Glyndebourne

The spotlight was on the Focus Group to deliver top class connectivity at this internationally acclaimed opera house. The show will go on!

About Glyndebourne

Glyndebourne is an internationally acclaimed opera house located in the heart of Sussex, playing host to more than 150,000 visitors per year who flock to its many live opera performances.

The Challenge

Glyndebourne’s current network lacked the power, capacity and coverage to support staff and visitors, and with poor 3G/4G coverage at the site, connectivity was not delivering a great visitor experience. What was needed was seamless, wireless digital connectivity across the 100,000 sqm estate, with the added challenge of ensuring the solution was in-keeping with the historic venue’s building and grounds.

The Solution

The relationship with Glyndebourne was born initially from an introductory call which quickly developed into close working relationship and a strong rapport was established right from the word go.

Focus Group installed a campus-wide switching backbone with the full stack of Cisco Meraki solution, incorporating extensive MS series switching, MR indoor and outdoor wireless access points, together with MX security devices to the ultimate in protection. Focus Group also specified a firewall with powerful intrusion detection and prevention services, together with content filtering and blocking protocols to ensure inappropriate content or apps can’t be accessed.

The web-based Meraki dashboard also delivers a wealth of analytics which will, in the future, be optimised to build on the rich marketing possibilities.

The Results

The high performance WiFi infrastructure has made Glyndebourne operate more efficiently and effectively, allowing the venue to scale its network to properly support its visitors and create a more interactive, personal experience wherever they may be on the estate. Focus Group also developed a customised, branded hosted landing page which visitors fill in to log on to the WiFi, enabling Glyndebourne to engage with users and keep them up-to-date with future events, etc.

"From the moment it went live, everything worked as it was supposed to work – thanks to the expertise of Focus Group’s integration team. Not only has their solution delivered against every requirement, it has also opened up an exciting world of potential new outreach opportunities with our customers"

Richard Wells, Glyndebourne’s Head of IT