Connectivity on the golf course? Fore for Wi-Fi!

According to V3 the PGA European Tour has confirmed plans to roll out high performance WiFi to all participating golf courses.  With the PGA tour visiting 52 countries and with many offering unreliable 3 or 4G networks, it was vital the PGA used wireless technology to allow for live streaming and a consistent network. 

At APC, we deploy networks across the globe from golf estates in South Africa to oil rigs in the middle of the Black Sea. In the UK, we've supplied temporary connectivity to construction sites including the Shard and connected multiple car dealerships across the country.

For most of our clients, speed of installation is key. If the client is working on a short term project the installation of a leased line connection can take several months, for APC’s wireless networks, we take the time frame down to days.

We live in information overload. Gone are the days of turning up at a tournament purely to watch the game? Now, we want to watch the game and re-stream the bits we missed while we went to get a drink. We want to upload our photos instantly whilst connecting to the local Wi-Fi and we don’t want to have to pay for the privilege.

Customers demand connectivity be that at the local store, coffee house, hotel or gig venue. The phase free Wi-Fi used to be a selling point, now, it’s expected. With celebrities taking to social networks to launch albums, show their latest photos and update their fans on their whereabouts, it’s expected that they Tweet a picture of them about to go down to the golf course or at the latest hot spot.

Installing a Wi-Fi network also allows the promoter extra revenue opening up the network to advertisers and companies within the local area. Need a hotel nearby? Here’s one with a discounted rate for those attending the golf. Something to eat, here’s the pre golf menu.  Gone are the days where we meander down the road in the hope to find a pub on the way, now we connect and find the nearest pub, download the offer voucher and book a table all from our phone or tablet, and then we tweet or Facebook to say we’re going there and how it was.

So can your business, event, golf course or coffee shop survive without Wi-Fi? Sure, but with it, it will succeed.

Are you part of the Wi-Fi workforce

For many freelancers or those owning their own consultancy or small business, utilising a coffee shops free Wi-Fi is far cheaper than renting an office space. And why not? If you work independently or with others but again, they work at their own premises or home, why do you need an office with expensive utility bills when you can camp out at the local coffee house and use the Wi-Fi for free and let’s face it, the coffee is better too!

For the larger chains like Starbucks and Costa, Wi-Fi is free and for most cases, unlimited, leaving the Wi-Fi workforce free to make camp for a few hours to deliver their latest project. Simply grab your coffee, find your table, open the laptop and deliver the clients proposal in the comfort of the air con and endless pastries and refills.

But, where does this leave the smaller independent coffee houses which are often more limited on space. They already need to foot the bill for the free Wi-Fi access but can also lose out on custom if all the tables are filled with the Wi-Fi workforce. Non Wi-Fi users can also feel uncomfortable coming in to sit and enjoy a coffee which their neighbours tap tap tap away on their keyboards.

But what’s the answer? Many coffee shops in San Francisco are now limiting their free Wi-Fi access to a few hours a day or only making it available through a different passcode each day which is only available if you make a purchase. Therefore ensuring that customers wishing to use the Wi-Fi can, but not to the disadvantage of other customers. Others are keeping some of their tables laptop or tablet free zones allowing those that want to grab a quick lunch more chance of getting a table.

There is also a Wi-Fi etiquette, the ratio to which you purchase coffee or snacks to the time you spend at the establishment. For many, this varies on the coffee shop. If it’s a larger branded establishment then the ratio is less compared to a smaller independent which needs and values its customer.

Some coffee houses have even become Wi-Fi free zones ensuring that customers can reside in a technology free area with nothing more than the grind of the coffee beans or background music to break their conscious. Which for some, is appealing, but those which are meeting in the middle, accommodating both the Wi-Fi users and those that just want their cup of coffee or lunch are really on to the winning combination. One coffee house owner even saw a jump in profits between 15-20% purely by ensuring they accommodated both types of consumers.

