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As Martz continued to explore options, their vendor pointed
the company to CradlePoint routers. "The solution of an
economical router came to us from the Gateway software
people, who were helping us with the paperless ticketing
system. When we investigated CradlePoint, the price point
was excellent. No one else came close," says Bob. "In
addition, the CradlePoint CTR-500 that we chose is about the
size of a BlackBerry PDA, and the air card doesn't stick way
out, so we could install it in a concealed, out-of-the-way spot
where no one could tamper with it."
"The price point was excellent.
No one came close."
The company plans to have the backend of the paperless
ticketing system in place by summer. In the meantime, the
CradlePoint mobile broadband infrastructure is the first piece
to be put into place. "With paperless ticketing, our drivers will
just scan a bar code on the ticket and the information will go
through the CradlePoint router, over the Internet and right to
our back office," notes Bob. "We'll be able to view data in
real-time, instead of the two-week lag that the current manual
process entails."
Bob continues: "In addition, our customers had been
asking for Wi-Fi access for a while, but the cost was just
too prohibitive. But now, CradlePoint makes it affordable. In
fact, we use Wi-Fi as a marketing tool to attract new riders.
Customers have positively commented on the free Wi-Fi we
offer. Better yet, our competition does not offer it."
BENEFITS
•
"Installation was very simple," notes Bob. "We
Simple.
wired it to a "keyed-on" power source, so it will reset on
every start."
•
Reliable.
"We've been using the CradlePoint routers for
over 6 months now on our motorcoaches," reports Bob,
"and we have had no failures."
•
Performance.
"The fact that we've had no complaints
from customers about speed or performance speaks for
itself," says Bob.
•
"With the functionality offered in the
Robust Feature Set.
admin menu, we were able to lock out certain websites
that eat up a lot of bandwidth, like YouTube, while still
allowing customers normal Internet and email use,"
explains Bob. "This enables us to stay under the 5GB/
month data plans that are offered."
•
Support.
"On the initial setup, the one broadband card
from Verizon was not compatible with the router," reports
Bob. "CradlePoint went to Verizon and was able to have
that as a compatible card within a few days. That is pretty
good support!"
•
Affordable.
"CradlePoint was the most economical
choice when we first got them," says Bob. "And they're
still the most economical choice."
Bob adds one final thought: "The CradlePoint routers were
small enough that we could install them out of sight. That
helps us maintain a clean, professional look inside our
motorcoaches."
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