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Cybercafés – Managed Internet Connections Promote Best Practice |
| For cybercafes where the core of the business
depends on the internet, the issue few have successfully resolved is how to
manage the connection itself.
A single device that manages the connection would instantly resolve a range of fundamental business issues faced by cybercafes. Optimising customer access, content filtering, virus checking all internet traffic, spyware blocking, controlling downloads to prevent excessive bandwidth consumption, supporting VOIP services, managing internet traffic, security against hacking, spam filtering, fast access to safe and approved chat-rooms, managing and ensuring all software updates are received and acted on, providing accountability for content accessed by customers and fulfilling moral obligations of logging attempts to access wholly inappropriate content. Once a cybercafé has been tarnished by local press reports of children gaining access to such content hard won reputation is hard to restore. Even for those who have invested heavily in certain parts of the management infrastructure there’s the overhead of supporting different components listed above in both management time and expense. Some are specialist skills such as the ability to cache content intelligently to cut demands on bandwidth by over 30%, or the ability to ensure heavy downloaders of video or music don’t hog the bandwidth at the expense of other users. Here too traffic management can make the difference in quality needed to offer VOIP services such as Skype to customers that are free from degradation and latency. This then, is the rationale behind the development of the GuardianBox, a single device that allows cybercafé proprietors to manage access to the internet in a multi-user environment simply and effectively. A single inexpensive device supports 25 users (50 & 100 user versions also available) with a small monthly fee to cover 24x7 live data updates for viruses and spam and a live management portal. Here inappropriate content can be filtered out at source and all appropriate statistics on internet access provides accountability for access. For techno-phobes direct telephone support is provided allowing a tailored and customised package to fit individual access needs. PCPro: “Verdict: An easily deployed and managed UTM (Unified Threat Management) solution that suits businesses wanting a fit-and-forget solution.” There isn’t any code of best practice for Cybercafes. However what users expect and get from their cybercafe haunts goes long way in how successful they are and typically include
Clearly cybercafe owners and operators would wish for a few things from their customers in return such as:
But in a real world wouldn’t it be nice to have a GuardianBox guarantee both sets of expectations can be met, leave the last issue decent coffee to take care of the repeat visits? Assuming great service and availability haven’t already swayed customer judgement. And how long will it be in the real world before bandwidth becomes chargeable meaning that savings here can genuinely impact the bottom line. How long too before proprietors become accountable for the content customers access and what tools are available to guarantee acceptable use is put into practice? How the GuardianBox works So how can the Cybercafe owners and operators give their clients what they expect but without a huge additional investment of scary router type technology? The GuardianBox sits at the point where the cybercafé LAN (wi-fi or not) meets the internet and the GuardianBox provides the gateway for the cybercafe onto the internet. It works in any country, and, with any broadband service that provides an RJ45 connection including satellite (VSAT), cable, ADSL, SDSL The intelligent web cache function of the GuardianBox saves cybercafe's approx 30% of their http traffic. Over 20Mb stores the most commonly accessed content so when users make a web page request it doesn’t always have to be downloaded. Add this bandwidth saving to the host of other bandwidth saving services such as DNS Lookup Retention and you have a device that can increase the browsing speeds for cybercafe users by up to 30%. By enabling the sophisticated, yet very simple to use Content Filtering, cybercafé operators can block access to pornographic sites thus saving lots of bandwidth and helping the cybercafé operate a responsible use policy. Not only does the content filtering save bandwidth but it reduces the risk of virus and spyware infection significantly. As does the inbuilt double virus filtering and can be relied on for the latest virus updates on a minute by minute basis as long the GuardianBox is connected. Another function of the content filtering is to control downloads by file type. The last thing a cybercafé needs is one machine using all of the available bandwidth to download an ISO for example. Being able to offer Skype, VOIP & SIP services is important to any cybercafe's success. These services such as Skype demand high quality access. Using ‘in-route’ or ‘upload traffic shaping working’ as a transparent feature on the internet connection for the cybercafé allows this traffic to be prioritised and get the high quality it demands. GuardianBox’s traffic shaping is built in as part of its standard service and makes a significant difference the both the quality and usability of services such as Skype & other VOIP services. So to summarise, a GuardianBox significantly enhances any cybercafe's internet access by:
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Page started 28 June 2006, amended 10 June 2008. Back to VSAT anti-virus, security and traffic management