How will Wi-Fi impact businesses?
Going wireless is one of the hottest trends in business, and Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) offers some of the greatest opportunities. Hospitals, hotels, manufacturers – even hamburger joints – are turning to Wi-Fi to increase revenue, productivity and capacity:
- Boeing in its airplanes
- UPS in 1,700 facilities worldwide
- AT&T, IBM and Intel in 20,000 locations
- McDonalds, Starbucks and Borders
- New York City in its school system
- Cities across the U.S. to entice the technology savvy
Touted as one of the fastest-growing technologies in history, Wi-Fi links people on the go to the Internet, networks and data. Laptop users can stay connected whether they’re working in a conference room, boardroom or even the cafeteria.
Wi-Fi is 50 to 200 times faster than dial-up connections. Wi-Fi cards run as low as $50 and access points that provide the connection between the wireless network and Internet are as inexpensive as $100. Of course, implementing wireless across an organization is a bit pricier.
The result: improvements in productivity, decision-making, employee and customer satisfaction, and overall margin. Wi-Fi easily accomodates frequent employee changes, office or entire business relocations, and rapid growth.
- John Campanola
Campanola Consulting
Tampa
www.campanolaconsulting.com
This article originally appeared in Maddux Business Report March 2004.