What does this mean for Windows 7 users?

Microsoft has stated that running Windows 7 without continued software and security updates will leave users at greater risk for viruses and malware. The reason for this is that when Microsoft send out their monthly updates, security patches are a key part or this. Windows 7 will use much of the same code as Windows 10, however, it won’t be updated and potential weaknesses will no longer be addresses anymore. With the number of current users still standing in hundreds of millions, hackers are likely to use potential weaknesses to target computers still running Windows 7.

What should I do?

Microsoft have stated that the best thing to do if you are still operating a Windows 7 system is to buy a new device that is running Windows 10. Whilst it is possible to download Windows 10 on a computer that was previously running Windows 7, Microsoft have advised that this is not recommended. This is because an old system running Windows 7 may have difficulties in running a modern system in Windows 10. Techradar, for example, recommends that to effectively run Windows 10 you need at least a 2GHz dual-core processor, 4GB of RAM (8GB ideally) and a 160GB hard drive. If your computer is not up to these standards, then it might be time to speak to Curve IT Managed IT Services for some recommendations on treating yourself to a new device.

If, however, your computer does fit those requirements there are some benefits to upgrading your old system. It is the easiest solution for a start, and you are able to keep your documents in one place. You will have to buy a Windows 10 license, however, and these can be expensive to purchase, which is worth keeping in mind, especially for businesses with a large number of devices and users.

What if I don’t do anything?

Initially, Windows 7 will still run as normal. It just won’t be getting the patches each month. You can keep your computer ‘patched’ manually. This reduces the risk to some degree but devices utilising a Windows 7 system are still more vulnerable than their Windows 10 counterparts. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said that it would ‘urge those using the software after the deadline to replace unsupported devices as soon as possible, to move sensitive data to a supported device and not to use them for tasks like accessing bank and other sensitive accounts’.

How Curve can help?

The Managed IT Services team at Curve has already helped a range of businesses move to Windows 10. As well as ensuring your organisation is running an up-to-date, supported operating system, making a move to Windows 10 can also help your company deploy applications and infrastructures that will help support flexible and collaborative working practices. This includes moving to cloud based software, such as the latest version of Microsoft 365, and making use of collaboration tools such as Microsoft teams.

Contact Curve to talk about how our Managed IT Services team can help your business upgrade

The post Curve IT Managed IT Services: Why it’s time your organisation moved on from Windows 7 appeared first on Curve IT.

Wagner’s relaunch follows the appointment of a new not-for-profit management company K P Spaces who aim to position the building as a key focal point for Brighton’s business and creative sectors. The venue was first built in the 1970s and is owned by the adjacent St Paul’s church on West Street.

Curve IT’s network now mean that superfast connectivity is implemented across the venue. This will benefit businesses using the space as well as visitors and the general public, with the connection now being more than suitable to support mobile and WiFi card payments, streaming and hotspot needs.

For Wagner’s new management team, the need for seamless connectivity was of the utmost importance. Penny Parker, Venue Manager at KPS Spaces said: “We knew that in order to make Wagner Hall an attractive and integral venue for Brighton, a strong venue wifi and internet connection was needed. We looked at regular commercial broadband offerings, but were troubled at the thought of us having connectivity issues, and it taking several days to fix, as that could affect business massively.”

“For us, Curve IT was the natural choice, they’re a locally based business, and we know that if we have any issues they’ll be sorted on the same day! We’re really looking forward to growing Wagner Hall into a core event space for Brighton, and Curve IT are just the right networking partners to help with that!”

Curve IT have connected Wagner Hall by establishing a converged network from a wireless link on the roof of Brighton Centre (another Curve IT network). This method means that Curve IT own the network and are not reliant on third parties for support and fixes. Curve IT have provided networking and connectivity solutions for a wide variety of structures in Brighton, London and across the UK. Including the British Airways i360 Observation Tower and a series of Essential Living’s new build apartment buildings across Greater London.

Simon O’Hare, Managing Director of Curve IT added: “It’s great to see somewhere like Wagner Hall be given a new lease of life as a multi-purpose venue for Brighton. We are pleased that the team there acknowledge the importance of strong connectivity, and we look forward to working with them closely in the future, which I’m sure will be bright for Wagner.”

The post Wagner Hall revolutionised with a venue wifi networking upgrade from Curve IT appeared first on Curve IT.

