Are your corporate-approved networks easy to find? Tales of a Traveler
Monday, April 12th, 2010 Basim Jaber, Sr. Sales Engineer
During one of my many trips, I came across a familiar scenario. Familiar, because I’m constantly seeing people in airports and other mobile locations, getting work done with their device of choice. However, I think that IT can forget what it’s like to be a user. When a user opens their laptop, all they can think about is getting to the application – where they are going to get work done.
I’m sitting at Portland, waiting for my flight. I’m on their free Wi-Fi with Open Mobile busily working away. A business traveler sits down a couple of seats away from me and proceeds to scratch his head about why his PC can’t see any Wi-Fi networks. I see him continually click on the Detect Network app. I see him turn the laptop over and look at the bottom and the front edge. Then he pulls out his cell phone and calls his help desk. He tells them what’s going on.
Next thing he does, he looks on the right edge of his PC and flicks a tiny little switch…..the one labeled “Wireless”. Suddenly, his laptop finds an available network connection, he can see “flypdx” and connects. He is now connected after a little frustration and delay.
This reminded me that:
a) Yes, there are still users out there do not know how to enable wireless on their PC…hardware switch or otherwise. Maybe they remember a screen that a friend showed them once. But without help, they are lost.
b) If they can’t figure out how to even find a network, how can IT be sure that they are finding or using the networks that you want them to use?
c) If they could get connected more quickly, they could be at work more quickly; keeping the business moving and letting the Help Desk handle the harder calls.
With Open Mobile, I was able to open my laptop and get connected – with no clicks, the best network is selected and my VPN is started up!
Tags: internet access, mobile workforce, wi-fi access
