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03/27/2009
by GENA FRANSECA
As the owner of a restaurant, coffee shop, hotel, or any business where offering Internet access to
your customers is either expected or might offer you a competitive advantage, you have important
decisions to make.
One of the first considerations is whether to charge for Internet access, or make it available for
free. If you opt for a paid service, ensure that you invest in a software package that fully
supports hotspot billing. You need a product which has the capability of accepting credit cards
(and possibly other forms of payment), can redirect users to an access login page, track time and
usage, generate receipts and offer comprehensive reporting capabilities.
There are other factors to consider, regardless of whether your Internet access will be a paid
service or provided at no charge. There’s the issue of bandwidth for one. Most operators of
Internet hotspots quickly discover that users will eat up as much bandwidth as you make available
to them, and this can result in considerable Internet surcharges for your business. A good hotspot
management package will give you control over bandwidth use with options to establish upload or
download limits and even speed of access; not only for all users logging in to your network, but by
individual users if needed. This gives you the option of setting up tiered access, so you could
make limited web surfing free for all customers, but charge a fee for premium access. This class of
management tool also offers you the protection of tracking web sites accessed by customers and
blocking sites you don’t wish them to visit; you may not want your customers to have the ability to
openly browse porn or warez sites, for example. You can even designate certain websites as being
freely accessible for all customers, using these free sites to deliver advertising or
promotions.
The right software makes all the difference in making WiFi access work for your
business.
About the Author:
Gena Franseca is a consultant who has helped a number of independent Bay area coffee shops set up
Internet access, including the purchase and configuration of hotspot software. She has been quoted
recently in San Francisco media in the ongoing discussion over whether free wireless is a viable
offering for cafe customers versus the option of WiFi hotspot billing.
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