5 April, 2016

Front Porch deploys fully virtualized in browser messaging solution for ISPs

2018-08-13T14:29:25-07:00April 5th, 2016|

Front Porch’s Virtual Option Already Deployed in Some of the World’s Largest Production Networks

Sonora, California – April 5, 2016 – Front Porch, the world’s leading provider of innovative subscriber engagement solutions, now offers a fully virtual option of its PorchLight® appliance. Taking advantage of existing VMWare infrastructure, the virtualized PorchLight saves time, money, and space by giving Internet Service Providers (ISPs) a dynamic solution to deliver content to their subscribers without any additional hardware.

“We’ve been able to implement our messaging platform in a virtual environment for several years now for some of our largest customers,” said Carlos Vazquez, chief technical officer for Front Porch. “We have perfected this particular method of deployment and are already working on expanding it into the networks of more of our clients.”

The benefits of a virtualized PorchLight are numerous. As Front Porch has clients all around the globe, a virtual deployment solution gets the PorchLight’s message delivery platform up and running much faster than using a physical appliance by avoiding shipping delays and customs.

For both international and domestic Front Porch customers alike, the virtualized installation method also provides a seamless option to get its best-of-breed in-browser messaging operating in a matter of hours. Deployed via VMWare, Front Porch’s virtual PorchLight configuration allows for high amounts of flexibility, multiple installation options, and dynamic scaling, which enable rapid provisioning of new PorchLights.

“The cost savings by deploying virtualized appliances can be appealing to service providers as well, as fewer physical devices can translate into reduced energy bills and cooling costs,” Vazquez added.

Front Porch is proud to sponsor the upcoming Wi-Fi Now conference April 19-21 in Washington, D.C., and key executives will be available at the Front Porch booth for meetings. For more information about Front Porch, please visit www.frontporch.com.

# # #

MEDIA CONTACT

Ned Sudduth

press@frontporch.com

(209) 288-5500

ABOUT FRONT PORCH

Front Porch offers broadband service providers an innovative and effective network-based subscriber notification solution that solves key communication needs and improves ISP-to-Subscriber engagement. With Front Porch’s network-based subscriber engagement platform, service providers reach subscribers with the right message, at the right time, to the right device. Top mobile and fixed line operators have benefited from Front Porch subscriber communication solutions since 1998. Front Porch is globally deployed and delivering value to Tier 1 operators in multiple markets.

19 February, 2015

Front Porch participates in Next Generation Hotspot Auto Authentication Demo with WBA and GSMA

2016-04-13T12:38:12-07:00February 19th, 2015|

Making Passpoint Auto-Authentication Possible

Front Porch is pleased to announce that it’s technology contributed to the ecosystem making Passpoint auto-authentication possible during the 2015 Mobile World Congress.

Public Network at Fira Gran Via Will Enable Automatic Authentication of Mobile Devices onto NGH Wi-Fi Network for Subscribers of Over 30 Networks Including; AT&T, BT, China Mobile, Fon, KT, Orange, Portugal Telecom, SK Telecom, Telstra and TELUS http://www.hotspot2experience.com

19th February 2015, London, UK: The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), the industry association focused on driving the next generation Wi-Fi experience, and the GSMA today announced that they will deploy Next Generation Hotspot (NGH) and PasspointTM/ Hotspot 2.0 technology on the Wi-Fi network at the GSMA Mobile World Congress 2015 in Barcelona, Spain from 2-5 March. The network, which will also be supported by the Wi-Fi Alliance, will allow attendees using iOS and Android devices that support Passpoint TM/ Hotspot 2.0 of participating mobile operators to automatically roam onto the network using secure credentials and also benefit from a secure Wi-Fi connection.

