WIFI AS A SERVICE (WAAS) IS EVOLVING

The list of alternative real estate companies making the switch to managed WiFi is growing; this includes Havas and their coworking spaces, Kley with their coliving PBSA model and Jo&Joe, Accor’s latest coliving project. Whilst each organisation is different, WiFi as a Service allows all professionals to focus on their core business services, without worrying about network lag, lost signal or unsecure browsing.

After identifying the needs of real estate developers and operators for 19 years, staff, residents and operators alike are satisfied with our WaaS solution thanks to its easy and reliable management platform. This popularity has allowed Wifirst to operate a growing network of 20,000 companies.

As Alan Ward, IT Director of Havas in the UK, puts it:

“The WiFi as a Service solution deployed by Wifirst allows us to provide a simple, efficient and secure connectivity base for our 1,700 employees. They can thus easily connect to high-performance internet access with their various devices, but also interact and cooperate from one end of the building to the other, in a completely secure environment”.

Just like Havas, operators such as Mi Campus student residences, The Student Hotel coliving student accommodation and The Ascott’s serviced apartments - to name a few - have all trusted Wifirst to supply them with managed WiFi.

What do they all have in common? The need for a specific and robust WiFi infrastructure to absorb the increase in data consumption, whilst working on reducing their operational costs.

Many companies think of WiFi as the foundation for their digital transformation, not just an added amenity for their guests. Wifirst offers a single solution that caters to all of your staff and IT Department requirements: from a simple additional network to the most complex network integration across the building. For example, we can connect to your data centers, increasing the security level of your staff when they connect to the network. We also have the ability to create one private and fully secured network per user throughout the entire building. By using this foundation of technology, you can make your building evolve as your products and services evolve for your guests.

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WIFI IN COLIVING SPACES CANNOT BE COMPROMISED

Providing stable and fast WiFi to the residents is not an option, but an integral part of the all-inclusive rental model of coliving. New trends in content consumption and IoT are driving this digital transformation across alternative real estate sectors. Not only is it nice to have your Smart TV connected to your phone, your speakers and your laptop, but now, IoT has advanced towards complete “home automation”: optimising energy consumption, security and comfort, while allowing providers to decrease their overall OPEX costs.

Wifirst, a WaaS pioneer, does more than just give you WiFi. It offers a turnkey service based on a virtuous model with commitments to quality, availability and scalability over time. Connectivity and mobility are at the heart of the digital transformation of the real estate sector, with the pandemic increasing demand for network performance and making the Wifirst solution as relevant as ever.

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A KEY ASSET FOR THE CHALLENGES OF CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICERS (CIOS)

In an increasingly digitised world, the role of the CIO in coliving companies is more important than ever. They must ensure the proper functioning and security of the company’s information systems, immerse themselves in business processes to make the right technological decisions to improve team productivity and integrate important work components - such as active directories - into their pipelines. Active directories authenticate and authorise all new users and computers in a network by assigning and enforcing security policies on all computers from day one. This saves staff time, and spares residents the burden of having to align all their devices to the new shared network. Working hand in hand with a WaaS operator allows CIOs to free themselves of this burden; the network infrastructure is perfectly mastered and ready to accommodate emerging technologies, with high added value for the competitiveness of the company.

CIOs are great assets to any successful business, but managing both networks and staff may feel overwhelming. Managing employee efficiency, and keeping the network safe of any cyberthreats, whilst continuously finding ways to reduce costs across all portfolios, is not an easy job. CIOs also have to think ahead to be ready for new trends. Most decisions taken today will affect where the business is in 5 years time - and in 5 years time, the business needs to be in line with the trends, not behind them.

If the business “backbone” is not set up in an appropriate way, the business might end up paying two different providers to do the same thing for them. With today’s cybersecurity problems happening to the biggest and smallest of corporations, having partners you can trust is fundamental. Thinking about your staff and guest data is ingrained in the future digital transformation of the market.

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THE BENEFITS OF THIS MODEL FOR COLIVING COMPANIES

It is the very nature of the WaaS model that has prompted Wifirst to invest heavily in audit coverage, as well as oversight methodology and tools.
We need to keep in mind that a WaaS provides a turnkey solution, where we take all the IT headaches away from the business and manage the whole thing from A to Z. Some operators prefer to go by themselves and manage multiple providers for the same result; this may include finding the right WiFi surveyor for WiFi coverage study, then finding the right cabling company to do the job and lastly, buying and managing the hardware, which means handling customer complaints and maintenance issues.
There is also the possibility that the suppliers never work well together, creating a problem you never thought you could one day have. We take on the entire delivery chain: we automate processes, streamline our interventions and reduce the costs tremendously with the volumes of projects we manage each year.

