Wireless networking vendor Cradlepoint has partnered with Melbourne-headquartered managed services provider Switch on an internet connectivity services offering.
The partnership has seen Switch introduce Cradlepoint's product offering into its overall managed solution for some of its customer base.
“Combining Cradlepoint and NetCloud Manager with our existing products and services enables us to provide top level service and support for our customers," said David Tibben, CTO at Switch.
"Going to site to troubleshoot issues has been minimised substantially, customer outages and internet dropouts are a thing of the past, which has improved our teams’ efficiency and productivity."
Improving connectivity for construction firm
The new offering helped construction company Renascent, a joint Switch and Cradlepoint customer, provide connectivity across its over 30 building sites, which were previously connected via Wi-Fi dongles at each site.
Cradlepoint’s IBR900 Wireless WAN routers provided a reliable and stable internet connection, in even the most remote and environmentally challenging sites, for the wider business network.
“The construction industry is going entirely paperless. However, we are constantly amending and sharing images and large drawings, developing site safety documentation, and having video conferencing calls with clients,” said Andrew Juda, Renascent’s COO.
“We need strong and reliable internet access. Not only does it affect productivity, but it also impacts our professionalism in the industry.”
Centralised device management with Cradlepoint NetCloud Manager allows Switch to streamline software updates for Renascent across all devices and provides better device security.
The ability to push the same Wi-Fi credentials to all devices means staff no longer need to share passwords and instead are immediately connected to the internet when moving between locations.
“Cradlepoint provides a much higher quality Wi-Fi experience, delivering faster connectivity and a stable internet connection, to allow the sites to function more effectively,” said Brett Alexander, systems manager at Renascent.
"Additionally, head office now has oversight of the site connectivity with the help of Switch and NetCloud, simplifying the administrative burden."
"Because the devices can now be tracked, we’re able to get insight into where devices are needed and where they can be removed, depending on the site location and size."
"This has meant that we have been able to at least halve the number of connectivity devices we have."
Enabling reliable connectivity for childcare organisation
Another joint customer is Guardian Childcare and Education, which provides care for more than 10,000 children at over 150 childcare centres across NSW, VIC, ACT, QLD and SA.
The organisation lacked a reliable internet connection across its centres, with many losing internet during national broadband network failures.
This posed the risk of staff being unable to report incidents at centres within a mandated 24-hour timeframe.
Switch deployed Cradlepoint 4G connectivity solutions, managed by Switch via NetCloud Manager for reliable failover.
“Guardian childcare centres rely on internet connectivity for all inbound and outbound communications,” said Keith Hopkins, IT manager at Guardian.
"Mobile phones are prohibited on the floor to ensure children are safeguarded, so we use VoIP telephony across all our centres."
"This meant that if we didn’t have internet connectivity, parents couldn’t call the centres and staff couldn’t call out if they needed to."
“We now have peace of mind knowing we have combined broadband network and Cradlepoint wireless solutions to provide us with always-on, reliable connectivity."
Guardian is in the midst of new centre openings, with all new sites to be equipped with Cradlepoint 4G solutions for failover.
In some cases where broadband connectivity was delayed, Switch was able to provide day-1 primary connectivity on Cradlepoint Wireless WAN solutions.
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