Systems

Securing Wi-Fi 24/7

Nikhil Jain, COO and president, Elitecore Technologies that offers 24online, a billing and bandwidth management solution for the hospitality industry, speaks to Neeti Mehra about the product and the future of this segment.

Nikhil Jain COO and president, Elitecore Technologies

What were your learnings from Wi-Fi solutions the company provided at Vibrant Gujarat?

Gujarat was an excellent learning for us from the subscriber point of view. We observed that the subscriber experience and requirement of internet access in such an event was fantastic. A lot of visitors demanded internet access and were able to continue their regular work without any hindrance and, on the other hand, utilised their time to visit the event as well. It also helped us in branding to provide the solution in such a big event and moreover, it increased our confidence.

What differentiates this solution from its competitors?

The USP of our solution is security. We can track internet usage and can trace the user on the basis of IP address and site visited with the given date and time. Above this, it helps the hotels to generate revenue with better management of bandwidth and guests’ internet usage. Most of the hotels provide free internet access as they feel that they cannot manage the network with lack of technical expertise and also due to less awareness about the billing and management solution.

What is your strategy to tap the Indian hotel industry?

We are planning to tie up with technology partners and create more channel partners who specialise in providing IT consultancy to the hospitality industry. We are also initiating aggressive marketing activities to scale up the level of awareness in the hotel industry.

How cost effective is the solution given that Wi-Fi is being offered by most business hotels free of cost in India these days?

We have different models (25i up to 1500i) to match the size of the hotel and their requirements, the smallest version 25i supports up to 25 concurrent users. The higher version may support up to two thousand concurrent subscribers. It has been observed that most of the 5-star and above properties are charging for internet and not giving it free. The usage report and analysis of internet uses confirms that many hotels are converting from free internet access to the chargeable model.

Secure Wi-Fi is the order of the day. How does this solution ensure this?

The reason for 24online's standing as a leading product in the current competitive market is its secured network setup. The guest/user is free to purchase pre-paid coupons from the counter, or purchase pins online by following the secured payment process. We are integrated with most of the secured payment gateways for ease of guest to purchase the PINs online. Username/passwords are generated based on credit card payment of the user and paying entity can be easily traced from the multiple reports generated in 24online. Thus, 24online ensures that all unauthorised user access and malicious threats to the network are restricted and avoided. Moreover, if the hotel guest wants to purchase the coupons from the counter then one needs to provide his photo identity before purchase of PIN. This photo identity is stored by the hotel/outlet owner and the PIN allotted to the guest is bonded with the identity number. Again the user can be traced on the basis of PIN allotted to the guest.

What are the challenges in operating in the Indian hospitality environment?

The major challenge is the lack of technical knowledge. Most hotels claim that it is not their business to provide internet service and they neither have the expertise nor the manpower to support the services. They run on revenue sharing model with any managed service provider on long terms contracts. Hence, to convert them from revenue sharing to purchase and run an independent network is a major challenge.

How can hotels enhance their operations through this system?

Guest satisfaction is the main motto of a hotel. Every guest expects world class facilities and infrastructure before check-in. Internet is a major need of the current generation to stay connected with the world around them. But, it is offering sluggish bandwidth that irritates the guest more than refusing the service. Thus, our solution offers immediate relief to such problem by offering fair distribution of bandwidth to the hotel guests even if the number of connections is increasing. Moreover, it not only helps in offering a qualitative internet facility but it also increases brand credibility in the market as well as helps in generating additional revenue for the service. It is a completely GUI based user friendly system. It can also be integrated with hotel PMS by which detailed billing of all the service used by the guest is generated in a single invoice.

What investment is required for the base solution?

Our basic model is 25i which supports 25 concurrent users, which costs around Rs 75000, with module for PIN/ password generation.