As we all look forward to our summer holidays, I look back and think I was fortunate
to be a Technical Director in an organisation where we could bring on a
variety of wireless solutions, as well as complementary solutions. When looking at solutions, it’s easy to
become vendor centric, and not find a way to talk about or link a variety of
vendors to provide a comprehensive solution.
Wireless Access
There are
many solutions out there that can provide a number of unique features, whether
it’s directional antennas, blanket coverage, security, cloud controllers,
controller-less or controller based wireless solutions. I will tar them all with the same brush and
suggest that although you need to pick the right one for the environment, they
are only offering a connectivity method for wireless devices to connect to a
network or the internet.
Network Access Control (NAC) and Security
NACs have
made a comeback as more and more people realise that the wireless network needs
to be secured in some fashion. They
offer the ability to identify users, devices, connectivity methods, as well as
time to create a comprehensive policy to control. There are other security solutions
that are focus on just wireless, where NACs are typically available for wired,
wireless and VPNs.
Guest Management and Social Media
People will
say they want to “monetise” their wireless network. Of course there is a cost associated with
running a public wireless network, but you can’t always capitalise on it. Most people will use 3G/4G networks, or worse
case turn to your competitor offering complimentary access. More important is how to manage these users
when they access your network. By
management, I don’t mean just a user repository, but also the ability to
integrate payment engines, ticketing systems, tracking and how long they can
access the network for.
There are
many articles highlighting how many hundreds of advertising dollars have to be
spent before achieving a like on Facebook, a follow on Twitter, etc. The issue historically is how you can
leverage this from your known customer base.
If your wireless access solution includes or there is an application
that can integrate social media to it, then you can leverage your existing
customer base to grow your social media one.
Enjoy your holiday!
I liken the Wireless
Access to people outside bars,
trying to entice you in with free drinks.
The NAC and Security systems, are the bouncers, while the Guest
Management and Social Media, is the receptionist taking your entry fee and
asking you to join the mailing list.
Next time
you’re on holiday trying to find wireless access, I hope you remember this analogy
and smile! :)