In the offices of small and medium-sized businesses, wireless LANs (WLANs) have often been casually deployed. A tech-savvy employee, accustomed to Wi-Fi connectivity at home, might set up an ad hoc WLAN at the office. Or an SMB's IT person might add a single wireless access point to the network, usually in a conference room or near a lobby.
But WLAN adoption among SMBs has come of age. About 50% of SMBs are installing WLANs, according to Ellen Daley, vice president and research director of Forrester Research's Telecom & Networks team. And instead of simply installing a wireless access point here or there, many SMBs are deploying pervasive WLANs, in which wireless coverage is available throughout their offices or, with larger companies, across a campus.
The increased growth of pervasive WLANs is delivering three important benefits to SMBs:
- Improved employee productivity while on the go
- Enhanced collaboration
- More efficient business processes.
Improved Employee Productivity While On the Go
Mobile tools, such as cell phones, PDAs, and laptops, have been available to the workforce for years. Such devices are enabling knowledge workers to be productive when they otherwise couldn't be. But a pervasive, secure WLAN, along with devices such as wireless IP phones, is enabling an even deeper level of connectivity and, as a result, a greater level of productivity.
For example, an SMB knowledge worker may need to get approval from his or her supervisor before taking action on a certain issue. In the past, the worker—by playing ‘phone tag,' leaving voice mails and e-mails—may kill hours, even days, trying to reach a supervisor.
But with a pervasive WLAN, wireless IP phones, unified messaging, and presence applications, the worker can immediately tell if the supervisor is online, regardless of where the worker or the supervisor are in the office at any given moment. The worker can then send an instant message to the supervisor, requesting a quick conference. The result: Decisions can be made much faster, which improves productivity as well as helps SMBs stay competitive and improve customer satisfaction.
Enhanced Collaboration
With a pervasive WLAN, wireless IP phones, and wireless laptops, multiple people working on a long-term project can be easily relocated into neighboring cubicles or offices, a setup that greatly enhances collaboration. Relocating the employees requires little more than having each person pick up his or her wireless IP phone and wireless laptop and moving to a new location. Once the project is complete, the employees can return to their original locations or move to a new space for a new project.
In the past, such moves adds and changes would be complicated and cost-prohibitive, but with a pervasive WLAN and wireless technology, voice and data provisioning costs can be as little as $26 per person per year, according to one Cisco customer.
At Canadian law firm McMillan Binch, LLP, a pervasive WLAN enables the firm to foster a level of collaboration among clients and partners not possible before. "Many clients and business partners come in with their notebooks and they'll want to collaborate with us on a document," says Chris Duncan, IT director. "In the past, we would have to provide them access from one of our computers. This way they're accessing their own system the way they normally would."
More Efficient Business Processes
A pervasive WLAN provides unlimited opportunities to boost efficiencies, which in turn helps SMBs save money, among other benefits.
Consider Bronson Healthcare Group. At this nonprofit healthcare system in Kalamazoo, Michigan, anxious patients were often kept waiting while orderlies and greeters wasted valuable time hunting for misplaced wheelchairs, says Nancy Radcliff, a registered nurse and director of Bronson's customer service.
A pervasive WLAN was deployed along with wireless location tags added to 25 percent of wheelchairs and software designed to track those tags. With the wireless technology, the missing wheelchair problem has disappeared entirely, Radcliff says.
"A quick glance at the screen shows us exactly where the tagged wheelchairs are located on a map," Radcliff adds. While this greatly improves efficiencies, Bronson is also saving about $28,000 monthly based on estimates of wasted employee time and other factors, she adds.
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