Purple’s Paid WiFi solution provides a revenue stream by charging guests for WiFi usage.
Paid WiFi allows you to limit user access based on:
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Time: When the limit is reached and usage continues, a charge to the guest is incurred
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Speed: Users have the option to upgrade to a faster WiFi service for a charge
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Usage: You can set a threshold on data usage. As an example, you may wish for guests who are streaming videos (and using a higher proportion of the allocated bandwidth) to be charged
Portal Configuration
To access Paid WiFi settings, select Management > Paid WiFi from within the portal.
The designs of the page where plans display to the visitor cannot be customised.
If the network is on a mobile data plan (i.e. SIM card), you must ensure the data follows the same path in and out of the network for authentications to succeed.
Plan usage
If the plan is consumed in full or expires, the device does not always trigger an alert to advise the user their session has expired and therefore in some instances the user must reconnect to the WiFi manually.
See more information on how our Paid WiFi solution drives revenue and provides premium experiences. AGS achieved an 842% ROI using our TB capabilities to drive additional revenue.
Create a Free Plan
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Click Add new free plan.
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Complete the plan information as follows:
Plan name
Name of the plan, for example, Free WiFi plan.
Description
Description of the plan.
Concurrent devices
Choose the number of devices a visitor can use at the same time for this plan. Free reset period
The amount of time a visitor must wait before they can access this plan again. Time limit
The length of time a visitor can use the WiFi on this plan. Data limit
Select this option if you want to limit the amount of data the visitor can download and upload. Speed limit
Select this option if you want to limit the download or upload speed for the visitor. Aruba user role
This is only for Aruba APs. If you do not have an Aruba AP leave this blank. If you do have an Aruba AP: enter the user role name which must also be set up on the Aruba AP. -
Click Save plan.
Create a Paid Plan
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Click Add new paid plan
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Complete the plan information as follows:
Plan name
Name of the plan, for example, Free WiFi plan.
Description
Description of the plan.
Concurrent devices
Choose the number of devices a visitor can use at the same time for this plan. Free reset period
The amount of time a visitor must wait before they can access this plan again. Time limit
The length of time a visitor can use the WiFi on this plan. Data limit
Select this option if you want to limit the amount of data the visitor can download and upload. Speed limit
Select this option if you want to limit the download or upload speed for the visitor. Aruba user role
This is only for Aruba APs. If you do not have an Aruba AP leave this blank. If you do have an Aruba AP: enter the user role name which must also be set up on the Aruba AP. Price
Amount for the plan. Leave this blank for the free plan.
Paid currency
Unit of currency you want to use for the payment. Leave this blank for the free plan.
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Click Save plan.
Set the plan as live: Add it to an Access Journey
From the company level:
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Click Onboarding > Access journeys, then select the access journey you want to apply the paid wifi to.
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Click Paid WiFi and select Enable paid wifi:
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Select the plans you want to make available on the Access Journey.
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If you enable a paid plan, select the payment options you wish to use (for PayPal, Windcave and Worldpay, you must set up each connector first).
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Save and Publish the Access Journey.
Paid WiFi branding (Developer tool): Apply custom branding to Paid WiFi pages - Available as an additional Consultancy Services package.
Payment Methods
End user payment options include:
Google Pay is not supported as a payment option. Google Pay has disabled support for embedded browsers, meaning devices cannot use this payment method inside a Captive Network Assistant (CNA).
If you are using Stripe, there is a commission rate of 10%. To receive payments it is required that you contact the Billing Team.
We are unable to process payments of a value less then 30p using the default payment option of Stripe.
Transactions can be viewed in your 'Billing and purchases' section. This is found via the person icon in the top-right of the screen once you've logged into the platform.
If you are using one of the listed connector options, transactions will be viewable within each platform.
Generate Vouchers for a Paid Plan
Vouchers are implemented via the Management > Paid WiFi option from the platform’s left-hand side menu. They can only be implemented at Company level; not at Group or Venue level.
