The inclusion of Bluetooth to provide sub-three-metre accuracy and heightened functionality for users is one of the ways to change existing wireless networks into engagement networks.

An engagement network differs from common wireless networks in that it enables the network and its clients to engage with users and provide them with relevant information based on their security clearance, their activity and location, as well as enabling users to interact with the network and its clients, says wireless network major Aruba Networks regional manager Matt Barker.

“This type of engagement network enables the organisation to monetise its network. For example, a mall owner can use this network to provide client shops with information on how shoppers move through the mall, where they linger and what parts of the mall see fewer visitors. Retailers can then use this service to send advertisements directly to shoppers walking past their doors.

“For retailers, merely providing connectivity, such as the common free WiFi services, to customers is a poor way of engaging users. Pertinent information, based on the location and activity of the user, is much more effective to provide useful information and good user experience, as well as boost sales,” says Barker.

“Most mobile applications (apps) are static and do not engage users effectively, often acting as a one-way marketing channel.”

User engagement, however, is a two-way function and this is increasingly recognised as best practice management of wireless networks. The functionality that a network provides to clients of the network should be proportional to the functionality such a network can provide users with.

“This is the type of engagement network Aruba creates, which enables network operators to provide much more detailed services to the net- work clients, while the users on the network derive much more detailed information, location-based services and the ability to interact directly with specific clients on the network

“The opt-in requirement of the engagement app means that customers can determine how much or how little information they want to receive.”

Bluetooth connectivity is used to determine devices’ locations, enabling location-based services and tracking of the devices, as well as to send information to the devices.

“I can guide a shopper directly to the relevant aisle or display, if he or she tells me what he or she is interested in.”

Aruba’s converged networks use role-based rule sets to ensure that administration is simple, effective and controlled. This also means that the experience of a user using a registered device would be different to the experience of using a personal device.

The app guides a user through the induction process, which registers the device and the user. This means that the network operator can see exactly which devices and operating systems are connected to the network, as well as their location on the network.