BennyEast.Com/Blog The official blog of Kenny West

WhyFi?

So, at work we're starting this one project to see if we can increase the quality of service for residence halls wireless internet connectivity.

It's basically my project.  This is one of the reasons why I just haven't job hopped to a new snazzier work gig... I get to do things when I want, how I want, the way I want... It's hard to find that in a work environment.  Usually it's very top down, this is how the boss wants it, kind of deal.  Or maybe it's not.  Maybe IT is different.

But, I mean, I've implemented lots of different new procedures and protocols over the years here that have had positive impacts.  It's a small workplace and so the impacts are much easier to see around campus.

The problem with working for, say, a large corporation, or even a larger university is that the impacts might just get lost in the crowd.

As far as the whole chasing a paycheck thing goes... Well... My current financial situation is just... Different from most 33 year olds.  I'll leave it at that.  But for example, I'm about to get a new washer and dryer and fridge for my house.  The funding for those appliances aren't coming from my work paycheck.

So, most people might say to themselves, "I need to make more money to afford rent, or buy a new car, or pay off my debt..."

There's no mortgage on my house.

My car is paid in full and if I want a new one, the same place funding the washer and dryer and fridge will fund the car.

I have no debt.  And virtually every week I get more and more deposits into my own personal account in the form in interest and dividends coming off my own investment portfolio.

So, unless I suddenly find myself married and expecting kids... Right now?  I literally could care less about salary requirements at my job.  It's more about being happy where I work to me and having ample time off to work on my own personal creative projects like books and music and having my free time to go to festivals and events in hopes that I MIGHT bump into that special girl one day.

Anyways so one of the projects that I decided needed to happen here at the college was a way to make data driven decisions on wireless satisfaction in the residence halls.

Students spend a lot of time in their rooms, and not having complete wireless coverage is a no bueno for sure.

So, I decided to take the initiative and worked with one of my coworkers to develop a survey to collect information from the students.  Then we'll analyse that data and decide if we have to adjust wireless infrastructure in place, or add additional infrastructure to bridge the gaps in wireless signal coverage.

If a student can't get online in their room... How likely are they to stay at the college?  How happy are they going to be?  How do their grades suffer if they can't work on homework at their desks?

It's all about helping the student have a better college experience.  All aspects of student life are important, class room experience and life in the residence hall.  No two students have the same needs.

One student might never spend time in their room, they may spend most of their time in friend's rooms, or maybe the library.  Another student might like going to the local coffee shop.  Another might be fine using common areas to do homework.

SO to just say, oh, the student can just use one of the designated lounges that have wifi if they don't have acceptable coverage in their room... That's not acceptable.  As well there's free time things like streaming Netflix or playing online games with friends.

That kind of stuff is important when it comes to life in a college residence hall.

The way this survey will work is to collect a few metrics that can then be quantified into heat-maps to see which buildings, which floors, and which individual rooms are having poor service or great service.

That way we'll be able to identify which rooms need immediate care and which floors or buildings need more work over some other areas.  Prioritizing in the IT world is important.  Knowing which stuff to fix first is not only useful but necessary.

Most of the students with issues will speak up, but sometimes they won't.  Sometimes unless they are given a survey to fill out, they won't actually complain about the issue.  Why?  Some of them have alternative plans...

Some have cell data plans and they just hotspot their cell phones.  This works until we get a parent complaining about data plan overages and that there's no reason why a student can't get on the wifi in their room.

So why is wifi important?  So much stuff relies on it.  So many things that the average college student uses everyday relies on having robust and reliable wireless in all the areas of the campus including every corner of their residence halls.  If the students aren't worrying about trying to get a device of theirs connect, which maybe works half way across their room but doesn't work by their desk, or bed... They can focus their mental efforts worrying about their studies.  They can have a better college experience.

If they have to go out into the hallway to use wifi and can't actually get complete coverage in their room?  That's just unacceptable.  Sure, maybe some students are fine being social in the hallway, but there are other students who prefer to work on homework or recharge their batteries by watching Netflix alone in their room.  Not everyone is super social, some are more introverted and get energy by spending time alone.  That's important to be able to allow the student to recharge their batteries and de-stress in the way that fits each and every one of them.

What we plan to do is post a simple survey in a place called The Portal where they log in to check for assignments and register for classes.  Each user will see a personal survey that allows them to rate their room wireless experience from 1 to 10.  We'll also ask the general number of devices that they have connected, and if they have any comments.

This way we can then compile a report of that data and see point scores across the campus.  Maybe one building, or one floor, or one room will be very low.  OR maybe others will be very high no the average 10 point scoring chart.  Then we can figure out why is this?  Is it our equipment, or is there something that needs to be configured on their personal devices that might need some tweaking.

Once we start to collect historical data, we can then see changes from semester to semester and year to year.  Perhaps one student one year has great coverage, and the next year in the same room, a student rates it very low.  Maybe that tells us something new that we didn't realize without that extra data.

Data driven decisions also help to prove funding is needed to order more equipment in a specific area.  Analytics and data analysis of the metrics captured are important in the decision making process for any organization.

They key is to use the information collected to improve the processes that run behind the scenes so the experience is a more seamless and positive user experience for anyone that needs that service.  I believe that data collection, and in turn, making changes from that data, should always be an ongoing process.

Collect data, analyse, make changes, collect more data, more analysis, more changes.

The goal is to strive for a seamless experience so that the user doesn't even realize there are processes in the background happening to deliver that service, it just works.