Retailers looking for a safe and secure way of offering Wi-Fi to their staff and customers should consider the Check Point 600 modem/router, an easy-to-use device manufactured by the Israel-based, NASDAQ-listed developer of the modern firewall and VPN technology.
The 600 is especially ideal for small business owners, claimed field marketing manager Christopher Rodrigues, because it is easy to set up, install and manage, all through a dedicated web app. For use by staff, employers can choose what sites are blocked (such as adult material, gambling and social media), allowing team-members access to important websites and email, but not to dangerous or timewasting destinations.
Some retailers might blanch at paying for staff to access the internet on their smartphones while at work, and that is a fair concern. It would be naive, however, to think these employees are not using cellular data throughout the working day to stay connected, so by providing a safe and secure internet port that you as the business owner control, you at least have the ability to impose a restriction on what content your staff access through the day. Sure, they can always turn off Wi-Fi to access restricted sites, but people do tend to take free Wi-Fi when they can get it.
For customers, Rodrigues says the 600 is ideal because you can set up a Guest Wi-Fi hotspot, with or without a password, and then time limit it. For example, you can set a 1-hour limit, so customers in store can enjoy the convenience of free Wi-Fi, but not so much that they can abuse it, like when you see student playing on their notebooks outside an Apple store for hours on end.
Convenience is just one part of the 600’s story, Rodrigues claimed, with protection against viruses, spam, dangerous applications and malicious websites another key component of the technology.
“The Check Point 600 provides an easy-to-deploy, all-in-one threat prevention solution to secure small businesses from modern cyber-threats. With the industry highest ranked firewall, next-generation firewall, intrusion prevention system (IPS) and threat prevention security technologies, small businesses can get the same security used by all Fortune 100 companies at SMB prices.”
As more and more connected or Smart Appliances are released by manufacturers, all feeding into an Internet of Things within the home, the ability to demonstrate the full functionality of a product in-store becomes more and more important. Take Samsung’s second generation connected refrigerator, for example, which was unveiled at the 2015 International CES. This model will be rolled out to retail in March 2015 for RRP $3,799 — it’s a premium appliance — and one of its major selling points is the 8-inch touchscreen on the door that allows smartphone and TV mirroring, web browsing and apps. Having a powerful, reliable Wi-Fi solution in-store means customers can be immersed in the technology and truly appreciate the benefit of such a product.
Another example is Sonos (and similar Wi-Fi based audio systems). This technology is simply amazing — Sonos has completely revolutionised how I enjoy music — but it can be very complicated for a lot of people to understand, especially when it attracts such a premium over wireless playback via Bluetooth. For many customers, there is no prima facie difference between the two, but actually show them how easy Sonos is to set up on Wi-Fi network and then how enjoyable the music consumption is, and the sale will almost process itself.
At the moment, the 600 is available through B2B resellers such as Ingram Micro. Rodrigues envisages a time in the future when products as the 600 are sold at high street retailers like JB Hi-Fi. Pricing for the 600 varies depending on how much ongoing support the client wants, but is generally between $400 and $500.
