Hotspot service

FMC’s new client perk could be the next big trend

By Robert Colman

Late last year, CMA Management first discussed the advent of wireless fidelity — WiFi — as a serious business tool (November 2003). At the time, however, we still weren’t really sure who was using it and for what. The question was really, how much connectivity do we need, and do we want to pay for it while sipping coffee at our local donut shop?

The answer appears to be that, while many of us need connectivity outside of the office, it might be more important when we’re involved in important negotiations — in other words, while closing a deal, rather than choosing between regular and decaf.

In December, Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP, a business law firm with offices across Canada, launched a unique service for clients — a secure wireless network that offers clients with WiFi-enabled laptops complimentary wireless Internet access in all meeting rooms, reception areas and guest offices in the company’s Toronto office. This is one of, if not the earliest application of WiFi as a client service in such an environment and the implementation has been so successful that the firm is now rolling it out to its other five offices across Canada.

The genesis of the FMC hotspot came from members of the firm’s technology department watching the launch of a hotspot at a local coffee shop in July of last year. “That got us thinking about how FMC could take hotspot technology out of the retail setting and apply it in a business environment as a client service,” says Chris Pinnington, FMC’s managing partner in the Toronto office.

The company worked with Spotnik Mobile Inc. and IBM Canada Ltd. to design a system that was both secure and easy to use. Spotnik has established itself as a leader in Canada’s hotspot market while IBM had an existing relationship with FMC managing a variety of its infrastructure issues.

“IBM managed the radio frequency audits for us,” notes Pinnington. “They made sure we had good coverage in the office and that security was at the same level we’ve come to expect from our other services.”

Spotnik provides the service with a flat installation fee and a monthly management fee, which Pinnington notes isn’t particularly expensive, and consistent with FMC’s goal of excellent customer service. “It made the investment worthwhile,” he says.

Pinnington points out that, since the early December implementation, the company has averaged between 5 and 10 users on the hotspot a day. Granted, some of those are internal users, but it’s still an indication that the service is in demand. And the response from customers has been immensely positive.

“The first time I arrived at FMC’s office and saw that they had this, I was amazed,” says Rick Tuttle, president of Business Propulsion Systems Inc., a project management software company. “We use laptops in all of our meetings and executive discussions, and we’re all WiFi equipped. We used their hotspot to access our Web-based sales management tracking system. This was particularly helpful to us in discussions we were having at their offices.”

The network is a relatively simple design. A single wireless network infrastructure is created for both employees and visitors, but each group is given separate virtual networks to access. Special courtesy access cards are given to guests for logging onto the system.

Fraser Milner Casgrain was a beta test for Spotnik in this new business environment but it hasn’t taken the company long to find other interested parties. Several others should be up and running across Canada within the next few months.

“Our goal is to give mobile professionals access to vital information wherever they are — not just en route to their next meeting but also in that next meeting,” says Murray McCaig, co-CEO of Spotnik. “It’s creating a common experience everywhere and one seamless connection throughout. Providing WiFi access to visiting clients should become common practice rather than the exception in the future. It’s hard to be productive when you’re unable to access critical information.”

Spotnik also provides a portal on the FMC site through which guests can look for restaurants, hotels and taxi services — something that isn’t offered through hotspot access points in coffee shops and other locations. An added perk for the busy executive.

As this trend gathers speed it’s worth considering how you not only use WiFi technology but also how your clients use it. 

Robert Colman is editor-in-chief of CMA Management. 

The security challenge

Wireless is a nice idea, but it has to be accompanied by an excellent security infrastructure. In fact, Dave Komaromi, FMC Toronto’s IT manager, suggests that security should come first.

“By the time we were ready to introduce wireless in our office, we had already passed the security hurdles,” he notes. “WiFi security is the hot topic right now, which is why you have to leverage the security technology that you already have on site.”

Komaromi stresses that wireless shouldn’t be placed inside a company’s central corporate network. Companies should always locate the wireless infrastructure outside of that and simply leverage the security technology that secures the central network.

“You have to understand what you’re using the technology for,” he says. “Our target audience is the client, so although members of the firm do use the technology, they are on a different virtual private network (VPN) and the hotspot is outside our corporate firewall. If you run VPNs, it just makes sense to run the hotspot in this way.”

Another security measure Komaromi encourages is the use of access list filters. These filters basically operate as mini firewalls for the hotspot users. Essentially, if you have two clients using WiFi in the office at the same time, they aren’t able to “see” each other on the network. “It makes each client feel like they are the only people using the system,” says Komaromi, and that improves a client’s comfort level with the technology.    

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