The platform, provided by Cisco, will demonstrate the full range of NGH and PasspointTM / Hotspot 2.0 capabilities allowing subscribers of these carriers to roam seamlessly onto the public Wi-Fi network at the Fira Gran Via venue. The network will support subscribers of operators including; 2 Degrees, AIS Thailand, AT&T, Bell Mobility, Boingo Wireless, BT, China Mobile, Comcast, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (du), Fon, Idea Cellular, KT, Linktel Corp, Mobily, Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel, Mobilink, MTN Nigeria, NTT DOCOMO, Omantel, Orange, HKT, Portugal Telecom, Telkom Indonesia, SK Telecom, Sprint, Swisscom, Shaw Communications, Telstra, TELUS, Towerstream True Corporation Plc. and Videotron. Additional technology partners include Accuris Networks, BSG Wireless, CableLabs, Front Porch, Spirent and Syniverse.

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12 February, 2013

Front Porch Provides Network Branding for Majority of CableWiFi

2018-08-13T14:30:53-07:00February 12th, 2013|

Auto-authentication is a double-edged sword.

It’s a boon for users of registered Wi-Fi devices, letting them automatically connect to CableWiFi, a nationwide hotspot collaboration among cable providers, without having to enter a username and password. But it’s a different story for MSOs, who saw key branding disappear along with their login page. Front Porch Inc. is helping MSOs regain this branding opportunity with its in-browser messaging system. The majority of the CableWiFi hotspot operators in the U.S. are now Front Porch-enabled, serving millions of Wi-Fi users.

Front Porch lets Wi-Fi providers deliver in-browser messages such as product promotions, app discovery, and service notifications to subscribers’ registered devices. With Front Porch’s in-browser notification, MSOs can add graphical content to any device’s screen and control its presentation, effects, and delivery as users surf the Internet. Now, when subscribers connect to a CableWiFi member network, they’re likely to see the MSO’s logo, as an overlay watermark, in the bottom right corner of their device’s browser, or perhaps a toolbar across the bottom of the screen, offering a variety of functions and messages.

MSOs can also use Front Porch technology to deliver device-specific promotions for Wi-Fi Finder, TV Everywhere, and Sports apps. Patented Front Porch technology ensures that all content is optimized for easy viewing on a variety of devices.

CableWiFi is a broad Wi-Fi-sharing effort among five of the nation’s largest MSOs, including Bright House Networks, Cox Communications, Optimum, Time Warner Cable, and XFINITY. The member companies give each other’s high-speed Internet customers free access to Wi-Fi hotspots outside their home network area. The majority of CableWiFi MSOs use the Front Porch in-browser messaging solution.

About Front Porch: Front Porch is the worldwide leader in Wi-Fi monetization. It offers residential and mobile broadband service providers a network-based in-browser notification solution that increases revenue by solving key communication needs, monetizing Wi-Fi, and making broadband a smart pipe without client-side software. Front Porch is headquartered in Sonora, California, with additional offices in Europe and Asia. www.frontporch.com/wifi

2 November, 2012

Front Porch Demonstrates Wi-Fi Monetization at WBA Congress

2016-04-13T12:38:17-07:00November 2nd, 2012|

SONORA, Calif., Nov 1 2012 – Front Porch, Inc. will demonstrate how Wi-Fi providers in all industries (cable, carrier, retail, resort, venue, metro) can improve their subscribers’ experience and their own bottom lines at the WBA Wi-Fi Global Congress, held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in San Francisco, Nov. 6–7, 2012.

Front Porch is the creator of a powerful communications platform that empowers Wi-Fi providers to deliver messages — such as product promotions, app discovery, and service notifications — to subscribers’ smartphones while they surf the web. Front Porch in-browser notification options allow network operators to put any graphical content on any device’s screen and control the presentation effects and timing of delivery as users surf anywhere on the Internet. Some network operators deliver transparent watermarks of their logo in the bottom right corner of the browser. Others deliver a interactive toolbar across the bottom of the screen with multiple functions and messages. Available as an appliance or a cloud service, the Front Porch solution lets Wi-Fi providers brand and monetize Wi-Fi, deliver product offers, gather business intelligence, increase app adoption, and turn showroomers into buyers.

