Pizza Today - July 2016 - 32

"I say offer it up," he says. The trick,
however, is to offer it up smartly. Here's
how to wend your way through the
world of Wi-Fi, without exposing your
business or customers to security risks:
Always (always!) have two Wi-Fi
portals: one for you and your staff and

one for your customers. You wouldn't
want to provide customers with the
same Wi-Fi access that you would use
to process credit cards or that you use
for sensitive business accounting or
e-mails.
"If you're just opening (one line) up
to everyone and giving your password,
that's deadly. That's when you have to
worry about hackers," Siciliano says. It's
easy to provide two Wi-Fi systems on
site. Just plug in two different routers,
he says.
That's how HOT ITALIAN has
handled their Wi-Fi service. "In all
three locations since day one, each has
a private network for employees and
a public one. We also have a firewall
that protects the private from public,"
Lepore says.
Use filtering software to block
customer access to sites with inap-

propriate or illegal content. "You don't
want someone in your establishment
watching porn. You don't want them
accessing child pornography, either.
That's going to come back to bite you,"
Siciliano says. "It's not something you
want to think about, but you have to
think about it. It goes with the territory."
Because you're a business, chances are
you're already getting "business class"
web from an Internet Service Provider
like Comcast or Time Warner. To set
up filtering software, all it takes is a
quick call to them. "They'll provide you
with the hardware and software necessary and point you in a direction with
filtering technology to stop customers
from downloading Torrents, which
are illegal pirated music or movies or
accessing illegal sites," Siciliano says.
They also will set up the user name and
3 2 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / J U LY 2 0 1 6

password.
"That inclusive package is, 'plug and
play.' You don't have to necessarily do it
yourself," he says.
Manage squatters with business
class software. Keep in mind that

people will show up at 11 a.m., order
pizza, and may not leave until 4 p.m.
so that they can use your Wi-Fi. That's
where your ISP business class cost will
pay off, because the provider can help
you manage squatters through software. It basically opens a box when the
customer logs on, informing them they
can only be online for a set amount of
time. When the time is up, the system
will automatically kick them off the
server.
"It recognizes your customers' device.
It understands the innards of the device
and installs a cookie that expires after a
period of time," Siciliano says.
On the other hand, you may be like
Lepore, who doesn't perceive a problem with squatters on her Wi-Fi. She
encourages languid European dining. If
people stick around for the web surfing,
it adds to her bottom line, she says.
"It's a casual, relaxing environment,
with magazine racks and an Italian
style, with people hanging out after
eating pizza, drinking espresso, ordering gelato. So we encourage a slow
pace," she says.
Post your expectations for
customer Wi-Fi use, as well as the

password. Create a sign in a prominent

place that provides the Wi-Fi password
to the public use account -- and also
sets your standards for web browsing
(i.e., no inappropriate sites) and Wi-Fi
time limit.
"Keep in mind that no one likes to be
barked at," Siciliano says. For example,
you could say, "We appreciate customers who notice when others need their
table," instead of, "You'll be kicked off
the web if you stay at a table longer
than 30 minutes.
"And it should not be handwritten,
but professionally done," he says. n
HEIDI LYNN RUSSELL specializes

in
writing about the issues that affect
small business owners. She is a regular
contributor to Pizza Today and lives in
Lexington, Kentucky.

DIY Wi-Fi with
Hotspot Gateways
If you want to save money, you can set
up separate Wi-Fi access for your customers without using an Internet Service Provider's business-class package. The caveat
is that like every DIY approach, there is
more risk involved, says Robert Sicilian of
BestIDTheftCompanys.com.
Search on Google for "Hotspot Gateway," which will provide a list of various
products and services that would allow
you to deploy a public hotspot Wi-Fi. It will
offer your customers instant web access
without the need for configuration changes
to your business computers or any of your
on-site business software.
"When you search the term, 'hotspot
gateway,' you will also find plug-and-play
devices to allow you to connect a dual
band router to your network that will
protect your data and at the same time offer up free Wi-Fi," Siciliano says. "Another
term for this is a 'business class router.'
You see these in hotels, airports and coffee
shops."
http://www.BestIDTheftCompanys.com http://www.PIZZATODAY.COM
Pizza Today - July 2016

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