With each passing day, mobile communications, and especially Internet connection, are more important. Customers want more and better quality communication and data services. We have very clear and proven examples, such as the right Internet connection service that can lead to more customers and greater loyalty.
The first to offer this type of service to its customers were the hotels, with the free Wifi Internet service. Soon after it was industry, and later other businesses such as restaurants or cafes and eventually entire towns offer this service through local authorities. No doubt, there is a strong trend towards always-on Internet connectivity clearly demanded by everyone.
Much later, this new service was implemented in the world of coaches. And even if in Spain it is still new, the results show a clear tendency for operators to offer Internet on board . Today we can say that the Internet on board coaches and trains is a reality and above all a generality in other countries where passenger connectivity is normal without it being a “luxury”.
The first thought a coach operator may have when deciding whether or not to offer this service is whether they will be able to monetize their investment . In this case, the ideal is to have an innovative and non-traditional idea, because on rare occasions we may charge extra for Wifi on board, so inevitably it will be a free service. So how to monetize the investment? The answer is simple, it is an additional service with high added value that allows the operator to be more competitive in its offer, differentiating itself from competitors who with similar prices DO NOT OFFER this service. more and more requested. The result is that you are much more likely to win the deal and this is where you should see the “monetization” and not the extra income that would pay for Wifi service.
We must take into account several factors or types of transport services that decisively affect the perceived value of passengers:
• As these are moving environments , mobile devices are likely to have poor signal reception so a good Wi-Fi system will improve the connection .
• In the case of foreign passengers , they deactivate the reception of data from their terminal to avoid roaming charges. In this case, the Wifi service takes on even more importance since we offer the possibility to these customers to stay in touch with their e-mails, social networks, etc.
• In the case of routes abroad , the passenger will normally tend to deactivate data reception to avoid roaming charges, as in the previous case. Currently there are multi-country solutions that offer internet to its passengers without roaming charges. In this case, the Wifi service takes on much more importance than any other case because Wifi is an important need.
• Services for congresses, conferences and universities : passengers who are heavy users of the Internet and therefore require Wi-Fi service.
After all that we have commented, what is the Wifi system really ? Basically, it is a router with a mobile data connection, i.e. inside there is a SIM card from any telephone operator with a data contract. But with the same method and dynamics we can take the example of a car, the basic definition will be the chassis with bodywork, and as we all know it is something very broad with important variants.
• What kind of transportation service do we perform? Is it special? Do we cross several countries? Or maybe it is regular transport with subsidized ticket price? Here, there are a number of variants to take into account because they are decisive when proposing one solution or another.
• Do we need Broadband for our type of clientele ? Maybe we should consider installing 4G.
• Should we have control of the Wifi system , that is, to know the degree of use and how it is used? This is important for transport companies where there is a quality department or in other companies without this department but with a corporate culture focused on service quality.
• Will the system be implemented in a large fleet of vehicles? If so , we need a centralized solution to make it easier for us to manage.
As we can observe, it is not easy to choose a Wifi system and we must take into account several aspects to choose the right one and not regret the decision taken in the future. It is common to see how all these aspects are analyzed retrospectively, in many cases where the decision was not the right one, and involves an additional investment to obtain the Wifi solution that corresponds to the characteristics of the transport company.
In the upcoming posts, we are going to learn more about Wifi systems and the detailed aspects to consider when deciding which is the best according to our needs.
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