So, consider your solution carefully. Monitor its use. Recognise your cliental and ensure your product offering is as enticing as your Wi-Fi strength.

Essex Countywide Business Awards - David Bell is the Judges Chair

As Group Sales Director, David Bell, was about to board a plane to visit the US office, Ann Quinn, from the Essex Business Awards, rung to invite David to be the 2013 Countywide Business Awards Chair of Judges. Having won Business Man of the Year at the 2011 Mid Essex Awards, David knew this opportunity was too good to miss. Allowing David the chance to review all the entries and work with the business awards team to help agree the finalists for each category, David would be an instrumental part of the judging process.

David and his fellow judges reviewed this year’s record number of entries selecting the shortlist for each category. It is then down to the judge of each category to choose the final winner.

The awards evening will be hosted by Ann Quinn and David Bell who will lead the evening and assist in presenting the awards. David will also deliver an inspirational speech at the event.

David and APC’s relationship with Essex Business Awards started when it entered and won Business Man of the Year in the 2011 Mid Essex Awards. In the same year, APC’s Technical Director Chris Lynch, was shortlisted for Business Man of the Year at the Colchester awards.  APC then went on to receive further awards success in 2012 when it was shortlisted for Business Man and Growing Business of the Year at the Colchester awards, its Technical Project Manager Lee Collis, Won Employee of the Year at the East of England Business Champions Awards and it was head sponsor of the Countywide Business Awards. APC also sponsored Business Woman of the Year at the Mid Essex Awards which saw David deliver a speech and present the award.

So are awards important to local businesses? Of course. The networking opportunities alone offer companies that may even operate within the same town the chance to meet and secure future relationships. With email, social media and video hangouts taking over the way we network and communicate, there is still no substitute for meeting someone face to face. Yes, a recommendation on a website can give you an idea of the work the company has conducted, but meeting the MD, hearing from them on a first hand basis, and meeting the people they employee will instantly give you an impression of the company.

Sponsoring awards also gives you a valuable platform to talk to a captive and relevant audience about your business. Choosing a category, you are passionate about, or which relates to your business is fundamental in achieving awards success. This will single handily allow you instant access to your peers, you can learn from their entries, their achievements and their business structure and in turn, depart your own advice from your business experiences.

David being chosen as Chair of the Judges is a huge honour for APC Solutions. Allowing David to be involved from the start, meeting and working with all of the individual category judges has given him valuable insight into Essex businesses. Working with estate agents, HR consultants and fellow MD’s, David has been given the opportunity to review all the individual entrants.

2013 has seen a record number of award entries across all categories. The strength, diversity and entrepreneurship across the county is outstanding. Essex is THE hub for business and APC is very proud to be part of it. 

Cambium Networks wins award

APC Solutions first formed its relationship with Cambium Networks, which was previously known as Motorola and prior to this Orthogon Systems in 2002. APC is now a Platinum partner in the UK carrying Cambium’s entire point to point and point to multi point wireless range.

Cambium Networks has just been named the 2012 Manufacturer of the Year by the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association. This prestigious accolade is awarded for product innovation and outstanding contributions to WISPA and the fixed wireless broadband industry.

Cambium was awarded its award at the annual WISPAPALOOZA conference at the South Point Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas.

APC Solutions works closely with Cambium to install wireless networks around the globe. With its satellite offices in South Africa and North America and with further expansion to the Middle East in 2013, APC is ensuring its clients can not only see results in the UK but also, globally.

In the current challenging economic times, investing in your company’s connectivity can seem the last thing on an ever growing to do list. But, with Cambiums technology installed, planned and deployed by APC Solutions, ROI can be achieved in a matter of years compared with an alternative lease line agreement.

Speaking about Cambium’s award, David Bell, APC Solutions Group Sales Director comments: “Having worked with Cambium, previously known as Motorola, for many years we have seen firsthand how the company has grown and expanded across the wireless market. Its products offer the best connectivity and reliability allowing APC to install networks even in the most challenging of circumstances. Where other products can fall short, we can always rely on Cambium products to complete the job. The award is greatly deserved and we look forward to continuing our relationship with the company as we further expand ours.”