Whether it’s overloaded by the crowds, unable to reach into every area of the premises, or simply doesn’t offer high enough bandwidth to cope with the data-rich applications which are critical to business today, it’s simply not good enough.

Which is why we welcome the news that the UK government has pledged £250k to tackle the problem. Somewhat unusually, it has been offered in the form of a competition. Conference centres and other venues with the facilities to host conferences will compete to apply for funding to improve their connectivity infrastructures, with the overall aim to encourage more international business events to take place in the UK.

WiFi: a winning difference

Top-quality WiFi can make or break the experience of a business event. Increasingly powerful smartphones, tablets and laptops mean that mobile working is no longer just about being able to access one’s emails and write up the odd report. Professionals across every sector expect to be able to access core business data and specialist applications wherever they are. And at conferences, whether attending a round table, participating in a workshop or simply networking, there are myriad contexts where attendees want to be able to browse websites, update social media, register for further events and activities, and participate in polls, surveys and even games. Most conferences now have custom apps, and these run and depend on WiFi, especially for those travelling internationally. WiFi is the foundation upon which all of these activities sit, and its absence or unreliability quickly becomes an enormous nuisance.

Furthermore, because WiFi is so integral to the experience of conference attendees, it is also integral to attracting investment for those conferences. Major organisations are far more likely to spend on sponsorship and agree to high-profile speaking opportunities when they know the infrastructure is in place for a truly engaging and innovative attendee experience. In many sectors, powerful WiFi is vital to enable presenters to share their findings or predictions in an interactive or creative way. A WiFi gateway, where all attendees have to log in through, is also an incredibly valuable sponsorship tool in its own right and can offer very lucrative results for sponsors.

The challenges of scale

The core challenges of delivering high-quality WiFi at conferences are the physical premises – which may be particularly sprawling and complex, and therefore difficult to ensure consistent coverage throughout – and the sheer dynamism of the user base. With thousands or tens of thousands of attendees moving through the space every day, and masses of different users attempting to join and leave the WiFi at every event, WiFi for conference venues needs to be superbly elastic and scalable.

This challenge is one with which Curve IT is extremely familiar. We ensure every job we do has in-depth ‘WiFi Assurance’, which means we can accurately confirm how good WiFi is in a venue through scans and reporting, as well as the design of the network overall. Delivering robust, reliable and high-bandwidth WiFi in premises which have to deal with thousands of visitors every day is something we achieve for numerous different clients – including, recently, the refurbished Wagner Hall in Brighton. We have ensured that super-fast connectivity is available throughout the venue – benefiting staff, visitors, and businesses using the space also.

As the importance of conference WiFi becomes better-recognised by venues up and down the country, we look forward to seeing more innovative approaches to delivering high-speed, high-bandwidth and highly resilient connectivity – and being part of more projects ourselves.

The post An end to dodgy conference WiFi? appeared first on Curve IT.

Yet the landscape is not all doom and gloom. The latest statistics from the Retail Sales Index suggest in the three months to June of this year, the quantity bought increased by 0.7%, with a year-on-year growth rate of 3.8%in June. Theoretically, the country could enter calmer political waters this autumn.

The only certainty, then, seems to be uncertainty. Retailers must compete in a hostile and fast-moving environment, amidst changing consumer habits and a broader sense of political and financial upheaval. One key factor in delivering this competitiveness is digital innovation in retail environments.

What does in-store digital innovation look like?

What do we mean by this? As retail customers become increasingly likely to carry highly powerful mobile devices running on high-speed and high-capacity 5G cellular networks, and as the expanding IoT continues to drive innovations both in the home and in public spaces, so customers in retail stores will see intelligent, connected experiences as the norm, not a luxury extra.

At the most basic level, then, offering high-quality in-store WiFi means that retailers are responding to customer expectations and ensuring that the shopping experience doesn’t impede or frustrate shoppers who want to be able to browse the internet or access social media.

On a more sophisticated level, however, in-store WiFi can form the foundation for an array of more innovative and creative experiences. Bespoke applications, potentially integrated with IoT sensors placed throughout the store, can do everything from offer cross-selling and up-selling ideas, to allowing browsers to digitally try on an effort, or place an item of furniture in a representation of their home. The gamification possibilities are broad too, with savvy retailers looking for new opportunities to both build loyalty and extend the leisure possibilities of their stores.

