After more than a year of remote work, virtual education, and endless streaming during quarantine periods, customers are leaning on their WiFi services more than ever. But the weird year that 2020 was, 2021 is seeing a new set of challenges. Chip shortages and semiconductor shortages are creating disruptions in the supply chain. As a result, service providers are seeing a shortage in customer premises equipment (CPE). With the ongoing supply chain interruptions, there is a strong possibility of challenges with CPE supply. In light of this, service providers can use this as an opportunity to implement alternate WiFi solutions such as MoCA Adapters and intelligent diagnostic solutions that reduce the number of unnecessary hardware replacements that occur during technical support calls.
The CPE Opportunity
As service providers are encountering massive delays in hardware orders, existing CPE offer an opportunity to ease the current hardware shortfall. When a customer experiences WiFi performance issues and calls for technical support, the solution is often to dispatch a truck and have a technician replace the legacy hardware for new hardware. This quick fix temporarily resolves network performance issues, but the very same thing is likely to happen again, resulting in another CPE replacement and more costs for the service provider. Service providers can stop this cycle by maximizing their investment on existing CPE with intelligent managed WiFi solutions.
A subscriber’s home network contains a fountain of data, produced by CPE and the devices connected to the network. Managed WiFi tools offer unparalleled visibility into the subscriber’s home network, tapping into the WiFi network’s data for valuable network insights. With this data, service technicians have remote access to the subscriber’s home network and the CPE on the network. When service disruptions occur, a Customer Care technician can remotely diagnose and resolve the issue, resulting in fewer truck rolls and reducing the number of unnecessary CPE replacements, saving Operational costs. In addition, service providers can leverage managed WiFi to seamlessly deploy value added services, firmware updates, and other subscriber facing features without having to physically update the hardware in subscribers’ homes. This faster-to-market approach not only improves the subscriber’s experience, but also creates a distinct competitive advantage.
The Long-term Advantage
There are many managed WiFi solutions on the market. Hitron’s suite of intelligent home networking solutions streamlines the entire WiFi home network ecosystem. With Hitron gateways and MoCA network adapters deployed into subscriber homes, service providers can easily deploy Hitron’s suite of managed WiFi solutions. OptiMy and MyHitron empower subscribers to control their home network and personalize it to meet their needs. With OptiMy and MyHitron, subscribers can enjoy intuitive self-service tools along with intelligent self-healing solutions that address common technical issues. HitronCloud is designed for service providers, extending the visibility into subscriber networks to efficiently diagnose issues remotely for fewer truck rolls and CPE replacements.
- Self-service/Self-Healing tools – OptiMy and MyHitron feature an intuitive self-serve dashboard that is accessible from a smart phone or computer, housing tools to help subscribers manage their home network by themselves. This includes network health tools that monitor historical and current network performance and troubleshooting tools that allow subscribers to fix basic Wi-Fi issues easily and efficiently. In addition, subscribers can manage the devices connected to their network and enable advanced security tools to keep their network and devices secure.
- Advanced Analytics – HitronCloud leverages big data, AI, and machine learning to enable smarter WiFi. The data produced by the home network helps service providers understand service quality, visualize trends, and proactively identify network issues before they impact the subscriber. With contextual data, service providers can personalize the subscriber experience, building out profiles for devices and remotely troubleshoot with subscribers, eliminating the need for costly truck rolls and unnecessary CPE replacements.
Managed WiFi solutions are becoming a popular and sought-after feature for both subscribers and service providers. In the past, subscriber hardware created limitations in how efficiently service providers could deliver service improvements like managed WiFi solutions. As WiFi becomes more intelligent, service providers are expected to deliver advanced solutions to simplify the home network without compromising speed, security, or performance. With the Hitron suite of solutions, service providers are equipped with the tools necessary to deliver a superior WiFi experience.
Hitron helps Service Providers to capture new opportunities to outperform competitors and to be faster-to-market. Hitron’s products create the adaptable and flexible foundation that Service Providers need to deliver strategic products and services to customers well into the future. With our platform and mobile app products, Service Providers gain significant advantages from their competitors while easily delivering the products and services of the future, regardless of what is happening around them. Contact our friendly team to find out more.