Make in India Archives

Hotel PMS Integration

Integrate Hotel WiFi with your PMS system and automate billing for your guests

Nowadays, more and more hotel owners are incorporating Property Management Systems (PMS) to maximize efficiency and increase revenue across all locations. PMS systems help them in managing room reservations, guest amenities, room inventory, accounting and billing etc. Integrating Property Management Systems with Wi-Fi is a crucial first step for hotels that want to stay ahead of the curve by offering guests premium services. Not only will it improve guest experiences, it is also a powerful tool to help manage complex systems, inventory and services from one easy location.

The hotel PMS integration with a wireless network can ensure guest satisfaction by allowing guests the option to choose their Wi-Fi package instantly. Personalized information can be delivered to guests throughout the property, and all billing is done seamlessly. When done automatically, you can eliminate manual data entry that can lead to errors, missed billing, or billing disputes with guests. And as personalization becomes increasingly important, hotels can offer guests tie-ins to rewards programs.

This all can be done by connecting hotel Internet gateway seamlessly to hotel PMS.

A hotel Internet gateway is the backbone of a robust and reliable hospitality network. Inventum’s MSG Hotspot Gateways is the best solution for hotels. The all-in-one appliance combines the functions of a router, firewall, NAC, user directory & more in a ready-to-deploy solution.

Inventum MSG Hotspot Gateway — ***MSG Hotspot Gateway***

MSG supports leading PMS systems for seamless access for in-room guests using room number and guest name. Free or upgraded speed plans can be offered against payment to both guests and hotel visitors.

Combine free Hotel WiFi with paid faster access
When a guest checks in, he/she can chooses username, password, Wi-Fi plan and confirms the identity with a room number and personal details. If successful, Internet is enabled and payment is added on provided room number, and customer will see this charge in your PMS. System can be configured as you want like Free/Limited/Paid Wi-Fi access. The entire process is automated, and follows the rules you specify.

The MSG offers a built in portal and self-care system. All new customers are redirected to a login page where they can first register using forms or a simple mobile number with OTP verification code. Prepay PIN, scratch card, Internet plan purchase using credit card or roaming from aggregators such as iPass are all supported. Returning customers are seamlessly recognised with zero touch access.

Hoteliers simply need to add Wi-Fi Access Points and an Internet connection to the MSG to get their Wi-Fi service going. Hoteliers can also chooses Inventum’s Cloud-Managed 802.11ac Access points.

Inventum Access Point — ***802.11ac Access points***

To discuss further, and how can this solution be incorporated into your business, please contact us today.

Want to know How can the hotel industry recover after COVID-19? Click here.

10 Most Promising WiFi Solutions Providers in India

Inventum Technologies Featured in “10 Most Promising WiFi Solutions Providers in India 2019”

The days of inconsistent connectivity and Internet cables are in the past. Customers are now better informed and demand instant connectivity. Despite low mobile data prices, customers are turning to Wi-Fi for better and much improved experiences. This has carved a niche market for managed Wi-Fi services. Managed Wi-Fi solutions and services play a key role in better managing the user’s access and the entire lifecycle of WLAN right from designing to installing wireless systems including proactive network and infrastructure management. Adoption of cloud based Wi-Fi services is the future.

Enterprises are on a constant lookout for Wi-Fi solution providers who can keep them in pace with the changing norms. Perfectly understanding demands of the industry, CIOReview released a list of “10 Most Promising Wi-Fi Solution Providers – 2019”. These solution vendors will help in transforming business processes through their significant offerings.

Inventum Technologies is featured in CIO Review Magazine list of “10 Most Promising Wi-Fi Solutions Providers – 2019”

Perfectly poised in this market, Inventum leveraged its deep domain expertise to launch its Udaya brand of Wi-Fi 5 products that offer a fully cloud managed experience for offices and premium homes, allowing customers to use a mobile app and control everything about their Wi-Fi experience.

Ideal for enterprises, hotspots and other public networks, the Udaya series of products are all managed centrally from a public cloud including configuration, monitoring, captive portals, SMS sign-on, payment gateway interfaces and analytics. Taking serious security measures to put any apprehensions customers may have at ease, the company used its deep expertise gained from working with its telecom customers over the years and applied it to improve security and QoS where Inventum’s access points, gateways and routers are second to none along with a list of features built for the Indian market.