Then there’s the back-office side of things to consider. High-speed wireless connectivity can power intelligent approaches to inventory management and checking on-shelf availability, automating manual processes and consolidating different sources of information to enable stores to run more efficiently. This improves working conditions for retail staff, and allows them to be more customer-focused and more informative and responsive.

What are the foundations for digital innovation?

Getting this right, however, requires a considered and careful approach to in-store infrastructure. Get that wrong and the whole endeavour can be prohibitively expensive or complex.

But where to begin? Enterprise-grade WiFi solutions can be hugely effective – but very expensive, particularly for any organisation smaller than the biggest department stores and multinational retailers. But clearly technology aimed primarily at domestic deployments is not going to be powerful enough.

Cloud-based WiFi can offer a compromised route forward, whereby individual stores run on virtual private networks (VPNs) from a single centralised database. And, as with all cloud computing deployments, the benefits in terms of elastic scalability, flexibility and agility are substantial.

Above all, however, retailers need to take a strategic and highly tailored approach to rolling out network infrastructure. This means developing a network strategy for all stores, individually and as a cohesive whole. It means undertaking bandwidth modelling, to establish those stores’ requirements today but also in the future, should new innovations be made in customer-facing applications.

Robust and reliable digital innovation and connectivity has become as important as part of retail infrastructure as their utilities and energy services. Smart networking means smarter retailers.

The post Intelligent infrastructure: Why being connected is essential in retail environments appeared first on Curve IT.

The shared network, which was developed by Brighton based connectivity specialist Curve IT, has been deployed across four new developments in Islington, Bethnal Green, Greenwich and Maidenhead and is set to include a fifth Essential Living site in Swiss Cottage, which is currently under construction.

The project will enable Essential Living to deliver multiple services to both tenants renting its properties and to back-office staff managing those properties, via a single network installation.

The converged network solution will be used to provide reliable, superfast broadband access to residents while also supporting operational requirements including CCTV, door entry, access and alarm systems, and a shared building management system.

Work is also already underway to deliver electricity, water and heating metering across the network.

Curve IT delivered the network via a point-to-point connection, installing antennas and receivers on the buildings to achieve robust and reliable line of sight connections from property to property. By working with Essential Living early in the build-to-rent project stage, Curve IT was also able to save the firm from going out to separate mechanical and electrical (M&E) and cabling contractors for each of the properties.

From high-performance WiFi into individual flats, to alarm and CCTV systems, all are run from a single fibre and copper network, divided up into virtual subnetworks, or VLANs. This eliminates unnecessary duplication within and between the properties, and provides an efficient foundation for an array of smart building systems.

Essential Living focuses on delivering premium apartments in sought-after locations, with 24-hour on-site teams and exercise rooms. Delivering high-quality connectivity to residents, and ensuring seamless and effective back-office systems is essential to maintain this premium brand. Additionally, deploying a converged solution across all five sites can enable the seamless development of further services, such as Personal Area Networks which travel with tenants throughout buildings, as well as building-specific apps, in the future.

Ian Merrick at Essential Living said: “We pride ourselves on offering an excellent standard of living to our tenants, and really understanding their desire to be connected, both in terms of location and technology.

“Curve IT understood that from the outset, and proposed a cost-effective and highly scalable solution. It makes absolute sense for us to run all our connected functions, for tenants and staff alike, off the same converged network, and Curve IT has made that happen.”

Simon O’Hare at Curve IT added: “Build-to-rent firms have so much to gain from converged networks. They save a huge amount of money and complexity right from the beginning, by avoiding the need to deal with multiple contractors or unnecessary duplication. Then, they provide an outstanding platform for deplopying a wide array of smart building functions and  innovative tenant experiences – at precisely the rate that suits the operator.”

The post Essential Living launches converged network solution across London build to rent sites appeared first on Curve IT.

Yet despite this, a large number of UK businesses and organisations are still lagging behind when it comes to developing robust infrastructure and a reliable, secure, Wi-Fi service.

Many small businesses in particular still take the approach of contracting with wireless broadband Internet Service Providers (ISPs) whose packages are intended to be used by individual consumers.

There’s a number of issues with this approach. For starters, the internet speeds provided might not be up to the job. However, following investment in full fibre to the premise infrastructure across much of the UK, this is becoming less of an issue.

Difficulties are more likely to be encountered when it comes to the reliability of coverage within the business environment itself and challenges associated with achieving the tailored network configuration typically required by companies.