Company representatives will be on hand at the event to demonstrate the solution’s ease of use. In addition, on Tuesday, Nov. 6, Derek Maxson, President and CTO of Front Porch, will take part in a panel discussion on developing and monetizing networks.

About Front Porch: Front Porch is the worldwide leader in Wi-Fi monetization. Its services use the patented PorchLight technology to generate millions of dollars for thousands of retailers, venues, and service providers in the U.S. and abroad. Front Porch is headquartered in Sonora, California, with additional offices in Europe and Asia. www.frontporch.com

About the WBA Wi-Fi Global Congress: The WBA Wi-Fi Global Congress is the world’s largest carrier-grade Wi-Fi event, bringing together more than 300 industry leaders from all parts of the ecosystem. www.wifiglobalcongress.com

14 May, 2012

Cable Wi-Fi Agenda Progress

2018-08-13T14:31:01-07:00May 14th, 2012|

Progress on Key Issues Offers Hope for Cable Wi-Fi Agenda

By Fred Dawson

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May 11, 2012 – Can the leading cable companies pull of their latest wireless strategy with greater success than previous efforts?

It’s hard to tell at this point, but generally things are going in the right direction. In fact, some participants in cable operators’ ambitious plans to allow their subscribers to roam across all cable partners’ hot spots nationwide say privately that this will be doable by sometime this summer.

Whether or not that turns out to be the case, progress on some key details bodes well for at least the first phase of Wi-Fi roaming strategy, which envisions contiguous Wi-Fi coverage in some MSOs’ service areas and some degree of expanded coverage across other cable footprints. As previously reported (December, p. 1), roaming partnerships tied to this build-out strategy kicked off last year with an agreement covering Cablevision, Time Warner Cable and Comcast service areas in the mid-Atlantic region and southern New England. These plans dovetail in still-vague ways with MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) deals to be forged with Verizon Wireless in conjunction with that carrier’s purchase of AWS cellular spectrum from Comcast, TWC, Cox and Bright House Networks.

All of the top MSOs with the exception of Charter Communications have recently signaled stepped-up Wi-Fi infrastructure agendas. Cablevision, for example, is now testing mobile access to video as the next step in its bid to be the first MSO to provide footprint-saturation coverage that encompasses streamed pay TV as well as broadband connectivity for its subscribers.

Comcast earlier this year told investors it was committed to expanding its footprint in 2012. And sources say Bright House has stayed on course with its previously announced plans for some 2,000 new hot spots in Florida cities.

Cox, while not saying much about its plans in the wake of abandoning its mobile strategy and selling off its AWS spectrum, has offered a clue to its plans in the form of a job solicitation notice posted on its Website. The MSO says it has a position for a “wireless design engineer III,” who will serve as “part of the mobility project team to take the technical lead in the analysis, design, implementation, optimization and enhancement of Wi-Fi wireless networks with a particular focus on adding out-of-home connectivity to…high-speed broadband Internet and video services and potentially voice service.”

TWC, which told investors in early May that it is deploying another 10,000 Wi-Fi hot spots in New York and Los Angeles this year with other cities to come, makes clear its goal is to create a robust carrier-grade wireless network capable of serving its own and partners’ subscribers with mobile broadband connectivity. “Wi-Fi at the carrier level is anything but simple and requires new technologies that go beyond vanilla reference design access points and enterprise-level management,” says Mike Roudi, senior vice president of mobile services at Time Warner Cable. “The problem is finding Wi-Fi technology specifically designed for stringent carrier requirements.”