Leased Line Replacement

With the current economic climate, investing in your infrastructure and data network maybe the last thing on your mind? But, with on-going maintenance support and expensive subscription costs for your existing IT network often in excess of £10K a year per circuit, how much difference would a saving of over 25% per annum make to your bottom line?

Installing a wireless network doesn't mean a considerable investment, the ROI can be returned in a matter of years leaving you with ownership of your network and a simple to manage service level agreement in place. 

There is also the small matter of bandwidth. With technology constantly evolving, applications like live streaming, video conferencing and Cloud based applications are all becoming commonplace in today’s work place, traditional technologies simply can’t deliver the required speeds, and the battle for fast, reliable and flexible internet connectivity has begun.   

These fixed line cable alternatives also often come with data limits, extensive fees, and additional costs for larger bandwidth speeds, many are locked and limited for certain applications only, the user has limited access and control to their own systems.   As a result, many businesses are finding their forecasted costs can double, come the end of the financial year, purely to accommodate for changes or alterations to their network.   

And what happens when there’s a problem? The circuit goes down, the company halts and has to wait for an outside party to diagnose and fix the problem, costing both valuable time and money. There is also the worry of fixed lines being cut during construction projects or road works, lines not working at critical times and extreme weather damaging reliability.

Finally, there is the wait time for a circuit to be installed and activated. Often a connection can be required within the same week, but with fixed lines having to be installed and connected and there not always being an existing circuit in place to the building, a week turnaround is nigh on impossible. Most fixed lines providers give a 60day “go live” date from the initial enquiry, in this time they will conduct their survey, and in many cases advise customers of extensive extra construction costs.  We have seen these costs spiral to in excess of £100k for one single circuit from some providers.

However, this is not so with wireless. A connection can be requested, planned, implemented and installed in under a week, and in some cases in less than 24hrs for disaster recovery projects.  Wireless can also be installed as a short term fix, no need to sign lengthy contracts for 12, 24, 36 months terms, we can supply a solution for as little as 24hrs, providing complete flexibility.

Cambium Point-to-Point (PTP) and Point-to-Multipoint (PMP) Wireless Broadband solutions, installed by APC Solutions, advantages can be substantial. First, you can eliminate or significantly reduce monthly lease fees. Overall network performance can be upgraded, which is especially important to support today’s in-demand, real-time applications such as Voice-over-IP, video surveillance, and video conferencing.

In many networks, local access is the most problematic point of network congestion. Wireless broadband can provide a stable, high-performance platform to ease local-access bottlenecks. Wireless also enables agile and flexible bandwidth provisioning that can be easily and quickly scaled up or down to match dynamic traffic patterns. Its unique, problem-solving technology is also able to increase reliability and connect remote, hard-to-reach locations while offering exceptional quality of service. Plus, its non-line-of-sight (NLOS) systems communicate steadfastly in some of the most challenging environments on earth.

VERSATILITY

APC Solutions Cambium Networks PTP and PMP wireless solutions can support a wide range of network applications, including:

• Replacing leased-line service with wireless broadband

• Extending fiber networks with wireless

• Deploying a wireless backup network to ensure business continuity

• Furthering network migration by integrating wireless into hybrid networks

Optimising network performance and extending network services to additional users while containing costs is an ongoing process. With systems that deliver up to 700 Mbps aggregate throughput, APC solutions can transmit high-definition video very efficiently. High quality-of-service and low latency – as low as 1.7 milliseconds – can protect the quality of voice communications.

Fixed wireless networks are significantly more cost-effective and faster-to-deploy solutions. Systems can be planned and deployed in a matter of days or weeks rather than months or years. Equally important, cost of expansion is significantly reduced. Plus our PTP and PMP systems can perform reliably over long distances, in obstructed environments and high interference, as well as severe weather conditions.

