Month: January 2013

Retail revolution Require Reliable Radios

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Retail Revolution BW

 

Transformation to a fully networked retail concept requires a fundamental rethinking of the network needed to support new retail processes and consumer behaviors.

The retail industry is exploring new areas such as the store of the future, how smart shelves can improve the supply chain, and in transforming the buying experience. The main focus so far has been on achieving a tighter integration between mobile payment systems and consumer behaviors but what role will heterogeneous networks play in creating the networked retail experience of the future?

The first wave of networked stores has eliminated checkout cashiers, introduced product specialists in the back, and enabled staff to focus on helping consumers buy the right products. The backroom store of the internet already attracts knowledgeable customers and serves as a warehouse carrying the full product portfolio with all possible configurations and variations. The networks that support this are often based are leased lines to the store and traditional wireless LANs on the premises.

It is easy to pull this off with a couple of network wizards in the back of the store, but this is not always the case. Expansion into a fully networked retail concept requires a fundamental rethinking of the network needed to support this transformation. The network must support busy weekend hours and must work smoothly without support from on-site staff.

Reliability and the zero-support of a networked retail experience are driving the development of heterogeneous networks in shopping malls in a new direction – away from best effort wireless and legacy copper backhaul infrastructure to small, ultra-reliable WiFi/3G/4G cells with fiber backhaul.

This is only just the beginning so my predictions for the future are the following: * There will be a shift in focus, especially for shopping mall developers, from networks that primarily support the buying experience to networks that optimize the selling process as well as the buying experience. * Store owners and mobile network operators will form partnerships in order to realize their networked retail visions. * Mobile offload solutions for in-mall traffic will be replaced by in-store revenue securing mobile network environments for multiple radio technologies. * Paper-based retail tools such as in-store promotions, credit card slip management, etc., will lose traction to large digital promotional screens and more extensive use of tablets, phablets and smartphones by both sellers and buyers.

Smartphones Supporting Sandy Struggles

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Smartphones supporting Sandy strugglers BW

Smartphones and mobile broadband networks can’t protect us against natural disasters – like Hurricane Sandy, which battered the East Coast of the US on Monday night – but it can help prepare us, making citizens as informed as possible before, during and after a crisis situation. Here are a few innovative examples of how these technologies are helping citizens on the East Coast get through one of the worst hurricanes in history.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is among many city, state and national agencies providing continuous advice and alerts to citizens via their Twitter feed (@FEMA). Citizens, who have been asked to save valuable network capacity by limiting mobile voice calls and staying in contact with loved ones through social media and SMS messages, can also use FEMA’s smartphone app, which offers safety tips, emergency meeting location information, and a map with open shelters. The Red Cross has its own Hurricane App, which offers preparedness tips, updates citizens on conditions in their area and allows them to find help.

Other mobile sites are illustrating the simple ways in which mobile technology can help citizens by offering preparatory tips, like ensuring that mobile phones were fully charged before the hurricane hit, and using flashlight apps that would help users affected by power outages. Other sites recommended forwarding landlines to cell phones, downloading weather and news apps ahead of the storm, and backing up vital data in the cloud. All of this advice is valuable but perhaps the biggest benefit provided by these mobile technologies is that we are well prepared and informed before a natural disaster hits. The most dangerous situation is one in which citizens do not heed advice and mandates from government agencies.

In a hurricane as large as Sandy, mobile networks are vulnerable because of their dependence on outdoor antennas and a continuous power supply. Let us hope that the networks will be able to withstand the harsh conditions and continue to provide support to affected citizens.

Cool Communication & Collaboration Change Corporations Completely

Peter Linder2 Comments

cool communication

Large global corporations are using video communication between their main sites on a large scale today to cut back on global travel. Meetings that would have required a four-day between the US and Sweden just five years ago can today by conducted over a two-to-three-hour video conference. So what can we predict about our near future learning from teams that are using video conferencing between “executive phone booths” every day?

Phone conferences still play a vital business role, but the value decreases with the number of participants. A video conference is far superior for connecting two management teams. Both teams stay more alert, and can address a large number of topics in a 60-minute window. Face-to-face meetings previously conducted on a quarterly basis can now be held every month via video conferences, speeding up business progress. Innovations allowing more than two sites to be connected and the ability in multiscreen setups to dedicate one screen to shared material have proven valuable.

As video communication expands from expensive executive video rooms into regular conference rooms, so do the use cases. Use shifts from pure business review meetings to include small and mid-size team collaborations, mirroring the way we meet in real life. The video communication screen is becoming the alternative collaboration board. Seeing all team members’ contributions and sketches as well as seeing each other’s faces are both important to high-quality collaborations. The simultaneous deployment of social media and collaboration tools is pushing us all towards a more collaborative organization.

Just a few years ago we had a vision of taking this video evolution into every room and to every employee’s desk but things might turn out differently. The move towards flexible work environments and mobile devices is likely to turn tablets and phablets into the new personal-video communication/collaboration workhorses.

My predictions for the future of video communication and collaboration:

    ● Big rooms and large-team video communications remain in use for brief business progress meetings.
    ● Small rooms and small-team video collaborations become commonplace for business innovation meetings.
    ● Zero support and high availability are essential factors for expansion beyond one supported room per site. Session initialization needs to be as easy as with phone conference calls.
    ● All whiteboards can and will be replaced by “communication and collaboration boards” in all types of meeting rooms.
    ● “Executive phone booths” for video communication save time and reduce costs. Video collaboration solutions are the primary infrastructure for inter/intra-company, innovative value-creation efforts.