In most of the offices today, there is no simple and intuitive process for visitors and guests to get access to the WiFi. The first thing usually a visitor does is to check on the list of the available networks looking for something that resembles "Company Guest".
However, internal security policies might require additional checkpoints to make sure the person trying to access is authorized. Cloud4Wi offers multiple solutions to get your office guests online.
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1. Unrestricted, self-registration via captive portal
The first simple option is a dedicated WiFi SSID with a Splash Page onboarding process, where guests can self-register and get internet access. The experience is similar to the public guest WiFi experience in stores and public spaces. By using a Splash Page instead of a standard WiFi password you can track the identity of the users accessing the network, inform them how personal data (including MAC address) are used via the privacy policy, consult reports and analytics, set access policy and credentials expiration.
2. Sponsored access
This option includes the possibility to limit the WiFi access only to the visitors authorized by a "sponsor" (or "host"). The sponsorship approval can be achieved in different ways:
- Guest enter the email address of their host. The email address domain must match one of the white-list domains configurable from the setting of this feature.
* note: the demo is configured to use a "cloud4wi.com" domain a valid sponsor's email address.
- As an alternative, a list of sponsors can be uploaded from the settings, and the Splash Page will show a dropdown menu where the guest can simply pick the name of their host/sponsor that will receive the approval request.
- A predefined email address (for example a network admin or an office manager) can be configured as the default destination for the approval requests. In this case, the guest won't have to enter any email in the portal.
The following diagram shows the steps for the visitors and sponsors. This example assumes the visitors will specify the sponsor's email in the first step but the process is similar also in the other cases.
Once the visitor submits the registration, the Splash Page informs him that the access request is under approval. The Visitors can also go back to the previous step if he realizes that made mistake in entering the sponsor email or selected the wrong host. If the visitor closes the page and attempts to reconnect to WiFi before the approval gets approved, he will be redirected to the same "waiting" page until approval is granted.
The host receives the approval request via email, clicks on a link to handle the request, and can assign an Internet Policy to the requested (for example temporary access for 1 day, or for a longer period such as 1 week that might be more suitable for example for contractors).
The Visitors who initiated the request will receive a notification via email or text message.
If a visitor comes back to one of the office locations, the Splash Page will recognize him and avoid asking to fill out a form, but he will have to go through the approval process if his Internet Policy expired.
More details about this feature can be found in this article.
3. Self-registered before the visit
You can invite your guests to pre-register on a dedicated portal to get their own WiFi credentials before they visit.
The portal can be optionally configured with the sponsorship validation option you want hosts to pre-approve their guests and assign a specific internet plan.
Click here to try the Visitors Portal experience
Visitors will receive a confirmation email including WiFi credentials that can be used on a secure WPA2-Enterprise SSID dedicated to visitors. The same credentials would also work on a local Splash Page configured with the username/password option.
On top of that, the email can contain a link to download a Passpoint profile that will pre-activate visitors' mobile devices to get automatically into WiFi upon arrival.
4. Self-registered via a kiosk
Sometimes, the main requirements are simply to make sure that the users attempting to connect to the WiFi are actual visitors inside the office. In this case, another possibility is to have the visitors sign-up on a Kiosk and receive a One Time Password (OTP), delivered also via email, that can be used to log in to the Guest Portal with their devices.
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The kiosk supports the same sponsor approval flow explained above, where the visitor will specify the email of his host in the kiosk form (or select it from a menu) and the access code will be issued only once the request has been approved by the host.
5. Self-registered through existing visitors management systems
Note: If you already have a check-in solution in your office, we can integrate it with Cloud4Wi to automatically generate an access credential (for example an OTP) delivered to the visitors to access the guest WiFi network.
When guests check in on your kiosk or check-in solution, Cloud4Wi can be notified with real-time integrations. Cloud4Wi will generate a WiFi account with specific access policies and delivers personal access credentials or access code to the user, for example via SMS.
Access credentials (username and password) can be used both for access to a secure WPA2-Enterprise SSID dedicated to guests or used on the Splash Page to log in.
The access policy will automatically expire and block the user from further connection to the network. In the alternative, user access can also be disabled via APIs when the guest checks out.