7 CRUCIAL WIFI TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS FOR 2015
Insight-based customer engagement for public-facing companies
Public-facing enterprises (like retail shops, shopping malls, sporting venues) will engage with their guests at their venues through WiFi. The marketing strategy of these companies will step up to a new level thanks to behavioral analytics, Wi-Fi insights, location analytics. By knowing their guests’ opt-in preferences, advertising and promotions will be more and more personalized. Mobile apps will be personalized, based on identity and location, to engage prospects in a contextually relevant manner.
K-12 schools moving towards managed wireless access
Wireless helps schools to develop new teaching tools, to spread online learning resources, to create a generation of tech-savvy students. K-12 schools are moving towards cloud-managed WiFi because they need to control access and usage, filter contents, and minimize network downtime.
WiFi goes to social
The number of public hotspots that allows user to register or log in with their social identity will increase in 2015. Thanks to the social login, users don’t have to remember a username and a password, so their login process is easier than before. At the same time, companies can leverage data that they collect from users (age, gender, location, etc.) for personalized marketing campaigns.
Cloud WiFi goes mainstream (also for SMBs)
Managing WiFi networks, and multi-vendor access points is a headache for IT administrators. Cloud manageability of multi-vendor APs solves this issue, bringing costs and efficiency improvements and avoiding repetitive tasks and on-site travels to troubleshoot networks. Cloud WiFi became more cost-effective in 2014, so we expect cloud WiFi manageability to go mainstream for SMBs in 2015.
More wireless connected appliances
Customers want real-time, remote control and monitoring capabilities for their home appliances (washers, dryers, refrigerators, etc.): they like to monitor their spending and automate actions from their laptop, smartphone, or PC. The number of wirelessly connected appliances on the market is going to increase in 2015.
WLAN turns into a full-fledged profit center
Monetizing WiFi traditionally meant charging people for internet usage. In the latest years (and in 2015), WLAN assets will be monetized through new value-added services, such as data analytics, advertising, marketing-related Wi-Fi services. MSPs, solution providers, and hotspot providers will succeed if they are able to offer WiFi-centric business intelligence solutions and to support data-driven IT decision-making.
Emphasis on the quality of the user experience
Companies add public WiFi services to their offer in order to enhance the overall customer experience. Quality of connection greatly influences the user perception of a WiFi service, together with usability, continuity, reliability, and security of the network. With the number of public hotspots going to increase by 300% in 2015, offering an excellent service becomes more and more important.