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Gamgee: Smart home management apps should engage consumers

March 1, 2023

Broadband service providers and router suppliers can revolutionise home networking and unlock new revenue streams and upselling opportunities by using a smart home management app which doubles up as a customer engagement tool, according to Gamgee’s CEO Paul Hendriks.

Speaking as Mobile World Congress 2023 in Barcelona, Hendriks said that the smart home of the future will use the power of Wi-Fi for far more than just broadband connectivity. Services such as home security, care services and energy saving can all be provided over Wi-Fi if end-users have a home network / mesh network with the app and intelligence built into one service. Operators will differentiate their product from others in the marketplace through the extra services they offer consumers.

“More Wi-Fi does not mean better Wi-Fi as it creates more interference. An app with a rich feature set not only acts as a digital smart home platform, tackling in-home Wi-Fi issues and seamlessly managing Wi-Fi, users, and devices, but also gives service providers the ability to engage with end-users,” said Hendriks. “An application that is fully integrated with the end-user is a powerful engagement tool that can generate product-led growth for broadband operators. They can start small, perhaps with a free service, and once users are engaged, trial other elements and trigger customers to spend more and subscribe to more services.”

“Having a smart home management app is not new but the key is making sure people use it,” he continued. “Apps like WhatsApp and Instagram are popular and heavily used because users are constantly engaged. If an app is hidden away, it may as well not exist, but if users see it as a digital smart home platform that manages their digital lives, then it becomes incredibly valuable.”

The Gamgee app can be utilised on users’ mobile devices, providing an overview of all the devices connected to the router, while measuring Wi-Fi traffic and performance. It can allocate and prioritise bandwidth for certain devices when needed, such as a laptop for a work meeting over another user in the home network streaming videos on a tablet. Gamgee’s feature set includes cybersecurity, identity protection, VPN service, a special and dedicated secure home office network, and soon, a home alarm system.

Hendriks said: “The Gamgee application can sit on any router, making the router smarter, and arm users with the tools to manage the router seamlessly. The more digital our households become, the more challenging the situation becomes for the existing home network. Our goal is to make complicated technologies easier for the user to manage, and everyone can be the IT manager of their own home, managing their digital life from the palm of their hand.”

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