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	Issue TOC Print full article Print this page Download as PDF E-Mail this URL Discuss this article Flame the author     In this article Introduction Hotspot Players Executive Summary Hotspots and 3G: A Future Together? Just How Hot Are Hotspot Services? Dual Elements of Hotspot ROI E-Poll Results

A recent Wall Street Journal article called hotspots a godsend for business travelers. Just how do you put a dollar value on that? It's the dilemma you face when evaluating consumer-side, hotspot ROI. As with many emerging mobile technologies, the stimulus for enterprise evaluation of hotspot services frequently comes from the field, often from highly paid staff. So forking out $5 to $10 per day for a service, even if it is restricted to a single venue, is easy to justify.

Two models may help you evaluate hotspot ROI. A conventional, efficiency-oriented mobile technology ROI model estimates the number of additional hours per day a mobile employee has access to broadband network services, then multiplies that figure by the monetary value of the projected improvement in productivity.

An effectiveness-oriented ROI model, which is more difficult to quantify, estimates the value of information available to the employee through broadband network access, and translates that into the monetary value of better decision making, improved scheduling, closed sales, enhanced customer service and many other qualitative benefits.

When these models are applied to other technologies, including cellular phones, the consensus is that the projected return is so compelling, it isn't even worth the bother of developing an ROI model. But the ROI hotspot equation is not so neat: Access is limited; you can't just assume the service will be available everywhere, at least not today.

The good news is cost: The capital costs associated with hotspot services are minimal, especially since many employees have wireless capabilities on their devices. Recurring costs are low as well, often adding up to no more than the price of a few toll-free dial-up sessions from a hotel room. So though hotspots are not yet pervasive, it's safe to say that providing mobile employees with hotspot access will be worth the cost. And service providers are making it easy for you to do so by providing flexible per-day access plans and even plans that can be shared among employees.

The other ROI element relates to the benefits your organization might realize by becoming a hotspot venue. When Starbucks entered the hotspot market through its partnership with Mobilestar (now part of T-Mobile), many analysts began to look at the market differently. Instead of calculating the monetary value of Starbucks' cut of the connect fees, they started thinking about how deploying hotspot service could help sell more coffee. And how it provides a virtually free broadband network connection for store employees, which can enhance business operations.

Even if your organization is not in the service sector of the economy, you may find that providing hotspot services as a courtesy for your business visitors makes a lot of sense. In fact, nearly half of readers responding to our e-poll for this article had visitor requests for wireless service in the past six months. Today, many wireless infrastructure vendors deliver open, front-of-firewall access to visitors while securing wireless access to back-end services. Longer term, it's conceivable that service providers could step in and partner with organizations to deliver hotspot services on their sites. About half of the respondents to our e-poll said they would be willing to consider such a strategy if they were given a commission.