In 2020, we finalised a project our team of engineers had been working on called the Wagner Project.
The Wagener Project allows for the automation of our delivery chain using AI and machine learning, ultimately saving us considerable time for our deployment and operations teams. This tool will allow us to accelerate the integration of new manufacturers into our operational chain, and thus respond quickly and at scale to any customers needing the use of specific equipment within our supply chain.

Our CTO, David Berkowicz, explains that:

“We are not simple re-sellers and installers of computer equipment. The added value lies in our know-how, our organisational structure and in the software layer that we have built and improved in 19 years of hard work ”

The Wagner Project also directly benefits our customers, as the functionality of our Wifirst Center has also been extended. The Wifirst Center is our cloud- based extranet, enabling customers to monitor their network devices and raise support tickets, amongst a variety of other tasks. For example, customers can monitor the network in real time, manage access codes for residents and their guests, manage and track all documentation and events recorded, receive dynamic mapping with full floor plans showing where the location of each network is in case of a failure, document usage statistics to generate data, get instant automated technical support and, lastly, manage the administration of IoT throughout the property.

Integrating those two tools coupled with some AI functionalities will be of a great help for any coliving/ coworking operator or asset manager. Imagine being able to administer your own network for a specific event by creating your own setup from your private dashboard. No need for you to think about the long awaited and stressful call with your operator; you’re now in charge with our customer friendly interface to manage your network as you please.

Time saving, flexibility and efficiency are keys in today’s world. This is why we think about our customers and their staff (and residents), making their day-to-day job easier and more efficient.

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OPTIMISATION OF DEPLOYMENT AND MAINTENANCE COSTS

This model also has its financial advantages. With nearly 200,000 operating WiFi points, Wifirst is a leading European operator of managed WiFi, meaning customers can benefit directly from our supplier volume pricing discounts of terminals. Our customers can also benefit from a more sustainable network: with an average 8 year lifespan, our infrastructure benefits from constant innovations brought forward by the software overlays over time.

You might still wonder, what is Wifirst’s added value? It is our streamlined network infrastructure that allows us to stand out. This infrastructure allows Wifirst solutions to be capable, in a single deployment, of addressing both business needs and issues related to the customer’s journey.

Yoann Spadavecchia, IT Director of Club Med, explains this added value:

“Our need was clear: to benefit from a solid infrastructure capable of absorbing the needs of our clients and our teams. As a true partner, Wifirst accompanies us throughout the project. ”

WiFi is also at the heart of device interconnectivity. In our Ascott and Accor portfolios, for example, telephones, payment terminals, printers and tablets are now connected, making it possible to systematise the complete diagnosis of a room. This simplifies the check-in/check-out process of guests, but also accelerates the cleaning of the room by sending a message to the cleaning staff without having to go back to reception. Beyond the work tools of the brand’s employees, the entire customer journey is done using WiFi: from reservation via an online booking app to check out (i.e. making appointments, taking orders and even chatting with the receptionist, etc.)

Digital signage also connects throughout the network, either wired or wireless, increasing your brand visibility, allowing you to push several messages all at once and having your staff working on more important things throughout the day. With our PBSA clients, their residents can log in to virtual classes, while also maintaining social connections. For this to flow without hassle, a state-of-the-art network infrastructure is needed, adapted to the bandwidth and user density of that residence. Pascal Pedoux, President of Nexity Studéa, elaborates:

“We are aware that an excellent quality of internet network is essential for our residents to be able to continue their lessons, but also to maintain life together, thanks to social ties with their loved ones and to those inside the residence.“

Vincent Guilbeau, Director of Wifirst Operations, also highlights:

“Equipping a coliving residence with WiFi requires real expertise. Equipping a coworking space does as well. Each of these establishments require very robust internet access because they will be put to the test. In short, coliving residences must equip themselves with state-of-the-art network infrastructures to offer quality service.”

Wifirst thus provides a response to the challenges of digital transformation for real estate companies: we provide a solution that covers all of our client’s technology and staffing needs, whilst also assuming full responsibility for connectivity, thus allowing our customers to focus on delivering their core business services and offers.