Incepted in 2003, the company holds a leadership positions in manufacturing routers, access points, gateways and associated software systems permitting the delivery of an end-to-end solution exclusively using Inventum products. Inventum can provide you the wireless equipment, the backend software systems, lawful interception systems, security systems and routers that are all made in India; but more importantly, Inventum can also install and operate the entire network for you.

“Inventum’s decades of experience in large public Wi-Fi projects has translated well to managed Wi-Fi projects for Co-Living, Co-Working spaces, hotels, hospitals, office campuses and the likes.”

Making a Difference

Inventum led its first large network, Tikona in 2009, where there was a 22 city roll-out, on a scale that had never been attempted before. The company was also involved in a national managed Wi-Fi network project for PVR cinemas which is one of the largest such projects across Asia. Additionally, the company takes pride in the completion of its recent project where the backend solutions were delivered to RailTel to enable Wi-Fi at 5,400 railway stations across India. Simultaneously, Inventum has implemented 15 smart City Wi-Fi projects.

CIOReview is a technology magazine that talks about the enterprise solutions that can redefine the business goals of enterprises tomorrow. It is the leading source that shares innovative enterprise solutions developed by established solutions providers, upcoming hot enterprises and is a neutral source for technology decision makers.

For more details on Inventum’s Wi-Fi Solutions, click here.

Full details about the 2019 Vendors list can be found at https://wifi.cioreviewindia.com/vendors/2019/1

Inventum receives WiFi Leadership Awards 2019

Inventum Technologies has been conferred with the 3^nd My India WiFi India Leadership Award 2019 for “Best WiFi OSS/BSS Solution” at the recently concluded My India WiFi Summit & Awards 2019 at The Imperial Hotel, New Delhi on Aug. 20, 2019 organised by DigiAnalysys.

This award recognizes Inventum as one of the top most OSS/BSS Solution provider in India. This is Inventum second year in a row. Inventum had received My India WiFi India Leadership Award 2018 for “Best Cloud WiFi Solution”.

Mr. Anil Walia (extreme left), CSMO, Inventum, receiving the award from Mr. TR Dua (centre), Director General, TAIPA accompanied by Mr. Pradeep Kushwah (extreme right), Marketing Manager, Inventum

The awards ceremony was attended by imminent industry leaders including Dinesh Tyagi, CEO, CSC SPV; Sarvesh Singh, CMD, BBNL; A Seshagiri Rao, CMD, TCIL; Vipin Tyagi, Executive Director, C-DOT; K Alagesan, CMD, ITI and many other dignitary.

Mr. Sachin Mehra (extreme left), CEO Inventum, receiving the award for “Best Cloud WiFi Solution” from Mr. Anuj Jain (centre), President, Reliance Jio accompanied by Mr. Anil Walia (extreme right), CSMO, Inventum

Speaking on the event, Mr. Anil Walia, Chief Sales Officer, Inventum, says “We are delighted to receive the My India WiFi India Leadership Award 2019 for Best WiFi OSS/BSS Solution category. This coveted award is result of our continous efforts of improving ISPs & WISPs customers experience and providing them a end-to-end solution.”

Inventum’s UNIFY is a complete stack of billing & operations management (B/OSS) software. The key modules for the stack includes AAA, Subscriber CRM, Financial Accounting, Prepay & Postpaid Billing, Reseller Management, Electronic Wallet System and many more.

Inventum is a leading provider of fixed & wireless data networks technology with a strong made in India portfolio. Inventum builds routers, cloud solution, security and software systems that power some of the world’s largest communication networks. Inventum products are used by mobile operators, FTTH providers, ISP, Wi-Fi hotspots, Airports, Hospitality, Convention Centres and Smart Cities.

My India WiFi India Awards were instituted by DigiAnalysys Media in 2017 to recognise and celebrate visionary enterprises across industry segments and to focus on highlighting key trends and technologies in the WiFi segment.

