HOTSPOT SUITE OVERVIEW

EngageIP enables automated, secure and metered Hotspot service delivery and billing in public and private multi-location Hotspot deployments.

EngageIP Hotspot Billing Suite deployments timelines are based on the project complexity. Single site Hotspot deployments take less time than multi location deployments. In a multi-location Hotspot deployment the first few locations will crystallize the subscriber gateway deployment requirements. At that point each additional subscriber gateway can be pre configured before being sent into the field.

LogiSense provides the EngageIP Hotspot Billing Suite, the most comprehensive answer to the challenges facing organizations deploying Wi-Fi services in Hotspots. It is an end-to-end bundled software solution enabling secure authentication, sign-up, metering, billing and services management. Hotspot Service Providers and Enterprise can now automate and control multi-location deployments from a central, administrative console, accelerating profitability or employee productivity.

EngageIP Hotspot Billing Suite has several tools to streamline the addition and management of additional Hotspot locations. For example EngageIP Hotspot Billing Suite allows the EngageIP subscriber gateway to be auto discovered therefore reducing the tedious task of populating the subscriber gateway information.

TYPICAL NETWORK DIAGRAM

IP Billing Software for ISP, ASP, Wireless, Web Host, Enterprise

The Hotspot Suite enables automated, metered services from session capture stage to quality of service provisioning and the granting of Internet access.

All wireless connections established within the control of a Hotspot Suite enabled network are automatically redirected to a walled garden.
From the walled garden the user can choose to sign up for service, log in to an existing account or access a list of sites made available for free. Only options available in the walled garden will be available to the user until they log in.
At log in a predetermined bandwidth QoS will be set for the user based on the service offering purchased by that user.
Collection of time and usage data for each user is also recorded. This offers the Hotspot provider a choice of billing options in pre and post paid methods.
The Hotspot Suite is aware of the status of the connection between the client and the access point and will automatically log the user off if the connection between both is lost, thus reducing support issues related to over billing or identity theft.
Some possible billing scenarios include: by usage, time, a combination of usage and time, base time plus usage premium and bandwidth quality of service.

It is common in non-automated Wi-Fi Hotspots to use MAC address authentication because it is hardware supported. In addition to being insecure (see this whitepaper) MAC address authentication also inhibits the ability to offer a completely automated sign-up process. Deployment of EngageIP Hotspot Suite provides secure authentication and automated sign-up, essential to the establishment of a manageable Hotspot infrastructure.

Wi-Fi in an enterprise requires enhanced security that is available with EngageIP Hotspot. From user authentication to VPNs EngageIP provides enhanced Wi-Fi security beyond the security available on the Wi-Fi hardware alone.

Please contact our team for any added information on the EngageIP Hotspot you may require, or for an assessment of your Wi-Fi Hotspot requirements.

Wi-Fi adoption is increasing rapidly. Wi-Fi equipment is now standard on many mobile computing devices. Use EngageIP Hotspot to provide anywhere, anytime broadband Internet access to in any of the following hotspot friendly environments:

Airports
Hotels
Restaurants
Retail Locations
Education
Corporate Campuses
Condominiums/Apartments
Malls
Commercially leased common areas
Sports Facilities
Truck Stops
Zoos and museums

... other implementations limited only to your imagination

Thursday December 04 2008