How many times a day do you check your smartphone? And use it to connect to the Internet?
The digital age has made us all more mobile – and wireless connectivity is the most popular method of getting online. Indeed, WiFi access is a viewed by most people as a top ‘life priority’ – regardless of whether they’re at work or play.
WiFi everywhere -it’s what customers want
If you think about it, these days we automatically expect bullet-proof WiFi availabilty wherever we spend time – at home, at school, in shopping malls, hospitals, hotels, airports, sports venues, on public transport and more.
Indeed, offering high-performance WiFi has pretty much become the ‘cost of doing business’. Just like heating and lighting, customers of retailers, restaurants and other consumer-facing organisations expect WiFi to simply ‘be there’. And will go elsewhere if their experience doesn’t come up to scratch.
The WiFi world of work
But connectivity isn’t just a vital lifestyle enabler. In the workplace, a reliable high-quality internet connection is becoming more important than ever.
Today’s workers increasingly expect to encounter highly flexible workspace and productivity options – no more being tethered to a single desk. What’s more, bandwidth hungry communication and collaboration applications are very much the name of the game for organisations looking to empower their workforce to perform.
But what happens if your wireless infrastructure isn’t up to coping with all these demands?
Classic signs it’s time for a WiFi rethink include poor coverage and drop outs, problems scaling up to cope with more and more mobile devices, slow app performance or availability…we could go on.
When users start complaining they get better connectivity at home than at work, you know you’ve got a problem.
Fast, simple, powerful WiFi
In this day and age, businesses of all shapes and sizes need an enterprise-strength WiFi infrastructure that’s scalable, won’t get overloaded when high throughput appliances like a NAS or IP cameras get added to the network, and can handle multiple users connections with ease.
The good news is it’s possible to meet burgeoning WiFi connectivity user and customer demands cost-effectively, without having to worry about the expense of ethernet cabling.
Indeed, with the right planning and the right technology it’s possible to deliver a completely wireless user experience – even if you need to support voice and video.
Solutions like Cisco Mobility Express or Cisco Meraki, for example, make it easy for small and medium-sized businesses to compete on a level playing field with much larger, big name organisations, and deliver top-notch wireless access to customers or staff.
Cisco ISE Express, for example, makes it easy to create tailored guest services quickly and easily, securely manage end points to safeguard the WiFi network and more.
IT teams get answers fast
The latest generation of solutions give today’s hard-pressed IT teams instant knowledge of everything hitting the network.
Designed to relieve the day-to-day stress of managing a WiFi network, Cisco’s Identity Services Engine (ISE) and Mobile Express makes it easy to securely take care of access management, tells you who is accessing the network and what device they’re using, profiles what applications are being used.
A rich choice of automated analytics delivers, for example, the ability to see which access points are in high demand so you can manage hot spots in real-time to ensure everyone – including guests – can access WiFi network with ease.
Marketing analytics at your finger tips
WiFi solutions like Cisco CMX and Cisco Meraki now deliver valuable data for your business managers, delivering digital insights on customers interests and preferences. All of which makes it easier to deliver a highly personalised experience for customers.
Overlaid by cloud-enabled software like Purple Wifi, your marketing teams can gain information real-time footfall, passers by, conversion and bounce rates, dwell times, return visits and frequency. And all this data can be connected to other information systems like CRM and ERP.
With WiFi now the primary platform for internet connectivity, isn’t it time to discover what the future holds for WiFi technology in your organisation?