TWC has turned to Ruckus Wireless as a second source beyond Ericsson’s newly acquired BelAir Networks unit for supply of dual–band strand–mounted Wi-Fi access points that integrate a DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem for backhauling Wi-Fi traffic over TWC’s existing cable plant. TWC is also using the Ruckus 802.11n Smart Wi-Fi platform to extend broadband services to high–traffic environments using specialized, ultra high–capacity Wi-Fi access points designed for stadiums and large public venues. “Our partnership with Ruckus will be important for delivering carrier–class Wi-Fi services that offer best–in–class broadband mobility to our subscribers,” Roudi says.

As Ruckus president and CEO Selina Lo notes, a big advantage for the Wi-Fi mobility strategy is it leverages a device base that doesn’t require MSOs to get into the phone-store business. “The expansion of Wi-Fi into millions of homes, offices and public Wi-Fi hotspots, along with the growth of a vast and mature ecosystem built of thousands of devices, has established Wi-Fi as the most heavily used wireless technology in the world,” Lo says.

Indeed, at the beginning of 2012, Wi-Fi accounted for 63.4 percent of all smartphone-originated data traffic within the United States, according to a new report from Mobidia. Rising smartphone penetration rates and the successful attachment of data plans to those devices will grow the value of small–screen access revenues to operators to more than $230 billion by 2016, according to Informa Telecoms & Media forecasts.

But this means operators will have to equip their networks with capabilities that go well beyond the early iterations of Wi-Fi where laptops were the primary targeted devices. Today’s Wi-Fi enabled smartphones have very different characteristics from one brand to the next in terms of power, antennas, support for IP–based streaming video and the constantly changing angle of these devices. The simple variation of a device’s orientation can account for up to a 5x performance degradation among Wi-Fi products unable to adapt to such changes, Lo notes.

In February The Wall Street Journal reported testing TWC and Cablevision hot spots in the New York area with decidedly mixed results. “Simple Google searches took several minutes to load at both operators’ hot spots, while YouTube videos and live streams from the WatchESPN iPhone app failed to load after more than 10 minutes of buffering at various Cablevision outdoor Wi-Fi access points in Brooklyn,” the report said.

These are the kinds of issues a state-of-the-art carrier Wi-Fi platform like TWC is deploying with Ruckus is meant to solve. Lo says. Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi focuses and constantly steers Wi-Fi signals over the fastest signal paths using patented adaptive antenna technology, he says, adding that the platform uses specialized technology that accounts for changing device orientation.

Now that operators are investing heavily in Wi-Fi infrastructure it stands to reason they would want their subscribers to know this enhancement to their broadband services is provided by their cable operator. It turns out this is harder than it seems, which has prompted one of the top MSOs in this space to deploy a customer messaging solution supplied by Front Porch, Inc.

Results of this unnamed MSO’s efforts bode well for the industry’s ability not only to enhance subscriber awareness of the operator’s role in providing the Wi-Fi service but also to drive greater usage of applications the operator is providing through that broadband connection, and the legacy fixed connection as well, says Front Porch founder and CEO Zach Britton. “Operators need to speak directly to subscribers over the Internet,” Britton says. “It’s a non-trivial problem.”

In the case of the MSO now using the Front Porch system for Wi-Fi messaging, one of the major conveniences associated with the service, namely, automatic sign in, left consumers in the dark as to where the service was coming from. Notwithstanding extensive marketing touting all the conveniences associated with the new broadband anywhere service, focus group studies showed consumers thought they were getting the automatic Wi-Fi connection from their mobile service provider, Britton says.

Now, with a brief, unobtrusive message from the Front Porch network-based browser solution, which does not require client-side software, all users know where the service is coming from. Moreover, they’re now getting messages asking them if they would like to download a Mobile TV app to enable programming on the iOS phones and tablets.

This, too, has had a significant impact on consumers in comparison to the usage generated by local TV advertising, print ads, emails and app store listings. “Our customer has seen an increase in take rates on the Wi-Fi TV Everywhere app of over 20 percent,” Britton says. The message prompting activation of the app is very simple. “FREE Live TV App” with the MSO’s logo is all it takes to get people engaged, he adds.