WiFi networks intended for the consumer usually focus on simple set-ups and the delivery of broadband to the door only, with little support for configuration.

In this blog, we look at some of the specific considerations needed when creating ‘business class’ networks.

The changing workspace and network requirements

The workplace was once much simpler. You had your desktop machine connected to the server, corporate network and the internet via an ethernet cable. People had laptops and they too had to be wired into the office cabling if you had any serious work to do. Then came Wi-Fi and broadband and you could use your laptop on a wireless network so long as you didn’t stray too far from the one wireless router. Now many offices have moved across to an all wireless set up. People must be able to take their connected device into a meeting room or another office without losing their session.

It’s not just the main office either. While the Wi-Fi there might be OK it’s often not where all the work goes on in modern organisations. People have informal meetings throughout a building, from the reception area to the dining room. With the trend to build open spaces into many new office developments people might also have meetings outside. An incomplete office Wi-Fi network will mean that people are restricted to formal meeting areas and this, in turn, can impact on productivity. For organisations with multiple branch offices, it is also important to keep Wi-Fi connectivity consistent across locations. All these elements should be considered when selecting WiFi services and contemplating set-up.

Network security is also another major area for consideration. Businesses are responsible for the network they provide and it’s important to prevent both staff and visitors from putting themselves at unnecessary risk by building a secure Wi-Fi network within your building or campus environment. Again, this requires specific considerations and configurations not typically provided as default by ISP packages intended for the consumer. It is also important when considering Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) users, whose devices may pose a greater security risk. Implementing an Identity and Access Management (IAM) policy for example, which limits the access certain users have, will help further boost security.

A ‘business class’ approach

The set-up of a WiFi network in a business environment requires significantly more thought than a home network. From considering reliability and coverage levels across a wider area to determining how the network itself is set-up requires careful management.

If you’re looking for support in developing a tailored WiFi network for your business contact the team here at Curve IT.

The post Why it’s time to embrace ‘business class’ WiFi networks appeared first on Curve IT.

However, such events also introduce significant organisational and logistic challenges – not least in terms of delivering reliable WiFi connectivity for staff and visitors alike.

The backbone of event organisation

WiFi connectivity is crucial for the smooth running of any major event. It keeps mobile staff connected with each other and their managers, enabling the smooth sharing of information, dynamic reallocation of resource and rapid incident response should an incident occur. It also powers mobile payments, an increasingly important part of the revenue flow at outdoor events in particular.

For example, the Brighton Spiegeltent, part of Brighton Fringe, needs WiFi for both mobile ticket sales and a range of different food vendors; a reliable service is crucial for customer satisfaction, smooth operation, and to attract the best vendors. At Curve IT, we were delighted to recently be reappointed to handle the event’s WiFi and network requirements.

Event marketing also requires fast and reliable WiFi. At multifaceted events such as festivals, it is increasingly common for mobile apps to be used to keep attendees up-to-date on evolving events, and to suggest places for them to go or tickets for them to purchase. Alternatively, promotions and ads for upcoming events can be directly ‘pushed’ to users’ mobile devices.  These techniques only work if the WiFi is reliable and can support reasonable volumes of data.

Indeed, for attendees at major events, reliable WiFi is increasingly seen as a must-have, not a luxury extra. Attendees want to be able to post to social media, access up-to-the-minute event information including menus of food options and even find lost friends, all using freely available WiFi.

The challenges of crowds

However, the obvious challenge of delivering fast and reliable WiFi at major events is the crowds that said events hope to attract. Tens or even hundreds of thousands of users, all attempting to use data-rich applications on their mobile devices? It is a recipe for draining the cellular network capacity.

Additionally, many major events take place in environments which introduce practical and physical challenges in terms of setting up a WiFi network. They may be in rural locations and spread over wide geographical areas. Alternatively, as with events like Brighton Fringe or Brighton Pride, they may be dispersed within an urban area, in which case choosing where to place cellular equipment, and ensuring quality coverage between different building materials and in awkward spaces may be difficult.

All this means that delivering fast and reliable connectivity – for staff, third-party vendors and attendees alike – at major events is a specialist pursuit. Curve IT is proud to have built an expert practice in this area, supporting events as diverse as Brighton Fringe and Brighton Pride with bespoke connectivity solutions which can handle both their unusual environments and their huge crowds. Furthermore, we can build and dissemble such solutions quickly and efficiently, ensuring that WiFi connectivity isn’t another headache for major event organisation – it’s a simple add-on.

