How to successfully plan your wireless technology installation

Wireless technology plays a huge role in the modern retail store from reliable wireless access for customers shopping in-store and for the use of discounts and promotions.

With over 20 years’ experience in retail supporting some of the biggest brand names with new store openings and wireless installation services we firmly believe that: "the most successful wireless network deployments are planned, surveyed & rolled out, with every customer requiring a bespoke fit"

For a successful wireless deployment, we know that by working a little differently our service is superior as we like to map out our retail customers’ wireless journey with a four-step process guaranteed to deliver the best wireless installation and coverage across your retail store.

When most people think of a wireless installation, they say “is it not simply a case of installing a wireless access point in the middle of a store and everything works”. The answer is no! We work with our customers providing them with a robust wireless deployment journey from understanding their conceptual needs, to surveying locations for suitability, designing their wireless solution, installing and providing on-going technical support therefore after.

The first step is to understand your wireless solution needs. It is vital that we fully understand the services & platforms that are needed from the wireless network that will best provide the service you need for your retail store. Only then would we recommend what hardware would be the most appropriate to implement.

This is often a phase which is overlooked, but we believe it is the most critical. Only once a full wireless survey has been conducted in-store using market leading analyses tools can a network be correctly designed & implemented. It is not just all about coverage, other factors such as saturation rates from surrounding networks, interference, frequency performance and the structural makeup of a building can all play a major role in the success of any wireless deployment. Our detailed surveys address all of these elements, and more. Upon completion we overlay the results to store plans to pinpoint the best locations to ensure full coverage and performance.

Along with the information gathered during the initial requirements phase, we use this with the survey reports to begin mapping out the detail for the network design. From network IDs, to log in requirements, promotional & loyalty elements, bandwidth allowances, timed session limits, through to required connectivity & user management, we start to build the network and understand how it will operate.

We are now ready to deploy your bespoke wireless solution, and our attention now turns to designing a roll-out plan, including any possible structured cabling implementations needed to ensure we can position an access point in just the right place. We understand that a large proportion of the work will need to take place outside of trading hours (unless being deployed in new stores) and can take away the headache of arranging shopping centre security passes, relevant access and delivering all materials to site on a just in time basis.

Now that the network is installed and working perfectly, (we will always ensure this is the case), we can assist with any maintenance & support. From holding spare stock to allow swift replacement of units, to managing the environment for you - we can tailor a support platform to meet with differing requirements.