Boost Sales With Fixed-Mobile Solutions
By helping mobile customers consolidate their wireless service plans, this VAR is projecting a 60% increase in sales this year.
Wireless mobile computing systems integrator Feeney Wireless knows the channel isn’t always a safe place to be. As a systems integrator, developing partnerships with wireless carriers and wireless and mobile computing vendors is key to growth. The reality is, however, that carriers and vendors can change their business strategies at any time, which can adversely affect a channel partner’s revenue stream. As a result, Feeney Wireless has learned to diversify its partner portfolio in order to offset any changes to one partner’s commission structure.
One vendor that has remained a true channel partner over the years is Panasonic Computer Solutions. Feeney Wireless has resold Panasonic Toughbooks such as the CF-29 since its inception in 1999 and more recently, has also been selling the Panasonic Arbitrator Digital Camera Recording System. “Years ago, Rance Poehler, the president of Panasonic Computer Solutions, told Panasonic’s channel partners that the company would always sell its mobile computing products exclusively through the channel,” says Robert Ralston, president and CEO of Feeney Wireless. “And, it’s never wavered in its commitment.”
As a result of its vendor’s commitment to the channel, Feeney Wireless works closely with Panasonic to help bring in new business. For example, the systems integrator will team up with Panasonic sales reps and engineers to create proposals, and it even takes its Panasonic reps on sales visits. One other way Panasonic has endeared itself to Feeney Wireless is via its TP3 (Toughbook Premier Partner Program), which enables Panasonic resellers to register opportunities to help eliminate the possibility of competing against other Panasonic resellers that may be engaged in the sales process with the same customer. “Once an opportunity is registered and approved, Panasonic will work with the TP3 VAR to establish pricing and support for the opportunity,” says Ralston. “And, if the opportunity is closed, we receive an e-mail from the regional sales manager letting us know.”
www.toughbook.com
Add VoIP To Your Wireless Offering
Systems integrator Feeney Wireless continuously broadens its wireless solutions offering. Recently, it’s been working to add VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) to the mix. VoIP is a service that works with Feeney Wireless’ wireless bridge and extends the same phone functionality customers enjoy in the office to the field. The way the solution will work is that Feeney Wireless installs a VoIP gateway and wireless modem at the customer’s site and a VoIP appliance on the wireless bridge, which is mounted in the customer’s vehicle. Next, an inexpensive analog or wireless phone is connected to the wireless bridge, giving the customer phone access via a wireless broadband connection. “The time is coming when customers will make calls from their vehicles just as if they were sitting in their offices,” says Robert Ralston, president and CEO of Feeney Wireless. “They will dial a three-digit extension to get ahold of a supervisor, check voice mail, or call another mobile worker.” Feeney will continue to work towards developing VoIP integration into its mobile computing offerings, although they are not currently endorsing or suggesting VoIP as a proven or approved application by any of the wireless carriers. “The carriers know it can be done, but they want to test it on their higher bandwidth towers first,” says Ralston. Feeney Wireless anticipates VoIP will drive sales revenue 15% in 2007.
One of the main tenets of Business Solutions is featuring VARs that do more than just resell equipment or software at a higher price than they buy it from a vendor or distributor. Feeney Wireless is a wireless mobility systems integrator that exemplifies this kind of company. The company has been in business since 1999 and got its start reselling wireless subscription services — first through AT&T and then eventually Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon. Nowadays, the systems integrator provides total wireless mobile computing solutions that include rugged laptops, PDAs, IP (Internet Protocol) video cameras, GPS (global positioning system) devices, and Wi-Fi phones; customized software; installation and integration services; post implementation support; and remote monitoring and managed services.