ISP Routers built for Africa launched at ICT Expo 2019 Kigali

A range of routers suited for the African ISP industry were launched at the recently concluded India-Africa ICT Expo 2019. Indian vendor Inventum showcased both its hardware & virtual router products at the event.

Inventum believes that it’s extensive experience with ISP, WISP, hotspots and Smart Cities in India will translate well for African customers who face similar challenges.

Inventum Booth at India Africa ICR 2019 — ***Inventum at India Africa ICT 2019, Kigali, Rwanda***

“We are a trusted made in India brand with 2 decades of proven experience in developing hardware and software solutions for the ISP & telecom sector which we believe is ideal for Africa…” said Mr. Anil Walia, Chief Sales Officer, Inventum.

Presently Inventum offers a range of high speed routers, BNG, WAG, cyber security and Wi-Fi access point products. The company also provides OSS/BSS, AAA, Postpaid & prepay billing products.

Inventum Participation at ICT Africa conference — ***Conference at India Africa ICT 2019, Kigali, Rawanda***

Inventum at India-Africa ICT 2019 show held in Kigali, Rwanda

Why virtual routers?

Most of us are familiar with routers. The little black boxes sitting in the corner of our home or office with messy wires sticking out.

What is not common knowledge is that routers come in many shapes & sizes. Home Wi-Fi routers that are good for small number of devices and large enterprise routers that serve thousands of users. Costs also vary significantly with home routers costing a few dollars while enterprise models run into the thousands.

No matter which category of router you fall in, it’s always hard to differentiate from the myriad choices. This is where virtual routers come in, with no hardware purchase and costing next to nothing.

What are virtual routers?

Virtual routers are software routers that use a normal PC (or server) to do their job.

With the advent of software defined networking (SDN) many functions of the modern enterprise are being virtualised to save cost and vendor lock-in. This is also referred to as NFV or network function virtualisation. In simple terms, functions that were performed by dedicated networking devices are now performed by software running on commercial-off-the-shelf servers (COTS).

The VSR

Inventum’s VSR is a virtual router that can replace any hardware router. The VSR software automatically detects the PC hardware and sets it up to function as a router. Connect your Internet & LAN to the relevant ports of the PC and voila!

Performance

Performance of your virtual router really depends on your PC hardware. Depending on the number of CPU cores, memory and network cards virtual routers can easily handle multi-gigabit traffic. Advances from Intel® in multi-core processors and the DPDK framework have enabled network fast-paths on commodity servers.

Inventum has combined these developments with its own optimised software to build virtual routers that can deliver millions of packets per second (mpps) on Intel® Atom® & Xeon® processors.

Go Virtual

If you haven’t yet dabbled with network function virtulization (NFV) the virtual router may be the first thing to try.

Fire up a machine on the cloud or use a hypervisor on-prem, the virtual router can address every use case that a physical router can. No lock-in to proprietary hardware and no expensive maintenance contracts.

Download and try the VSR today!

Digital India, an entrepreneur’s perspective

Back in 1983, I fell in love with computing on the BBC Micro & the Sinclair ZX Spectrum+. Having access to a computer was a small miracle back then. What was cooler was that the computer at school, a SCL Unicorn (clone of the BBC Micro) was made by Semiconductor Complex Limited Chandigarh, Punjab. The micro was legendary & my fellow enthusiasts may recall that today’s popular ARM architecture had its genesis on one of these very puppies.

Fast forward 30 years and India’s electronics import bill is poised to over take oil, topping $400 billion by 2020.

How did we get here? How does a nation that launches missions to Mars become a relative nobody in the high-tech electronics (ESDM) space.

The Services Gold Rush

We can’t build them, but we can programme them. And programme we did. Infosys, Wipro & HCL are stuff of legend. They got the country hard earned dollars in dark times. The brightest emigrated, most ending up in silicon valley where alongside the Chinese they dominated.

And while we got the gold, at home we forgot about the hardware bits – Research, Design, Development & real innovation. I guess that was relegated to government run ISRO, DRDO & other similar institutions.

