provide wireless access as the latest 'must-have' event
amenity," says Bruce MacMillan, President & CEO, Tourism Toronto. "After
location, amenities are the top priority - and nearly every
business-focused
event today demands full wireless access throughout their chosen venue's
exhibit hall and meeting rooms."
The MTCC's new WLAN solution is ideally suited to the MTCC's
clients and
its exhibition and convention space, and offers users many benefits:

- exhibitors enjoy full-time high speed roaming access to the
Internet
to display their web sites, do online ordering, and connect to
their
company networks back home, all from their laptops or PDAs on
the Show
floor.

- client convention staff and organizers have their own private
and
secure "virtual" WLANs to handle all administrative tasks for
their
event at the MTCC as well as communications with their head
office and
each other.

- event speakers have continuous online access to their
presentations
and the Internet as they move from room to room.

- the MTCC hosts its own 'splash page', a captive portal which
allows
attendees limited free access to certain areas, including the
Show
meeting schedule, other Show communications, the MTCC's
official web
site, and links to official partners. The portal is also a way
for
Show organizers and exhibitors to invite attendees to
participate in
contests, customer surveys and polls.

"We're very excited about the many possibilities of this new
technology,"
says McDonald. "It's very cutting edge and it is forming the MTCC's next
generation telecommunications network infrastructure."

-0- 10/06/2004
/For further information: Heather Evans, Marketing Manager, Metro
Toronto
Convention Centre, (416) 585-8126, Email: hevans(at)mtccc.com/