The organisers of theWimbledon Tennis
Championshipshave wirelessly enabled the
event's ticketing application to combat ticket fraud.
The wireless network as a whole comprises 70
Cisco Aironet 1200 series 802.11g access points with a unit
positioned at each entry gate. Ticketing staff will use
Symbol PPT800s to scan visitors’ tickets and badges.
“In the old days, people used to put their tickets in the bin,
and every so often someone would go around and empty the bins and
resell the tickets. This year, people will have their ticket
scanned, and the system will reprint it up at the top of Henman
Hill,” said Paul Figgins, senior IT specialist at
IBM Global
Services, who manages Wimbledon’s IT system.
As a result, visitors will be able to keep their tickets as a
souvenir, he said, and the
Lawn Tennis Association (LTA)
will be able to sell more tickets, with its charity retaining the
money from the sales.
The security team on the gates will also use the wireless system
for a separate application: to scan badges in real-time to confirm
the identity of contractors and all full-time and temporary
staff.
The system matches the worker to photographic records held on
the Club’s CRM system AEGIS (All England Global Information
System), which is linked to police intelligence systems.
IBM Global Services, which runs the IT system for Wimbledon, is
currently assembling and testing the wireless network, which was
originally designed and implemented in 2003 for use by members of
the press during the two weeks of the tennis championship.
This year, Wimbledon will have 70 wireless access points mainly
for journalists and photographers to send information and images
back to their offices. There will be three access points in Centre
Court alone, intended for photographers to capture and send images
from their cameras.
Users at the huts and marquees will also be able to access
various intranets and applications such as the Wimbledon
Information System (Wis) via wireless devices.
IBM serves Wimbledon's data needs >>
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