With such messaging capabilities MSOs have an opportunity to deliver app prompts that could greatly increase perceived value as well as open the path to new revenues, Britton notes. For example, Front Porch customer have long leveraged its messaging system over fixed broadband networks to deliver promotions, provide subscribers access to account and billing information and allow them to open chat sessions with service reps.

All these capabilities can be extended to devices using the Wi-Fi network, Britton says. Also in the works for the unnamed MSO’s Wi-Fi service are messages promoting apps tied to finding goods and services from local retailers, linking users to home security services and prompting users to access their home voice service over the Wi-Fi connection.

Another barrier to building a compelling Wi-Fi experience for cable subscribers has been the absence of seamless connectivity across hot spots and other roaming-related ease-of-use issues.
But there has been considerable progress in this area, suggesting a new level of experience that will obviate re-registration as users traverse multiple hot spots both within their cable operator’s service area and partner service areas is in the offing.

One important development along these lines is the CableLabs Wi-Fi Roaming Architecture and Interfaces Specification, issued in 2010, which provides a common approach to authentication of partners’ subscribers as they enter cable Wi-Fi footprints outside their home cities. Here the idea is to support subscriber access via a Web portal sign-in with username and password, allowing the visited network to “proxie” credentials to the home network for subscriber authentication and device authorization.

More recently, TWC has made known details of a technical solution that supports seamless roaming from one hot spot to another both within a given MSO’s Wi-Fi network and within a partner’s network when a subscriber is authenticated to use the partner’s system. In a patent entitled “System and Method for Wi-Fi Roaming” filed in February, TWC engineers describe a process by which roaming subscriber devices can sustain access across multiple hot spots through a complex system of “virtual access point” instantiations tied to remotely stored Service Set Identifiers (SSIDs) that associate the device with an authenticated home access point gateway.

The system requires that the Wi-Fi network be equipped with AP roaming modules with software processing capabilities that match the MAC (media access control) address of roaming devices with SSIDs of authenticated subscribers that are stored in a roaming datastore. Once match is made the roaming module initiates a “virtual AP” which allows the device to communicate as if it were connected to its home AP. The patent also describes an alternative means of maintaining continuous connectivity whereby the roaming device can be connected via IP tunneling directly through the network back to its home AP.

And the patent application covers a means by which a session initiated by an authorized subscriber on a cellular or Wi-Fi network can be handed off to another network and then returned to the network on which the session was initiated as the user traverses the different connection points. This makes it possible to sustain continuous connection as the subscriber moves from a cellular network to a Wi-Fi network and back to cellular or vice versa, which would be a significant benefit for subscribers of MSOs who partner with an MVNO provider like Verizon Wireless.

As noted with the Front Porch customer, along with using Wi-Fi to deliver the broadband experience and TV Everywhere services beyond the home, MSOs are looking at these networks as a way to extend the reach of their digital voice services. Already, as reported elsewhere, Caribbean MSO Columbus Communications is demonstrating how this can be done over any Wi-Fi connection to a hot spot anywhere in the world using the integration platform supplied by UXP Systems. These new seamless roaming capabilities would allow operators to support an all-IP mobile triple-play service at a fraction of the costs of building an LTE (Long-Term Evolution) 4G mobile infrastructure.

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read the full story Here

27 May, 2011

Front Porch Participates in World IPv6 Day

2018-08-13T14:31:10-07:00May 27th, 2011|

Front Porch announced today that it is participating in World IPv6 Day, scheduled for June 8, 2011. One of the day’s highlights is demonstrating Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) compatibility of its product line, including the popular PorchLight™ appliance, used for Direct-to-the-Browser messaging. A wide range of operating systems, browsers, and product configurations are slated for testing, as well as multiple solution use cases. A dedicated IPv6 lab environment with public IPv6 addresses is constructed already, and numerous test runs have been conducted.