If you are looking for a connectivity solution for your own event – no matter how major or boutique – get in touch with us today.

The post The importance of providing reliable WiFi at major events appeared first on Curve IT.

It’s no surprise that tenants expect high-speed, robust and reliable internet access and phone lines. But a long list of behind-the-scenes services also depend on communications networks, from door entry systems to security alarms, fire safety systems to building management systems (BMSs).

And this introduces a severe risk for Build to Rent (BTR) operators tasked with providing broadband services to shared buildings – that, during the build stage, they waste unnecessary time and money on duplicating the networks underpinning these services.

Broadband services to shared buildings – the importance of pre-planning

It is not untypical for the main build contractor to wait until much of the foundational work has been done before going out to a mechanical and electrical (M&E) contractor, who then subcontracts again to a cabling specialist for installation of the infrastructure required by, say, the CCTV system. Even if the networking process is introduced earlier in the build, an M&E contractor will still need to employ different specialists for each of the network-reliant systems outlined above. And each of those specialists will, quite rightly, design and pitch a system which involves a full network with their own specialist function running off it.

The upshot? A whole lot of unnecessary and costly duplication.

This is why forward-thinking BTR operators should look to work with IT networking specialists from the outset when providing broadband services to shared buildings, in order to develop a converged network for the entire building or even estate. A converged network is a single physical (usually fibre and copper) network which is divided up into virtual sub-networks, or VLANs. Each VLAN is used to underpin a different core service, from back office functions to resident-facing WiFi.

The benefits of well planned converged services for build to rent are enormous. Aside from the substantial resource savings from avoiding duplication, a converged network is also far more future-proofed than multiple discrete networks. It provides a foundation for smart building tools and technologies, and enables the creation of genuinely seamless and innovative resident experiences, whereby Personal Area Networks travel with tenants throughout buildings and even across the entire estate.

However, all these benefits depend on choosing the right converged services provider. How do you do that?

Begin with your brand

The best converged services providers will want to start early in BTR project – right back at the conception stage. They will want to work with your brand time as well as your operational team, to really understand what kind of experience you are hoping to present to your tenants. Network-dependent technology such as superfast internet, building-specific apps and the Personal Area Networks outlined above can have a massive impact on resident experience and the overall impression of your organisation.

Smart building specialism

Smart buildings, which use IoT technology to proactive manage everything from energy efficiency measures to predictive maintenance of assets, are key to helping BTR operators run as efficiently as possible. They can also play a crucial role in building an environmentally-friendly and forward-thinking brand. As such, your converged services provider should have experience in supporting and developing smart buildings, and able to advise you on possible future developments.

Long-term partnerships

The life of a BTR property should be long-term, and so the partnership with your converged services provider should be too. Innovations in networking technology are happening at lightning pace and while the possibilities for smart buildings and innovative tenant experiences are only going to become more diverse, this will also have an impact of the provision of broadband services to shared buildings. A truly long-term and forward-thinking converged services partnership will enable you to capitalise on these developments as they emerge, and truly by a BTR operator for the future.

The post Broadband services to shared buildings: why a converged network approach makes sense appeared first on Curve IT.

Sharing space with strangers is becoming an increasingly popular option for a new breed of professionals looking for housing that combines private living space with shared communal facilities.

And with many new co-living developments offering shared spaces like wellness studios, gyms, and gardens or terraces for BBQs and entertaining, it’s becoming easier than ever for residents to get to know their neighbours.

Rising rents and an increase of young professionals looking for living spaces in urban areas is one of the factors driving the trend, but there is a deeper motive for the development towards multi-occupancy constructions.

While the modern version of co-living is a little different to the hippy communes that began to spring up in the Sixties, or the artist communities prevalent in places such as Germany and Denmark, the concept is based on the same ethos: to create a lifestyle based on sharing and community.

People need connection in the physical world as well as online

In an age where much day to day contact is online, and with loneliness a widespread issue, a sense of ‘real’ connection is increasingly welcome.

The growth of the sharing economy and the rise of co-working and other partnerships suggests there is an appetite for greater sharing and social engagement, says architect Manisha Patel, who specializes in urban design and planning for practice PRP.

In the recent RSA report ‘Co-living and the common good’ Patel writes of the balance between privacy and social interaction that co-living manages to address – and points out that humans are the most social of mammals.

