Wyld Networks was founded with a view to providing mobile mesh networking for connecting crowds of people, just before the pandemic hit. Wyld’s CEO Alastair Williamson picks up the story.
A year ago, when football stadia, music festivals, theatres and transportation hubs closed almost overnight, a real sense of panic set in. We were just two months from launching a business based on connecting crowds of people in live settings. But lockdown #1 dealt a hammer blow to our ambitious plans.
Our market disappeared overnight. We had built a fantastic business model with great potential for return on investment, then everything changed. We could have put everything on hold, but we chose to pivot and find a completely new use for the innovative technology in the fight against COVID – including its use in care homes, something we would never have considered pre-COVID.
What’s a mobile mesh?
Our mobile mesh technology connects smartphones to other smartphones without the need for Wi-Fi or 4G/5G. It is built into mobile apps, creating an instant communication platform between those who have a particular app in a particular area. Originally it was based on the fact that visitors struggle for connectivity in crowded areas. Football fans, for example, would download their club’s app, embedded with the Wyld Mesh Mobile software and be instantly connected by the mesh network. As well as providing much needed bandwidth, it opens opportunities for the clubs to deliver content directly to peoples’ phones, whether it be team news, snack bar menu deals or anything else they want to promote.
Similarly, music festival organisers could deliver relevant content to revellers’ phones, informing them of when bands will be on stage, which food outlets are offering deals and allowing friends to find each other without the struggle for a phone signal.
With venues empty, we rapidly explored a new opportunity. We had relatives in care homes, so thought about how our technology could help reduce the spread of COVID and influenza there. Now, rather than bringing people together, this new approach is around monitoring movement, ensuring social distancing and controlling access.
From crowds to care homes
We partnered with NHS Highland and Highland Health Ventures Ltd (HHVL) – an independent company with a Collaboration Agreement with NHS Highland – to test and deploy our mobile mesh technology into care homes in Scotland to help protect residents, staff and visitors.
The first system has been installed in Castle Hill Care Home in Inverness enabling them to lower risks of infection. The Wyld system is able to create virtual geozones around the care home and particularly sensitive or quarantined areas to control access as well as dynamic personal two-metre geozones around everyone with the app on their smartphone or lanyard device.
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Once in the geozone it is possible to track exactly where people are at any given time. The display of ‘heatmaps’ allow managers to make informed decisions about routing and social distancing and given them a level of confidence because they know there are measures in place to stop the spread. Another benefit is that managers can spot if ‘Mrs Williams’ has been sitting on her own for hours, so somebody needs to be socially interacting with her.
We have now also signed up with global reseller Ascom, which has an expertise in ICT in healthcare, as well as resellers in the US and Latin America – a route chosen partly because travel restrictions would hamper any relationships we could set up ourselves.
Getting universities and businesses back to work
In addition to care homes, we have been working with universities, entertainment venues and business to help them get back up and running safely. And for retail, a supermarket or shopping centre could integrate the mesh technology into their smartphone app, connecting to the network as soon as the shopper drives into the car park set within the geozone. Content could be delivered while the person is still in their car, such as a welcome message and links to any deals before they even enter the store. Inside, the messaging can be even more precise.
Wyld now has a team of 22, two of which I have never actually met because they were recruited during the pandemic. I believe starting a business during such a turbulent time – and having to pivot – has given us strength, demonstrated our ability to adapt, created a great team morale and opened up new opportunities. And once we are through COVID and the stadiums, entertainment venues, festivals and transport hubs spring back into action, we can go back to Plan A. If you think you have an application for mobile mesh technology, visit www.wyldnetworks.com
Alastair Williamson, CEO of Wyld Networks, has over 25 years’ experience in the software telecommunication industry, most recently as CEO for four years at start-up Ranplan Group that developed a software wireless planning tool. Alastair has also led sales organisations at Lucent, Alcatel Lucent, Cambridge Broadband Networks and Krone.