Additionally, acting as end users as part of the World IPv6 Day, Front Porch is validating connectivity from its headquarters to various IPv6-enabled Web sites.

The goal of World IPv6 Day is to motivate organizations across the industry—from hardware manufacturers and ISPs to Web site operators—to prepare services for IPv6 and help ensure a smooth transition from IPv4. As a result, the Internet Society (ISOC) is encouraging network operators to enable IPv6 connectivity to end users on World IPv6 Day. Web site owners are requested to run IPv6 and IPv4 (dual stack) on their sites.

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10 January, 2011

Magazine recognizes Front Porch

2016-04-13T12:43:14-07:00January 10th, 2011|

Voice of the Customer

Think an informal, ad hoc committee can’t make a big impact on productivity?

Think again. Two years ago Sonora, California-based software firm Front Porch assembled such a committee, called Team Customer.

The idea was to give all of their 73 employees access to a customer conversation. Management betted that doing this, while trusting line workers to take immediate action on a customer’s issue—as opposed to sending it up the chain of command—would increase their satisfaction, leading to more repeat business and referrals. It was a fruitful wager; everyone now better understands what Front Porch calls VOC, or “voice of the customer,” and by extension they link in a more fundamental way their daily work to the success of the firm.

That’s a recipe for stronger retention.

Entire Article:

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18 September, 2009

Front Porch Opens New Channel of Telecom Acquisition and Merger Communication

2016-04-13T12:38:25-07:00September 18th, 2009|

Front Porch Inc., the leading supplier of in browser notifications for broadband Internet providers, today announced that it has expanded services for Iowa Telecom assisting in the integration of new customer acquisitions in Minnesota. The Front Porch solution will be deployed to improve the transition of acquired customers during and after the merger.

”Front Porch has helped us communicate effectively and efficiently with our customers for years. Front Porch technology will help us improve customer satisfaction, reduce churn and reduce customer service calls,” said Rob Satterfield, Director ISP & Data Network Operations at Iowa Telecom.
“Iowa Telecom has been a great partner with Front Porch and we’re excited to help provide the best possible service to their newest customers and ensure a smooth transition. Internet providers know that excellent customer service is critical to the long-term success of their company and Iowa Telecom is truly a market leader in merger subscriber communication. We’re glad to be able to provide technology that assists them in fulfilling their vision of providing ‘Telephone Service with a Personal Touch,’” said Derek Maxson, President of Front Porch, Inc.

Using its patented customer messaging technology, Front Porch enables MSOs, telecoms, mobile and other Internet providers to bridge the communication gap with their customers. These solutions increase revenue and decrease costs related to customer service, delinquent accounts, and terms of use violations.
 
About Iowa Telecom
Iowa Telecommunications Services, Inc. (d/b/a Iowa Telecom) is a telecommunications service provider that offers local telephone, long distance, Internet, broadband and network access services to business and residential customers. Today, the Company and its subsidiaries serve over 450 Iowa communities, 10 Minnesota communities and employs approximately 800 people. The Company’s headquarters are in Newton, Iowa. The Company trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol IWA. For further information regarding Iowa Telecom, please go to www.iowatelecom.com and select “Investor Relations.” The Iowa Telecom logo is a registered trademark of Iowa Telecommunications Services, Inc. in the United States.

 

learn more at http://www.frontporch.com

9 June, 2009

Tier One Service Provider Increases Web Portal Traffic

2016-04-13T12:38:27-07:00June 9th, 2009|

Expands Existing Deployment by Adding Over One Million New Subscribers

Front Porch Inc., the worldwide leader in direct-to-the-browser messaging for broadband Internet providers, today announced that a major Asian telco increased traffic to its popular content portal by delivering a customized version of the website using Front Porch’s patented messaging and online advertising solution. The telco improved advertising response rates and generated substantial new revenue by combining Front Porch’s unique solution with existing display and text ads. Advertiser’s click-thru rates soared seven-fold over the previous benchmark.