“Our communication skills set us apart; social interaction and the search for a sense of wellbeing is hardwired into all of us,” she says. “The desire for communal interaction is balanced with the need for each individual to choose their degree of separation.”

While physical connection is important, so too is the technology that allows people to connect with each other. As you might expect, ‘Generation rent’ is looking for far more than the bare essentials in their new home: the burgeoning use of smart phones, smart TVs and a plethora of connected home devices mean fast, immediate access to broadband and WiFi connectivity is today as essential as running water. Technological progress has enabled large new developments to improve significantly by providing a seamless connection to their facilities.

Curve IT is strategically placed in the PRS internet services sector

Curve IT has been working with a number of BTR and PRS operators over the last few years, notably Essential Living with whom we worked on with the flagship new builds Dressage Court, Vantage Point and Creekside Wharf (opening mid to late 2018).

Residents received high-speed internet access with broad WiFi coverage and a high quality branded portal page, both in their apartment and throughout the building, from the day they moved in.

With hundreds of residents living in close proximity using multiple devices, often at the same time, providing Wifi connectivity to support a multi-dwelling unit (MDU) requires a deep understanding of the fundamentals of WiFi technology, and this is where Curve IT’s experience comes to the fore.

We are passionate about delivering PRS internet services through robust, scalable WiFi networks for multi-occupant buildings, and have a specialist team which designs, creates and delivers an intelligent, futureproof IT infrastructure.

Curve IT are involved from RIBA stage 1-3  onwards, and early site visits enables our IT team to translate ideas into a high tech spec which can be incorporated before construction even begins.

As Patel puts it so succinctly: “These technologies have the potential to allow co-living residents to share resources more efficiently; to make opportunities for social interaction more visible or likely; and to connect residents to services and civic opportunities within the wider area in which they live.”

And as Essential Living says in its recent blog about the benefits of co-living, “It helps to build friendships in the physical world rather than the digital, and being part of a thriving community is perhaps the oldest and most effective way to make those connections.”

Co-living offers more connection – both on and offline.

To talk to one of our expert IT consultants regarding our WiFi design practice Contact the team at Curve IT on contact@curveit.com or call 01273 806220.

The post Why co-living is the future for Generation Z but only with robust PRS internet services appeared first on Curve IT.

As home working increases and social media and traditional media formats move ever more to digital, FOBO – Fear Of Being Offline – fills many people with dread, and in the Build to Rent market it would be inconceivable to rent an apartment where a guest could not get online immediately.

With this reliance on ubiquitous high-speed connectivity, making sure your building has great Wifi is crucial. Curve IT believes that to ensure you are competitive in the marketplace you should have a clear strategy for what you want to deliver and how you will achieve it.

BTR operators might want to consider some questions around the provision of Wifi:

• How can resident and customers connect? And their guests?
• Should you block certain content?
• Should Wifi be available only in certain areas?
• Will you charge, and if so how, when, what for, and how much?
• Should speed or the number of devices be limited?

For project planning this can raise many questions. The first decisions should probably be around the build to rent internet network and whether this is something that the Operator wants to provide and manage themselves, or contract out to a company, or whether each individual supplier of IP services will provide their own. Is this likely to be in a capex or an opex budget?

At RIBA stage 1-3 it’s imperative that the M&E specification – and the vendor proposals received from this – match your ideas and values in your brand standard. If the design does not reflect what you want to achieve then variations and additional costs become more likely. Or worse you have a sub-standard installation of technology services.

Curve IT has years of experience working with customers to define their brand standards, and designing and creating solutions to meet these. We have advised on Wifi, networks, broadband provision, structured cabling, voice services, CCTV, TV and IPTV solutions amongst others.

We can talk about your wishes and requirements and can be reached at contact@curveit.com or 01273 806220

The post Why BTR Operators need a Technology Brand Standard appeared first on Curve IT.

What services and applications could sit on a build to rent converged network?

• HSIA – (high speed internet access) for residents
• IPTV – television services
• VoIP – Voice over IP telephony services for residents and staff
• Access control and door locking systems
• CCTV
• Building Management Systems
• Property Management Systems
• Point of Sale
• Digital Signage

What are the advantages of a build to rent converged networks?

