Modernizing connectivity at more than 350 Emeis sites

With almost 78,000 experts and professionals in the fields of healthcare, care and support for the frail, emeis is present in some twenty countries and covers five business sectors: psychiatric clinics, medical care and rehabilitation clinics, retirement homes, homecare services and residences. As part of the group's commitment to innovation in healthcare, Wifirst has been entrusted with the operation, supervision and maintenance of WiFi in over 350 establishments in France.

// THE WIFI SATISFACTION CHALLENGE

By calling on Wifirst for its unique expertise in network design, emeis intends to raise the level of service provided by its WiFi service, thereby improving the daily lives of dependent people while optimizing the working conditions of its professionals.

A quantum leap in quality for caregivers, patients and residents

Residents of emeis establishments are generally of advanced age and/or have pathologies that have led to them being admitted to specialized facilities. Internet access is one way for them to maintain a link with the outside world. Indeed, even ifcomputers are increasingly intuitive and easy to access, it is complicated to receivephotos or videos, to use applications such as WhatsApp, Messenger or Skype, or even to access online entertainment or information platforms without a good Internet connection.

At the same time, the WiFi network must provide sufficient bandwidth at all points in the facility, in particular to facilitate the integration of tools selected by professionals for better care. There are 2 key points among the many benefits of a "connected establishment" for caregivers:

• Reduce drudgery:the deployment of technologies designed to automate low-value-added tasks, and the widespread use of tablets for administrative management, promote mobility and save time, which can be devoted to building relationships with residents.
• Facilitating access to and sharing of information:mobile solutions enable data to be collected and consulted directly from residents. As well as saving a significant amount of time, they ensure the reliability of the information recorded, particularly with regard to residents' vitals.

The WiFi network thus forms the backbone of projects designed to put technology at the service of dependent elderly people and the professionals who support them.

A unique expertise in network supervision and maintenance

The key to our solution lies in the advice we provide to our customers throughout the life of the network. This obviously begins with the on-site audit, the quality of which determines the success of the deployment project and the quality of service over the long term.

Wifirst has invested €1.5 million in the creation and development of its new web & mobile audit and integration platform. AUDIN goes far beyond the WiFi coverage audit function. The platform can list and locate all the active and passive equipment making up a complete network infrastructure. The result: time savings at every level, and an unprecedented level of quality thanks to the platform's integrated modeling, control and monitoring system.

And Wifirst's expertise doesn't stop there: all our supervision tools include modules based on artificial intelligence to anticipate and correct malfunctions. Our Wifirst Center, available in both web and mobile versions, enables you to manage your network in an unprecedented way:

• Supervision of all active equipment, regardless of brand;
• One-click access to advanced usage statistics by SSID;
• Access to essential documents (audit reports, project files, etc.);
• Dynamic positioning of all equipment on an enhanced map.

It is this model that really enables us to optimize network performance over the long term.

// THE CHALLENGE OF STANDARDIZING THE NETWORK

In this project, Wifirst took on the management of an existing, technologically diverse network. The emeis IT Department, determined to ensure high quality WiFi access for all, also entrusted Wifirst with the task of continuing the rollouts and optimizing the current infrastructures using the latest technologies, based on Aruba access point models. Marine Portail, Account Manager, and Guillaume Louarn, Lead Auditor, give us their feedback on the specifics of the project.

The importance of knowing your fleet

[Marine] In order to achieve the ultimate goal of user satisfaction, it's essential to know your customer base. Our advanced data collection and analysis capabilities give us a better understanding of how the network is used. This includes information on user behavior, connected devices, peak periods and areas of intense activity. For example, we have seen that up until now, there has been a logic of 100% coverage in the corridors, but a lack of connection once in the room. With the dematerialized care pathway, the need to cover the room is very real. This is one of the optimizations we're working on.

The specifics of a (re)deployment audit

• Installation of our main equipment, the Wifirst gateway, in order to migrate the customer's WiFi equipment onto Wifirst's IS and thus be able to maintain it.
• Site coverage survey to identify existing terminals and detect gaps in WiFi coverage.
• In the event of white zones, we carry out a coverage audit and propose an optimized solution to the customer.
  

WiFi is a precise and complex science! Simply piling up WiFi hots is not enough to ensure optimal coverage. A shortage of terminals creates "white" zones with no WiFi coverage, while an excess causes interference and makes the connection unstable. The challenge is therefore to define the density and distribution of access points.

A co-construction project

[Marine] What's particularly pleasing about this project is the opportunity to work hand in hand with a customer who fully grasped his role in the project's success. Indeed, we were able to count on the total availability of the IT department to recover all the plans and prerequisites essential to the redeployments. In the same way, the team is also going to play an ambassadorial role with each establishment in identifying its network issues and ensuring that all parties involved fully understand the stakes involved. This approach enables us to save time for the auditors and optimize the efficiency of our collaboration, with a view to modernizing and transforming the Group's 350+ establishments over the next 5 years.