In addition to increasing portal traffic and revenue, Front Porch expanded its existing deployment by over one million new broadband subscribers. Because Front Porch’s solution deploys out-of-path of Internet traffic, the telco experienced a fast and easy multi-million subscriber ramp up with no network downtime or negative impact to subscribers.

Internet providers need to increase revenue

“In today’s tough economy, Internet providers need to increase revenue now more than ever before. Our customers experience increased portal traffic, improved results and higher revenue with no risk to the network or negative impact to subscribers. We’re thrilled about our customers’ success and the increased interest we’re seeing worldwide,” stated Raul Vaughn, Front Porch Vice President of Asia and Emerging Markets.

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7 January, 2008

Cable Provider Sends In Browser Copyright Notifications

2016-04-13T12:38:29-07:00January 7th, 2008|

THE PROBLEM: Internet providers must find a way to serve their subscribers with demand letters from copyright holders saying they’re violating copyrights via illegal downloads.

THE RESPONSE: Bill stuffers are thrown out unread and e-mail messages are deleted. Even messages that load alongside a provider’s homepage have no guarantee of being seen, as more consumers use third-party portals like AOL or Yahoo.

Tackling that challenge, Ohio’s Massillon Cable TV contracted with Front Porch for a messaging system that can’t be avoided. Front Porch’s software “follows” an Internet user wherever they navigate, loading the operator-branded message page into their browser before the information from the requested destination is loaded.

Front Porch CEO Zach Britton said this works better than a pop-up or pop-under, because those methods can cause disputes with Web site owners that want unimpeded viewing for their banner ads.

Massillon president Bob Gessner came up with the idea of using the application to respond to legal demands regarding Web users accused of violating terms of service by downloading music or movies without paying for them.

“We haven’t scratched the surface of all [the software] can do,” Gessner said.

THE RESULT: Consumers have a chance to legalize their behavior rather than getting their service cut off — and the provider doesn’t lose revenue.

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Fair Warning for Copyright Holders, by Linda Haugsted — Multichannel News, 1/6/2008

24 February, 2006

Front Porch WiFi Messaging and Advertising Solution

2018-08-13T14:31:33-07:00February 24th, 2006|

Greet retail customers with on-screen branding messages, advertising, in-store promotions!

A Seat on the Front Porch: Coffee shop owners, hoteliers and others don’t just want to give away free Wi-Fi. They want to use that wireless connection to greet their customers with on-screen branding messages, advertising, in-store promotions and other communications. In short, they want to say howdy, and companies like Front Porch are here to make the howdy happen. Founded in 1998, the company’s technology offers simplified means of creating and managing communications between Wi-Fi providers and users.

Recently, it scored a big win when its product was selected as the technology of choice by free-hotspot.com, Europe’s largest and fastest growing free wireless service network. “Europe has the least Wi-Fi penetration, but it is growing the fastest,” says Raul Vaughn, Director of Strategic Services at Front Porch. “Everyone we are talking to there is still talking about individual businesses putting up their own hotspots.” That’s territory Front Porch knows well, having cultivated just such a market in the U.S. since its inception in the late 1990s. In this latest iteration, the company has teamed with Anacapa Holdings, parent company of free-hotspot.com. Anacapa will utilize Front Porch technology to help European Wi-Fi operators build an ad-supported network in a revenue sharing model, Vaughn says. free-hotspot.com works with local, multi-national and national advertisers and agencies to develop online marketing programs and initiatives intended to reach Wi-Fi users. To make the most of this opportunity, Front Porch executives won’t be relying just on their partners across the pond. The company already has opened a three-person office in London in an effort to have a direct presence in their target market. “We think it’s pretty important to maintain contact with the customer,” Vaughn says. “And when you have someone who speaks with a British accent, they say things so much nicer than we do.” Analysts say there is good reason for purveyors of hotspot-related technologies to be looking toward the Continent for business opportunities.