Better performance; Reduced cost; More flexibility; Minimising environmental impact

• Lower cost of installation: installing one core infrastructure can reduce the amount of cabling required, and ensure that switches are used in the most efficient way. We have seen cost reductions of around 30% moving from a traditional network architecture to converged.
• Better network management: a high-performing network is critical for the smooth operation of all the services within your building and having a converged network allows you to choose a single operator to oversee these services, and so offer a better level of service to your residents and team. In the past you may have multiple different networks all managed by different vendors, meaning different SLA’s, help desks, operating hours etc. A converged network has one management platform which can allow better monitoring and allow issues to be identified and dealt with much more quickly.
• Flexibility and future proofing: Having an enterprise grade active network means adding new or extra services and applications can be completed much more easily and potentially without having to add new cabling or hardware. It’s impossible to say any technology is ‘future-proof’ however the 10Gb standard is currently recommended and fully suited for most needs.
• Better design and hardware: with all services running through one core infrastructure it often proves more cost-effective to increase the sophistication, capacity and performance of this core to levels that would not be commercially sensible if running multiple networks. We typically see a move from multiple 1Gb in a traditional environment to 10Gb in a converged, offering potentially a huge uplift in performance. This will normally include resiliency and redundancy to a much higher level.
• Minimising environmental impact: a single connection manages and operates all the systems, meaning reduced power usage and carbon footprint. Less hardware takes up less space and ensures the right amount of switch ports are available, in the right locations. Monitoring network ports, cables, connectors and components in real time with an intelligent infrastructure management system allows the network to be managed far more efficiently and optimises energy consumption.

 Are there other considerations?

Many, and this is where the design and management skills of Curve IT are paramount. These are just a few of the many considerations you will need to take into account.

• Resiliency – how to deal with power failures. We can advise on UPS or generator back-up power.
• Network resiliency – spanning tree? What support packs on hardware?
• Redundancy – internet services into and out of the building and the routes these could take. Do you need geo-diverse routings? How many 9’s in your SLA?
• Bandwidth management (WAN) – what do you need and when do you need it? What is the best model? Who is the best provider and do they have the interconnects you need?
• Bandwidth management (LAN) – what applications do your residents / team need? Should some be limited? Do you want a revenue stream?
• QoS – how, where and when?
• VLANs – who and how to manage?
• PAN – do your residents need a Personal Area Network?

The post Why should Build to Rent operators consider Converged Networks? appeared first on Curve IT.

Tenants in the PRS are increasingly seeking high-spec apartments incorporating state-of-the-art technology: MDUs are becoming luxurious living spaces where lighting, heating, and access can be controlled easily and intuitively – with instant connectivity available for tenants on a growing number of devices.

(A recent tech survey showed residents of MDUs had an average of 17 devices with internet connection per apartment.)

Meeting high technological expectations

• Smart phones and smart TVs, WiFi-enabled lighting, heating and security will soon be jostling for bandwidth space with smart fridges, smart clothing and other wireless tech.
• The rise of voice-activated home hubs such as Amazon Echo and Google Home is driving opportunities for seamless shopping and marketing without a laptop or tablet in sight.

Around 21 billion devices will be connected to the Internet of Things (IoT) by 2020.    

The best in-house technology

• By deploying a building-wide WiFi platform a PRS developer can engage with residents on many different levels.
• Guest engagement through portal options ensures residents feel part of a modern, connected network, which benefits them in many different ways.
• Curve IT provide full reporting and analytics to the operator.
• Resident portals serve multiple functions: tenants can communicate with one another and alert building management teams about urgent matters. Residents can also use a portal to receive notifications or upgrade their accommodation or connectivity.
• Flexible business models can deliver a revenue stream to operators.
• A great product and service gives the operator a competitive advantage over other PRS operators.
• Internet access is included in the rent, and Curve IT can create an infrastructure where residents can easily upgrade for a managed monthly payment with the client.
• Carefully designed placement of WiFi access points means residents have superb access throughout the entire building, whilst minimising the number of points needed, so saving money for the build.
• The Curve IT Personal Area Network means that residents have access to their own network, wherever they are in the building, such as the gym or lobby, creating a seamless experience for the resident.
• We are approaching an age in which a wide range of consumer products will be routinely connected to internet-enabled interfaces.
• Curve IT can also provide ongoing 24/7 IT support if required, for both the operator and residents, including warranty management.

Contact the team at Curve IT to see how we can deliver your PRS IT services and solutions.

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