Becoming a total solutions provider is paying off for Feeney Wireless, which moved into a larger facility a year and a half ago and is already planning another move in the near future to a larger facility. “One of the trends we’ve observed is an increase in the number of mobile devices used by companies in vertical markets such as law enforcement, utilities, fire/EMS [emergency medical services], and state and local government,” says Robert Ralston, president and CEO of Feeney Wireless. “At the same time, many of these organizations have limited IT resources.” Over the past several years, Feeney Wireless has focused its efforts on addressing these issues. This year the company predicts 60% sales revenue growth, and one quarter of its anticipated growth will come through the solution Feeney Wireless is developing to meet its customers’ mobility challenges.
Find/Build The Right Wireless Bridge
Six years ago, wireless carriers wouldn’t have supported Feeney’s wireless solution. But Ralston accurately predicted things would change, and he says that the pattern is the same as cable TV subscriptions. “Cable companies used to charge customers additional subscription fees for each television connected to a cable jack,” he says. “But, over the years they realized that trying to keep up with their customers’ cable connections was a futile effort and started selling one subscription per home.”
Many wireless carriers are starting to loosen up the restrictions on their wireless subscription plans, and systems integrators like Feeney Wireless are capitalizing on this opportunity by using wireless bridges to consolidate multiple mobile devices into a single wireless subscription service. Take a police officer, for instance. An officer may use: a rugged laptop to run license checks, a wireless PDA to write parking tickets, an IP video camera to capture license plates, and a mobile phone to communicate back to base. Many carriers are working with systems integrators like Feeney Wireless to permit one subscription plan that supports multiple wireless devices via a wireless bridge. (Some carriers may apply restrictions on such devices to a metered data plan only and may not allow unlimited data plans for a wireless bridge.) A wireless bridge interfaces with multiple mobile devices via a medium-range wireless connection such as Wi-Fi and uses one or more long-range wireless broadband radios for the backhaul. This process of enabling mobile devices to work on multiple wireless platforms and interface with wired back end networks is called fixed-mobile convergence.
Shortly after it began evaluating wireless bridge products, Feeney Wireless realized that nothing quite fit what its customers needed. Either the products weren’t rugged enough to be able to be installed in a vehicle, or they lacked enough connection ports or power output to cover all of their customers’ devices. The systems integrator decided to build its own device, called CIRA (Cellular Internet Routing Appliance), which includes Wi-Fi connectivity with a broadband cellular (e.g. Sprint EV-DO [evolution data optimized]) backhaul. Unlike the products Feeney Wireless evaluated, the CIRA enables remote monitoring via the WLAN (wireless LAN) or WWAN (wireless WAN), and it features a rugged box that can be mounted in the trunk of a car or behind the seat of a truck.
Show Customers The Value Of An Integrated Mobile Solution
Feeney Wireless adds a number of complementary mobile products to its wireless bridge in order to provide its customers with a total solution. For example, the systems integrator uses NetMotion’s server-based appliance, which enables end users to seamlessly roam between their vehicles and wireless hot spots without having to reauthenticate their devices. Also, Feeney Wireless adds antivirus and antispam appliances from Barracuda to protect its mobile customers’ devices. On average, the systems integrator charges between $5,000 and $6,000 per vehicle to install wireless mobile devices, rugged mounts, a wireless bridge, and all the back end hardware and software necessary to meet its customers’ needs. Most fixed mobile convergence installs such as the police car example cost the customer about $55 per month for a single wireless data subscription fee.
Feeney Wireless helps its customers drive down costs further by adding remote management services to its offering. “The service can be managed by the customer,” says Ralston. “It entails installing a server on the customer’s back end system, which communicates to the customer’s mobile devices. The service enables an IT administrator to remotely troubleshoot a mobile device rather than having to physically handle the device.” The service can be used to uninstall/reinstall software or to make sure the latest software patches are downloaded before permitting access to a network. According to Ralston, the service eliminates about 80% of on-site IT service calls, which is another big savings for its customers.As the wireless carrier services market continues to mature, Feeney Wireless realizes that its wireless bridge product may one day become obsolete, and it will need to find or build another product that meets its customers’ needs. In the meantime, the systems integrator is enjoying double-digit growth and even planning to develop partnerships with other VARs that can resell its wireless product.