Homnicity has just introduced a new concept of residences giving priority to new technologies in terms of infrastructure and internet connectivity. Its objective: “to respond to the accelerated changes in society”, explain the managers of this program.
Citing a “vision of innovation and a user-centric approach”, the company’s leaders decided to adopt a remotely supervised network and using functionalities using artificial intelligence algorithms. This led to the establishment of a “global Wi-Fi architecture” for a set of 14 residences, in the long term.
The Juniper-MistAI and MistCloud, multisite solution was chosen. Juniper boasts an installed base of more than 250 terminals specifically designed for care establishments (Hospitality and Healthcare).
Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth connectivity
Juniper access points (reference AP43) provide Wi-Fi 6 connectivity. They also integrate virtual Bluetooth LE.
As a first step, a pilot project was deployed, which made it possible to validate the capacities. By mid-2022, 5 of the 14 residences in the program were equipped with the wireless infrastructure.
“The Wi-Fi 6 network supports a large volume of equipment; and the functionalities developed around it make it easy to automate modifications or reconfigurations of a large number of pieces of equipment,” explains the equipment manufacturer, a specialist in private networks and telecoms.
The solution has the advantage of being able to be associated with various objects connected to the Internet (IoT). It therefore makes it possible to control, among other things, home automation equipment: thermostats, lighting, so-called “intelligent” roller shutters, motion detectors triggering an alert or lighting in the dark, or any device that can be remote-controlled wirelessly.
The device is capable of connecting all types of smartphones, PCs or tablets used by the elderly, who, on average, use four. Each resident benefits from an access box, a television and a tablet with internet access and the residence’s digital services.
The system also allows teleconsultations conducted by doctors, who can, among other interventions, take the temperature of patients remotely.
A portal in SaaS mode
Each residence has its own SSID keys (approximately 200, with two keys per resident, one for internet access and the other for home automation. In order to guarantee connection security, the network is subdivided into networks making it possible to dissociate home automation connectivity and Internet access.Connectivity models are “preconfigured”, which allows devices to be onboarded in complete safety and with ease.
The sites are managed remotely from a single portal, in SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) mode. It takes no more than a few minutes to configure the network on a new residence. Connection “bugs” such as possible Wi-Fi problems can be identified remotely and repaired remotely by support staff at Homnicity headquarters. A virtual assistant – called Marvis – helps to remedy most of the problems encountered. Because there is no network administrator in the residences. A troubleshooting function also provides proactive alerts, ie before problems occur.
The Wi-Fi 6 access points have been configured to anticipate residents’ future health needs. Thus, soon, oxygen cylinders or tensiometers equipped with sensors will be able to be connected to the network.
Finally, supervision data is stored and secured; and all useful information relating to the infrastructure is shared with the healthcare teams.