BETTER RESULTS WITH LESS COST

There are two major reasons to replace leased-line service with APC Solutions Cambium Wireless Broadband – eliminate or reduce leased-line charges and improve network performance. As requirements for bandwidth continue to increase and budgets continue to shrink, its wireless broadband solutions can offer significant bottom-line benefits.

With more than 3.5 million PMP units and more than 60,000 PTP systems deployed worldwide. APC and Cambium Networks have the experience to help you design a wireless solution that best meets your specific needs. Working with its global network, it has successfully deployed wireless solutions in a wide variety of business and government organisations. APC Solutions has the solutions, partners, and expertise to help realise greater value and performance from your communications networks.

Welcome to the 4G revolution

The 4G revolution is soon to be on its way and APC Solutions thinks about time to. With UK consumers spending over £50 billion on internet shopping in 2010, mobile networks needed to ensure their piece of the pie is safe.

In this time-starved society, the UK consumer demands instantaneous access to everything at the click of a button or swipe of a screen. Need your weekly shop, swipe the screen. Need to order flowers for that forgotten birthday, swipe the screen. Need to transfer money, swipe and it is there. Need to send that report to your boss, update, swipe and send. There are over 12.8 million smartphones in use in the UK and consumers are thirsty for sites that operate without chaining them to a laptop. APC Solutions equips its staff with the latest mobile technology to ensure data and information can be fed back to and responded to far quicker than waiting to log in from the laptop. This in itself plays a vital role in keeping business on track, the ability to do this even faster? Even better.

Gone are the days of waiting an eternity for the standard online version of a page to load, even when you have a 3G signal. Now, there is an app or mobile friendly site for almost everything the consumer needs, often making it a shock to see a non-mobile version of a popular retailer. UK mobile internet sales could double in the next few years. By 2013, mobile internet sales could reach as much as £275m, 4% of online retail spending.*

And not to mention the need to socially interact though our phone. Gone is the time when a simple text will do. Now, it is a constant stream of information fed though social networks. Checking in at each bar you visit on a Friday night to gain your free drink or meet with your friends. Updating your status while watching the Olympics and setting the latest athlete trending. Or even, commenting on that photo of a certain person caught enjoying themselves whilst on vacation. How many of us forgo the morning paper choosing to read the latest news on Twitter as it happens rather than five hours later or even the next day in print. And how many businesses, including APC Solutions use a mobile device to update its customers with the latest news, views and goings on rather than sending out newsletters or hard copy reports when it can do this faster online.

So, just what is 4G and how will it benefit the standard mobile user? Well, it is all about speed. 4G downloads will be up to up to 20x faster than 3G enabling you to download an album in under 1 minute compared to 5 minutes with 3G. Or a film in 10 minutes as opposed to an hour with 3G.

Amazon launched its new 4G Kindle in LA this week, which offers a full year of 4G LTE service for just $50. However, 4G is not yet available in the UK. Everything Everywhere, the amalgamation of T Mobile and Orange is investing £1.5bn to instrument a 4G network in the later part of 2012. 4G is already available across the United States, Canada, Russia, Australia, Brazil and parts of Europe as well as others Including India, Angola and of course Hong Kong.

So why is the UK so slow on the uptake? The role out to 4G has been in the pipeline with Ofcom working towards an auction process due to start in the later part of 2012, early 2013. 4G runs across airwaves and will need to coincide with the traditional 2G and 3G frequencies. There is also the investment and the possibility of the 4G frequency interfering with digital transmissions. This can be easily rectified but of course, demands a body to deal with and educate users to re tune their frequencies.

However, over 82% of people polled by Everything Everywhere believe that 4G is vital for Britain. And, with the UK internet economy valued at over 100bn per year and growing at a steady 10% year on year, who can blame them?

To read more visit the APC Solutions website www.apcsolutionsuk.com or follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/apcsolutionsuk or like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/APCSolutionsUK

*(Verdict & Ovum, 2010)