Best practice

Target groups

Find here a collection of typical use cases

Hotel / Hospitality

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Many of the greatest hotels and holiday resorts out there count on IACBOX. With so many different guests coming and going each day, authentication is a must. But hotels need to keep hands and minds of their staff free for hospitality business, the least thing they need is increased workload for the Internet access every guest expects when arriving to their accommodation.

While its smart bandwidth management comes in handy, IACBOX offers also automated authentication methods via PMS Login. Many different systems are supported, so a hotel or holiday resort can easily and securely take their booked guests online. A popular practice is to associate VLANs to the area where the rooms are located, where the guest can login with their room number and name or other related data. Very often the hotel staff will also need wireless Internet access, either for their POS terminals or their own handheld devices. Seasonal staff can be taken online as Local User by uploading a list, and for house-owned devices, the Auto-Login method is suited best. Just list the devices with their associated user or device names and MAC address in a CSV file and load it up to the IACBOX.

Resorts with public SPA areas receive booked guests as well as day visitors. In these areas, the booked guests should already be registered since their arrival. The day guests may get a WiFi Ticket code at the entrance. So you would combine two login methods Ticket Login and PMS Login on the SPA login page. This can be done in Tabs or Accordion style. The important thing for the day visitor is to recognize what he needs to do to login to the WiFi. The tab should be named in an easily associable way (like “SPA visitor” ) , and maybe add a text so that the day guests know where they find the code (e.g. “WiFi password on your entrance ticket”).

The booked guest may already be online and not see the login page at all, because he has already got his Remember-me token, but ih he comes in with a different phone or after quite a while, he should also find easily how to log in again: the tab would be named “hotel guest” or something of that kind, and the login data the same like in the room.

For other public areas, like the hotel lobby or a public restaurant, Free Login is often used. Maybe in the lobby for just half an hour, while guests wait for check-in, while in the restaurant, the time is unrestricted, but login is only allowed during operating hours. These settings are to find in the Ticket Templates.

All in all, IACBOX is an ideal solution for the hospitality industry, as it offers a sound balance of security, smooth user experience and very nice options to represent a brand and place hotel offers or other marketing instruments.

Recommeded Modules

  • PMS (Property Management Systems) allows controlled but self-managed WiFi access

Schools

Educational facilities use wireless Internet access for students and teachers to access educational platforms, authenticating the different user groups against external databases, login with cloud based professional accounts like Microsoft AD or other. Protocol or DNS based filtering features are valuable and lawful instruments of control.

Recommeded Modules

  • Application Control

Retail business

In shops and malls, IACBOX holds many options in store to welcome walk-in guests, grant loyalty card holders some privilege, place content and ask questions. I-frames, redirects, data collectors are appreciated instruments.

Recommeded Modules

  • Application Control

Health care

Hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities use the WiFi online access to grant communication possibilities and entertainment to patients, visitors and sometimes also staff. Separating the guest WiFi form network areas holding sensitive data is as important as barreer free usability and billing options.

Recommeded Modules

  • HIS (Hospital Information System) allows self-managed WiFi access for patients
  • Application Control: Distinguish user groups (for example: by insurance) to allow access to different platforms like streaming etc.

Ships

Granting wireless online access to passenger on cruise ships or ferry boats, as well as the crew on commercial or industrial vessels, is an important service, but can be tricky or costly depending on the navigated zones. The smart bandwidth management, protocol filtering and volume restricting tools come in handy.

Public areas

Whether on a market square, in the city hall or in public transport – WiFi online access is a service to citizens and can help them accessing important information like timetables, governmental applications and so on. The WiFi4EU programme encourages even smaller entities for this service, using external authentication tools and an easily recognizable login page as a guidance to the users.

Congress and event centres

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This is where IACBOX comes into its own with its different Login Methods:

Using defined templates for Ticket Login and associated VLANs, each with their own login pages or clearly labelled tabs (such as “Exhibitor Login”), VIP visitors, exhibitors and the press, for example, are served at higher speeds. These visitors are authenticated via a connected database or a list uploaded to the IACBOX. For day visitors there is Free Login, also a login page where various information is displayed and, if necessary, an e-mail address or other contact details can be requested, but there is no authentication.

For congress or event visitors who have registered in advance, there is a Password only Login, which means that only a password or PIN is requested on the login page. A ticket template is stored that is valid for the duration of the event. The password itself can be individual or the same for the whole group. For employees, there is the Password Login with user name and password, which is entered on a login page or tab specially designed for the staff.

For house-owned or other registered devices, a list with name and MAC address can be uploaded for Auto-Login in order to be taken online during the connectivity check without displaying a login page. Some permanent tenants have wired access, which can also be handled easily via the IACBOX and is often managed as an Auto-Login too.

During trade shows and other events, they also uses Ticket Printers so that press or premium tickets can be printed out and issued/sold immediately on request at the counter without having to access the IACBOX admin interface.

This optimizes the available bandwidth, makes the user experience uncomplicated and pleasant, and allows the trade fair to generate additional income from VIP tickets.