WiFi has evolved from a “nice-to-have” to a critical investment for businesses of all kinds. Businesses that offer WiFi access to visitors are seeing higher sales and customer satisfaction, while WiFi at the business drives employee productivity and collaboration.

Productivity and Collaboration. Employees rely on WiFi more than ever to perform their jobs and stay productive. WiFi is depended upon in meetings to send emails, link to content online or from a company server, or follow along with someone else’s WebEx presentation. WiFi also encourages face-to-face collaboration as team members know they can gather anywhere and work in real-time rather than stay chained to individual desks. As employees increasingly work from their smartphones and tablets, WiFi is also key to keeping them productive wherever they are – from conference rooms to offices to the cafeteria. And since they access corporate email and other sensitive business documents, the WiFi must be secure.

Guest Access. Guest access is likewise a necessary service for visitors and customers. Business partners or vendors need it for on-site meetings or project work, particularly if cellular connections within a corporate office are poor. For an example, an engineer visiting an architectural firm won’t have to hunt for a wired connection or depend on spotty cellular wireless connection to remotely access design schematics on his or her firm’s corporate server. Businesses additionally can set up a separate guest WiFi network for visiting business partners and customers. This is possible thanks to WiFi access points offering multiple Service Set Identifier (SSID) technology which can create two or more WiFi channels. A business can now set up a secure, corporate WiFi network and a separate, open-access guest WiFi network. This avoids the need to reveal the network password to outsiders.

WiFi is key to business success and should be considered an essential part of any business communications package, offering flexible, dependable connectivity for employees, guests and customers alike. And WiFi has come a long way. In early 2014, the WiFi Alliance released Hotspot 2.0, a new WiFi standard that not only offers secure login but also encrypts the data stream flowing between the user and the network. Hotspot 2.0-certified devices are now hitting the market and are expected to reach wide adoption in the coming years.