What a great week it’s been off the back of the IP Expo at Earls Court last week. Our office has been doing live demos to customers & resellers all over the world!
If you saw the press release you’ll have seen that we announced our partnership with Ingram Micro at Cisco’s London Partner Forum on 16th October. This meant we were inundated with enquiries from resellers and distributors as far away as South Africa. Coupled with the announcement of our relationship with AirTight, last week was the busiest our office has ever been.
Our Head of Marketing, Kerry Wright, presented to delegates at the IP Expo in the Wireless and Mobile Theatre. The ‘Future of Public WiFi’ presentation showcased how Purple WiFi’s unique guest WiFi software is now able to bridge the gap between Google Analytics & the real world – giving real-time presence analytics & reporting using WiFi technology. Our native integration with the Cisco MSE allows us to heatmap & show dwell time in the real world, similar to how cookies track a users’ browsing.
When Google first launched Analytics, people were concerned about their browsing being tracked and how this data would be used. Over time & with the right policies in place it’s been embraced and most people don’t give it a second thought. Google Analytics has undoubtedly resulted in better browsing experiences, optimised websites and targeted content.
Some have a similar concerns about the tracking of consumer movement in stores and how this information is used, something that came up in the Q&A after Kerry’s presentation.
Having started the digital side of her career working on the online voting platforms for Big Brother, the reality TV show owned by Endemol, Kerry is all too familiar with people’s thoughts on the ‘Big Brother’ society we live in. She has already started to explore a ‘code of conduct’ for the tracking of consumer movement in stores, as she believes this will play a big part of Purple WiFi’s future. Having read a recent article released by Sen. Chuck Schumer about the same topic in the US, Kerry says “Purple WiFi fully support the progress that the US Senator and the Future of Privacy Forum have made on this subject in the states. We plan to pave the way for a similar code of conduct for in store analytics in the UK, so that consumers can feel fully in control. However, I believe that once customers see the benefits of using Purple WiFi technology while they are in store, they won’t be opting out.”