Less Networks connects four-millionth WiFi session
4 Million and Counting
Austin, TX – WiFi-enabled marketing solutions and service provider Less Networks counted its four-millionth WiFi connection this week. “I saw the counter at 3,999,000 and some change a few days ago and knew four million was coming up, but by the next time I looked again, it had already tipped over,” says CEO Rich MacKinnon. “To me, four million means reliability and dependability. People take reliability for granted, but we know that giving people that impression takes a good team standing behind good work. We’re very proud of what we’ve built here. Anybody can create a prototype technology and startup service, but operating a quality service with the test of time is an accomplishment. Our users create accounts and login from all around the world 24 hours a day using PC notebooks, Macs, notepads, and smartphones and they just expect the service to work. And so do we. ”
Less Networks takes reliability seriously. MacKinnon continues: We built our service on what we call the “Yahoo model.” We wanted to create a free WiFi network that was more sophisticated than Starbucks and just as easy to use as Yahoo. In other words, we wanted our user interface to be intuitive or self-explanatory enough that most people would be able to figure it out without assistance. But unlike most Internet companies like Yahoo or Facebook, we provide an 800 toll-free number and support email address on our website for people to let us know when they need help. We rarely get these kinds of communications, but when we do, we take note and revisit our experience to see if there’s anything we can do to improve it and reduce those types of calls in the future. We love hearing from our customers, but when someone calls for help using our system, it means that we didn’t build it as good as we could have.
On the other hand, like every company, we’ve gotten our share of humorous support calls that no amount of design and solid architecture can prevent. Our favorite calls come from people sitting in their own homes, miles away from one of our hotspots, complaining about poor reception. Our least favorite calls come from our competitors pretending to be prospective customers. Yeah, we’re wise to y’all, but we’re polite just in case 
MacKinnon says the 4,000,000th connection is very different from the 1st one logged in 2003. Back then free WiFi was a novelty and Starbucks was still charging for it. Facebook didn’t exist for most folks and MySpace was just getting started. We had a concept of a WiFi community, really a very early social network, where you could upload a photo of yourself and meet others logged into the same coffee shop or at another hotspot on the network. It was a benefit of having a WiFi account. At Starbucks you needed an account to hold your credit card info. At Less Networks, you needed your account to socialize with others on the network. “I guess we were ahead of our time,” says MacKinnon. “We don’t really get much credit for being the world’s first WiFi social network. That’s okay. We know it.”
Today, instead of primarily displaying a business’ website to WiFi users, the emphasis is on connecting consumers with a business’ social media. “I’d say it’s the biggest change and it’s a perfect fit for us. If one of your customers is going to use your WiFi to connect to the Internet, there’s no better time to introduce them to your Facebook fan page, Twitter page, email newsletter, and other web-based marketing. It’s so much more effective than a paper sign in your store that says ‘Follow us on Facebook.’ Why not simply take them to the page? And yes, we still help WiFi users meet one another on the network.”
What’s in store for the next million connects? “In a word? ChimpIt,” says MacKinnon. “It’s our secret weapon. Our competitors have nothing like it and it’s going to blow the top off WiFi-integrated marketing. We’re already getting a terrific response from digital marketing directors as they begin to wrap their heads around what ChimpIt can do for their brand engagement, customer relationships, and market intelligence.”
Anything else? “We’re about to log our half-million registered user,” says MacKinnon. “It took us a while to get here, but that’s a lot of people nonetheless. In addition to ChimpIt, we’ve got another exciting technology up our sleeves that will help us enter new markets and get us up to a million users real quick.”
Sounds like Less Networks is continuing to innovate allowing them to provide even more ways for businesses to get value from providing free WiFi to their customers.
