April 10th 2017
Sponsorship validation - a new way to validate guests
This new feature is ideal for corporate offices and other similar controlled environments. Visitors, such as clients, vendors, auditors, and contractors, can enter an employee’s email on the splash portal. The employee acts as the sponsor, and will receive an email with a link to approve the visitor’s access to Wi-Fi. This feature simplifies guest Wi-Fi management by cutting out a manual registration process, that way IT isn’t overloaded with onboarding each visitor’s device.
New Vendor Support
- Huawei - Businesses using Huawei controllers and access points can now enjoy a seamless integration and take advantage of all the advanced guest Wi-Fi capabilities Volare has to offer.
- Fortinet - For those using Fortinet WLAN solutions and switches, you can now add Volare as an easy overlay solution.
Login Attempt Trigger - better engagement during the Access Journey
A new trigger is available for the Access Journey, called Login Attempt. This allows an application (including those built with MyApps) to be launched after a login attempt but before authorizing internet access. This makes it possible to steer the user through the entire journey, and works to overcome the common Android action of automatically closing the login browser once successfully authenticated and connected.
New MyApps - a more dynamic experience to create custom apps
MyApps has a new skin and new capabilities. These improvements enrich the data sent to external applications, enabling personalization of the content shown to end-users. It also introduces a javascript sdk to handle the management of certain capabilities and gives more control over content publishing, both on the Welcome Portal and Cloud4Wi Dashboard.
Plase note that the previous MyApps (apps.cloud4wi.com) will be continuing working only for the existing apps; however, in order to publish a new apps is mandatory to switch to the new MyApps (developers.cloud4wi.com). Please to contact our team if you have any problem.
Twilio Connect - more control over SMS
Twilio Connect is part of our initiative to integrate Volare with existing third-party services and platforms. With Twilio Connect, you can use your own Twilio Account to send text messages for all the SMS-related communications managed by Volare. This means allowing you to control costs, manage the volume of messages, and even purchase a local outbound number. This is a cheaper option than having to buy the SMS service from us.
Text messages are used across the platform for various services such as sending passwords and reminders, validating accounts during onboarding, and reaching end-users through the Triggered Campaigns tool.
SMTP Connect - personalizing the sender’s email
SMTP Connect allows you to set up and use your own SMTP service to send out emails. You can now customize the source (sender’s) email, which helps to really brand and personalize your communications. The custom SMTP will be used for all system communications toward end-users, such as emails related to the onboarding process. Tools such as Triggered Campaigns and Email Marketing already have their own custom SMTP settings.
OpenPay Connect - collecting payments in Mexico
If your business model includes paid internet services, there’s a new option to collect payments. OpenPay is a payment gateway available in Mexico. It’s a good alternative to PayPal and Robokassa if you’re looking to manage payments for Wi-Fi services. More information can be found on OpenPay’s website (www.openpay.mx).
Mobile SDK - simplifying access and setup
We’ve made the Volare Mobile SDK easier to access and easier to use. Find this tool with all your other apps - in Volare Apps. From there, you can set up credentials and certificates, and use all the capabilities of Mobile SDK which include guest Wi-Fi onboarding and beacon-powered push notifications.
Analytics Improvements - fine-tuning data for more accurate insights
We continuously work to provide best-in-class analytics so that you have the most accurate and meaningful data to guide different business initiatives. We’ve updated the integrations with our Wi-Fi vendors to reflect changes to their systems. Specifically, we fine-tuned how guest users and connections are calculated using both authentication and accounting data. This means all past data collected has been re-calculated using the new computation method, so don’t be surprised if you notice different numbers from when you last checked.
New Presence Analytics KPIs - providing more data
New KPIs are available on the Presence Analytics dashboard. This includes a Unique Visitors history chart.
Simplified phone number validation - making validations easier
The phone number validation process allows users to be certified using their phone numbers. The process collects phone numbers, and allows businesses to use this information for marketing communication purposes. We simplified the user experience by making the code more intuitive (4 digits only) and have updated the text messages sent to users.
Click-through improvements - offering enriched user profiles
The click-through login option now offers the same registration fields that are available on the User Registration form, this includes country and date of birth.
AP List Export - making information available offline
From the Cloud4Wi Dashboard, you can now export the full list of access points into a CSV file. This same information is available via REST APIs.
Minor fixes and enhancements to apps - making apps better
We’ve made minor tweaks, improvements and bug fixes on a few apps and widgets. Updated apps include Weather, Surveys and Coupons.
UX Improvements - providing a better look
You will notice a slight modification to the look of the user interface. We made these changes to make your Cloud4Wi Dashboard experience easier and more consistent. A few configuration pages have been enhanced as well, Internet Plans being one of them.
Language of Applications - making Welcome Portals more universal
Since we have users from all around the globe, we wanted to make it easier to have Welcome Portal applications displayed in different languages. Application labels can now be translated in all our supported languages.