In 2005, two of the top three Wi-Fi enabled cities in the world were European: the top three were London, New York and Paris, according to the latest research from hotspot information and service provider JiWire. The trend held among the top three countries: the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany.Yet even with its recent European coup, Front Porch is keeping one eye firmly fixed on the United States, where Vaughn says a shifting emphasis in the Wi-Fi market is driving significant growth opportunities. He’s talking about the push toward municipal Wi-Fi, which he predicts will soon reshape the market for Wi-Fi technologies and services. “In the U.S., the main focus right now is on municipal wireless in places like San Francisco and Philadelphia, with people wanting to

[provide high-speed connectivity to] entire cities and provide free or low-cost access to every man, woman and child,” Vaughn says. Over the past year, numerous cities large and small have put the wheels in motion to deploy citywide networks. They’re looking to wireless to enhance public services, boost economic development and make the Internet more readily available to citizens. Vaughn says his company may have an early lead in that its core product readily translates from the hotspot model to the municipal realm. “At any time, our existing technology can be applied to municipal wireless,” he says. Instead of delivering ads, he suggests, the same technology could be used to send emergency alerts across a broad population.

To help spread the word, the company has launched a marketing push. It will sponsor free Wi-Fi access at this spring’s Muni Wi-Fi conference in Atlanta, as well as at the W2i digital cities convention in Houston. The firm also has joined Intel’s “Digital Communities” initiative, an effort to help pilot communities design, develop and deploy new technologies. Thus, even as Front Porch pursues its new European opportunities, the company is pushing hard to grab a piece of this emerging municipal market. “And we are making some pretty good inroads,” Vaughn says. By Adam Stone, February 24, 2006, Wifi-Planet.

7 February, 2006

In Browser Security Notices for Service Providers by Front Porch

2018-08-13T14:31:40-07:00February 7th, 2006|

Subscriber Communication Use Case

Front Porch, Inc., the leading developer of online user communications technologies for Network Providers unveiled today its PorchLight Security Messaging(TM) technology that extends the capabilities of Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems to automatically notify infected users of security threats such as viruses, worms, spyware, Trojans, and zombies. Online users are also automatically notified in real time in their browsers when they attempt to surf to fraudulent Phishing sites.

PorchLight Security Messaging combines Front Porch’s proven subscriber communications technology with output from leading Intrusion Detection and Protection Systems to automatically send notification directly to infected users’ browsers. Infected users receive a secure, branded message that contains information on the specific security threat along with instructions, enabling users to clean up their computers and solve network issues at the source.

“Current Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems detect and contain security threats,” said Raul Vaughn, Director of Strategic Services at Front Porch. “PorchLight Security Messaging bridges the gap between detection and automatic user notification and provides a more elegant and efficient solution than other methods currently available to network providers. Our solution is ideal for all types of network providers, including corporate, campus, community and municipal WiFi networks as well as traditional Internet Service Providers.”

Currently, network providers typically handle a flood of incoming calls, send email that users may never receive or read, or cut off network access to a broad group of users without notice. “We created automated messaging services because Network Service Providers asked for our help. Infected users were killing their networks. Their network operations personnel were overwhelmed by the magnitude of the security problems and did not have the resources to resolve them while focusing on customer service,” said Carl Daly, Director of Sales at Front Porch.

Front Porch will demonstrate PorchLight Security Messaging at DEMO 2006 on February 7 and 8. “We are pleased to have been chosen as a participant at DEMO 2006,” said Zachary Britton, CEO of Front Porch. “DEMO is the ideal venue to present our PorchLight Security Messaging Services to an audience that is eagerly awaiting the latest breakthroughs in network security.”

“Front Porch’s PorchLight Security Messaging is the next step in the ongoing evolution of network security,” said Chris Shipley, executive producer of the DEMO Conferences. “I am eager for my network service provider to get PorchLight Security Messaging on their network.”

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