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BASKETBALL GOES WIRELESS
The Orlando Magic's New Moves in the Air
Basketball at the NBA level is a game of spectacular airborne moves, with lightning-fast passes, spins, and shots. Fans in Orlando, Florida, see this level of play in the TD Waterhouse Center (formerly the Orlando Arena), where the Orlando Magic competes. The team reached the NBA playoffs this year, led by all-star Tracy McGrady and Rookie of the Year Mike Miller among other stars.
Today's Wireless Networking
Behind the scenes, the Orlando Magic organization makes its own moves in the air. The Magic's IT staff placed three 3Com® AirConnect® 11 Mbps Wireless LAN access points in the arena, providing fast network access for coaches as well as the team's marketing and media relations professionals.
"Wireless networking clearly is one of the simplest, safest, most exciting, and most convenient technologies we've ever seen," says Marc Glinsboeckel, the Magic's director of IT.
Using 3Com AirConnect Wireless LAN PC Cards in their laptops, the team's coaches and staff members can spread out, working comfortably anywhere in the Magic's arena office, at courtside, and in many parts of the arena stands. The system provides access to team statistics and individual records and recruiting data, just as if the network users were at their team's corporate office eight miles away.
And the team no longer worries about setting up and tearing down temporary wired LANs at up to 50 home games per year. Wired LANs were a problem because other teams use the arena—the Orlando Miracle of the WNBA and the Orlando Predators, who play arena football in the spring. With wireless communication, the Magic's network isn't in the way.
At the team's corporate office, where a 3Com Gigabit Ethernet LAN provides high bandwidth, the Magic uses a single AirConnect access point for wireless access in conference rooms. New hires who once had to watch an overhead projector or jockey for a handful of data ports now use their own laptops for more effective training.
Tomorrow's Innovations
"Wireless opens up a new world of services, from those that make our staff more productive to those that enhance the NBA experience for our fans," says Glinsboeckel.
Similar innovations offer benefits to just about every type of organization:
- Hospitals implementing bedside patient registrations
- Computer companies offering Internet access to customers at user conferences and trade shows
- Trucking companies checking truck engines, air conditioning units, and transmissions at many repair locations
- Travel agents needing information access from multiple offices worldwide
"Wireless technology provides network access where and when it's needed," Glinsboeckel concludes. "In our case, we're using it to make our staff more efficient and, ultimately, to better serve our fans. But when you think about it, the opportunities for wireless networks are truly boundless and go further than anyone can foresee."
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