IPcelerate.com

Customer: Grand Prairie Airhogs Baseball

About the Customer

The Grand Prairie AirHogs are a franchise team within the American Association of Independent Baseball, and played their inaugural game on May 8, 2008 in their new, state-of-the-art stadium. In addition to stadium seating for 6,000, Grand Prairie stadium includes: Whiskey Charlie’s a 6,000 square foot sports bar and grill; a for-rent pool and concession stand; a 17,000 square foot Kid’s Zone; thirteen 20-person suites; two large hospitality suites; an Officer’s Club; four large concession stands; team merchandise store; an ice cream shop; a full-service Starbucks; state-of-the-art video board and a field installed by the renowned Roger Bossard.

Initial Expectations from VoIP

Grand Prairie Stadium was built in 2008, complete with a robust and flexible VoIP telephony system. The managing partners of the Grand Prairie AirHogs appreciated the technology their fans carry around with them – PDAs, iPhones and other cellular devices – and wanted to build a technologically advanced stadium to meet fan expectation. They also wanted to maximize the potential of their IP telephony system by developing a friendly and technologically advanced environment for their suite guests.

Addressing Primary Business Challenges

The Grand Prairie AirHogs faced many of the same business challenges as a large retailer or hospitality business. They needed to excel at customer service, drive sales to on-site retail venues and restaurants, build a loyal fan base for repeat business, and control overhead expenses. All these challenges needed to be managed efficiently and within the confines of the arena. AirHog management also wanted to create a unique and inviting suite environment and was interested in discovering new ways to increase revenue from their suites. They selected IPcelerate’s IPsmartSuite – a suite of solutions to address all the AirHog’s business challenges directly through their IP phones.

IPcelerate Solutions

The IPcelerate IPsmartSuite solution introduced icon-friendly touch screens on all the IP phones in the stadium. The phones were personalized based on the phone’s user, with different icons displayed for managers, staff and suite guests. All IP phone displays, or dashboards, were branded with the AirHog’s colors and logo, giving it a very customized and propriety look-and-feel.

In the suites, guests enjoy a telephony experience similar to their cellular devices – all driven by colorful, friendly icon-driven menus. Guests can touch an icon on the IP phones to view the entire menu, and order food and beverages directly on the phone. By doing this, the Grand Prairie AirHogs provide faster service and improved accuracy of orders for their customers, and have also reduced the wait service costs as one staff member can now serve four suites instead of just two. Guests can also order AirHogs merchandise, which will be delivered to their suite during the game. By touching an icon, fans can pull up a photo of each player and listen to a recording from the player which offers statistics, position and their favorite place in the stadium to visit. These recordings help promote stores and restaurants within the stadium, resulting in increased revenues.

For staff and managers, IPsmartSuite allows them to send out text messages to their fan base promoting special events, giveaways and discounts. IPsmartSuite also integrates with the inventory system, so the organization can track what items are selling, or not selling, in the suites and run promotions based on inventory levels. In addition, task alerts have been created based on the procedure manual for each employee, and managers must enter their employee code to acknowledge a completed task, such as filling kegs before a game or putting buns in the oven before the concession stand opens.

New Telephony Experience

Grand Prairie is using its VoIP telephony environment in ways that go beyond the traditional telephones that ring and carry conversation. They have been able to enjoy dramatic results to their bottom line – increased revenues, decreases in operating expenses – through the innovative business solutions resident on their IP network and managed through their IP phones.

Next Steps/Higher Expectations

In the coming months, Grand Prairie is going to pilot a solution which allows suite attendants to use Nokia cell phones to access and retrieve food orders through IPsmartSuite. The AirHog organization is committed to reaching the fullest potential of their new telephony environment.