Mamla Risky Hai (Matters of Risk)

The Israelis have made a fine art of creating, growing and then harvesting multi billion dollar tech companies. At the heart of their success lies a strong will, the right eco-system, risk capital, experience and serious R&D. The Chief Scientists’ Office (CSO) of Israel plays a central role in startups, providing capital, forging joint ventures, incubating & nurturing. Above all, the CSO is very protective of Israeli Intellectual Property.

India has no CSO equivalent, but has excellent talent (IIT aside) and daring entrepreneurs. Then why aren’t we seeing world beating Indian product companies in high tech? I believe a lot has to do with the lack of high risk capital for investment in basic research which is crucial to invention, creative destruction.

The truth is that tech services is a sure shot, building networking equipment for telecom or defence is not. Our financial apparatus including banks, private conglomerates, venture funds & the government really don’t like risk unless they can own and control it.

A conversation I had with one of India’s telecom Tzars many moons ago for for investing in telecom equipment startups summarised the sentiment “telecom is about regulation, not technology… our job is to manage regulation, sales & marketing; the tech we have outsourced to the Americans & Chinese…”.

It is no wonder then that despite being the second largest mobile market on the planet, we do not have a single Huawei, Cisco or Ericsson of our own. The gain of our mobile operators from sweetheart deals delivered by foreign vendors and their Exim banks ensured that any Indian innovation in core telecom products was killed off. A tragedy, considering a large part of our $400 bn import bill in 2020 originates from telecom. Those iPhones really add up quickly.

Risk capital is not available to Digital India entrepreneurs period. What you can get is high interest debt. Schemes of the government are dysfunctional, impractical targeting a few lacs to get you started, but how does one compete with Cisco & Huawei? Almost all tech VC funds are foreign and the flavour of the month seems to be E-Commerce. So how do $1-5 million revenue companies in Digital India access capital without pledging their homes?

Government Stimulus

Would India be a market leader in auto components had it not been for Maruti? Probably not. And what of India’s IT boom without the early income tax exemptions. And what of our crony capitalist, none of whom would have existed without government patronage.

So why is ESDM the bastard child? Maybe ESDM was missing its crony!

The most recent meaningful regulation in ESDM has been PMA. DeITy notified the Preference to Domestically Manufactured Electronics Goods (PMA) in 2013. The policy promotes Indian goods by reserving part of government tenders for local companies. No concession on specifications or quality, only exemptions from tender conditions like “must have 5,000 cr net profit for the last 3 years”; after all which Indian company has that! PMA was instantly opposed by COAI, probably because private telecom operators were made party to it. Their chief argument was that Indian companies cannot ever make telecom gear. It eludes me as to why potentially the biggest sponsors of telecom ESDM would oppose PMA. And while PMA was diluted to apply only to PSU purchases, it did yield immediate results with two silicon fabs being announced.

For me, the government’s message to foreign vendors was loud & clear – India no longer wants to sell services at $50/hour, we want a piece of the Intellectual Property pie, to be registered, manufactured & taxed here.

What Indian companies need are many more policies like PMA. More government stimulus, capital & industry sponsorship. Defence must participate too.

Make in India

Nothing is easy to make in India. Its hard enough to set up an office, let alone build a product. Being an Indian entrepreneur reminds me of the video game Asteroids, fragments of menacing celestial bodies coming at you in full force from all directions. Patience is crucial to persevere.

And then Modi’s Make in India happened, Digital India happened. He put sexy back into making hardware. He did in 3 words what we had struggled to do for decades. There is hope.

I believe the road is going to be long and arduous. We need to sort out our labour laws, manufacturing, incentives, logistics, taxes, ancillary industries, human resources, IPR laws and so much more. And while foreign vendors like Cisco are already taking advantage, its the smaller Indian entrepreneurs that need to be empowered to drive this revolution.

With Mr. Modi on his way to Silicon Valley to woo the diaspora, my question is, who is listening to the little guys at home.

Full disclosure – I work for Inventum, one of the only carrier-class Indian router makers. The company provides Broadband RAS, Service Routers, Billing & Provisioning systems for telecom, enterprises, education & hospitality. The views expressed here are my personal experiences as an entrepreneur in the Indian high-technology space.