From ‘Your current plans’, select the three dots and choose ‘Vouchers’ from the dropdown menu:
A pop-up will appear where you can choose:
- The number of vouchers available for the paid wifi plan (a maximum of 500 can be selected)
- The date the voucher is valid until (inclusive)
- Whether the voucher can be used more than once
Select the ‘Reusable?’ box to enable reusable vouchers, then click ‘Generate’:
The voucher codes are sent to your portal account’s email address. You can then distribute these codes to your visitors.
Voucher codes are sent in plain text format attached to emails.
Voucher Metrics
Information for all vouchers created in future will include:
- When the code was activated
- How many times the voucher code has been used (if reusable)
- The email addresses that activated WiFi via a voucher code. This enables improved communications targeting
Vouchers created before the latest update (from 15-Sep-2023) will not include historical usage data.
To find the metrics, log into the platform at the Company level and select Management > Paid WiFi from the left-hand sidebar menu.
From the list of plans, if the plan has vouchers created then its name will be a hyperlink (e.g. Test in the example below):
Click this hyperlink to be taken to a page which lists the vouchers for the plan, along with details such as the number of times it has been used (for reusable vouchers), whether it is reusable, and when it's valid until:
If a voucher has been used, you can click on the voucher name to see information about the specific usages (e.g. the email of who used it and when it was activated). The used voucher report can also be easily downloaded in a .CSV file.
End User Experience (New)
New Paid WiFi screens are being introduced to improve the end-user experience and increase the conversion rate. It does this through a more modern, streamlined design that has been designed with security considerations in mind. Benefits include:- Enhancing the end-user experience
- Making the process quicker to purchase and get online
- Increasing the conversion rate, thus boosting customer revenue
After selecting the WiFi network, the user will be presented with Free or Paid-for options:
They can also enter a voucher code and select ‘Redeem’. This will validate the voucher code, removing a step which previously required an additional page. The screen after voucher redemption shows the plan their voucher is, with a button to ‘Get online’.
If selecting the Free plan, they will still have the option to upgrade. A dashboard clearly displays the time and data they have remaining:
The payment options include:
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PayPal
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Apple Pay
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Card (Stripe, Buynet, WorldPay and Windcave are supported)
If 'Card' is selected, a screen with billing details appears. The ‘Pay now’ screen will automatically populate from the registration form where applicable, which wasn’t previously the case:
With this release, Stripe payments will automatically redirect users to the online splash page after selecting ‘Pay now’.
There is the option to activate an additional step for visitors who pay using Stripe. This displays an extra page after the visitor has paid, with options of ‘Activate now’, or go ‘Back to plans’. The latter option allows the end user to purchase another voucher, or to activate the voucher at a later time. This additional step can be toggled on within ‘Company Settings’ in the Purple Portal.
Analytics Dashboard (New)
The new Paid WiFi Dashboard transforms how customers can interact with and analyze their paid WiFi usage data, enhancing decision-making capabilities by providing direct and streamlined access to critical insights.- Direct and Instant Access to Paid WiFi Metrics: The new Paid WiFi Dashboard provides direct access to gain insights into your paid WiFi usage, with essential metrics and trends to optimise performance.
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Comprehensive Metrics: The dashboard includes a variety of essential metrics, such as transactions, revenue, the number of paying customers, the percentage of paying customers, total free and paid customers, and the number of refunds.
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Trend Analysis: Users can view daily revenue and transactions to monitor trends over time, supporting more informed and dynamic decision-making.
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Detailed Package Insights: By breaking down data by paid WiFi packages, customers can filter and analyze performance by specific packages, aiding in optimizing pricing strategies and package offerings.
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Revenue Breakdown and Analysis: The dashboard provides detailed revenue breakdowns by payment methods and offers the ability to filter data by date, venue, and currency (GBP, EUR, USD). Please note, if you operate in multiple currencies, be sure to select the appropriate currency using the filter, as conversion rates are not automatically applied.
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Venue Performance Ranking: Easily identify top-performing venues with a view of the top 10 venues ranked by WiFi revenue, helping to pinpoint areas of success and opportunities for growth.
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User Engagement Tracking: The dashboard's ability to monitor user engagement on paid plans supports customers in refining their WiFi offerings and enhancing overall service attractiveness.