If you peek inside a typical SMB – whether it’s a coffee shop, clothing store, or a clinic, it should reveal a lot of wireless devices (tablets, smartphones, etc.) with little to no hardware in sight. Behind the scenes, wireless solutions such as access points provide many valuable features not only for your own business, but for your customers as well.
Top 5 key features that will keep your business and secure Wi-Fi delivery competitive today:
- Patented Wireless Security
A built-in Wireless Intrusion Prevention System (WIPS) can only deliver the strongest security with highly sophisticated auto-classification capabilities, like WatchGuard’s advanced patented Marker Packet™ technology. This technology helps ensure you have the protection you need to automatically and accurately identify wireless devices on your network and neighboring APs external to your network, detect and prevent rogue access points, and detect and prevent man-in-the-middle, evil twin, and honeypot attacks.
- Business-driven Analytics
You’ll want to know how, where, and when visitors are using your Wi-Fi so you can maximize your Wi-Fi investment and optimize customer experience. Evaluating data around site metrics like footfall, dwell time, and conversion allows you to make better business decisions. Being able to see your data in a customizable dashboard and view near real-time and historical usage data is a must.
- Management That Scales
The right Wi-Fi Cloud environment can take your business from one to an unlimited number of access points across multiple locations, with no controller infrastructure. Access points can be grouped in many ways including location, building, floor, and customer to maintain consistent policies.
- Powerful Engagement & Marketing Tools
To get your marketing game on, look for a suite of easy-to-use, built-in tools that turn a simple wireless connectivity offering into a rich Wi-Fi experience for customers, guests and employees. You want a solution that lets you create stunning splash pages without the need for web design skills, reach visitors with engaging videos and surveys, offer targeted promotions and much more.
- Free Deployment Planning Service
Wondering how many access points your business needs? A vendor of choice must be able to help you gather the right information and perform predictive floor plan simulations to take the guess work out of your planning.
Before entering into a relationship with a vendor, it’s best to clearly determine how they approach security, support, and customer service. Download Wi-Fi Buyer’s Guide for the Small Business and flip to page 7 for a list of common questions to help guide your conversation with any potential vendor and ensure there are no surprises down the road.