Bolton Technical Portable Signal Unit Case Study: Wilson Amplifiers Warehouse
Customer:
Wilson Amplifiers, eCommerce Business in Houston, Texas metro area
Installation Type:
Use of Bolton Technical Portable Signal Unit (PSU) Mini
Building Size:
4,000 sq. ft.
Power Outage Leaves Small Business in the Lurch, PSU Mini Keeps it Afloat
THE PROBLEM
Summer storms are common in Houston and can often lead to a power outage. If the power outages are widespread enough, it can take hours or even days for power to be restored.
Wilson Amplifiers is a small business in Stafford, TX, well within the limits of the Houston metropolitan area. Their warehouse ships out dozens of online and over-the-phone orders daily to locations all around the country.
"The Texas power grid occasionally has some trouble," said Chris Hatton, IT Director at Wilson Amplifiers. "We're an eCommerce business. Our warehouse teams depend on our networks to receive and send out orders. When the power goes out, everything's kaput. We're essentially out of business."
That means fewer customers. eCommerce is a competitive space, and any delays can drive off business for an alternative.
With no power, the Wilson Amplifiers warehouse was completely shut down. This would mean delaying shipments to dozens of customers, and potentially losing any future business.
"Our customers are our lifeblood," Hatton told us. "Without them, we're nothing. We rely on repeat business to stay afloat. We don't ship out quickly and on time, we risk losing that."
THE SOLUTION
The Bolton Portable Signal Unit Mini may be touted as bringing signal with you far and wide, but it also can give your business much needed redundancy.
The Mini is a smaller, less expensive version of the larger Portable Signal Unit. It comes in a carry-on pelican case and has a CAT6 LTE Router with an external MIMO antenna, powered up to 9 hours with three lithium ion batteries.
The PSU Mini supports multiple wireless devices and provides up to 300Mbps down and 150Mbsp up, anywhere you get cell signal. With enough incoming cell signal, it's more than capable of powering an entire 4,000 sq ft warehouse, like the one at Wilson Amplifiers.
Since the PSU Mini is battery-powered and runs off the cellular network, it gives strong signal even with no power. Wilson Amplifiers made good use of it.
THE RESULTS
"The PSU Mini was a lifesaver," Hatton said. "Once the power was out, I got it up and running in five minutes. It powered our entire warehouse, and saved us thousands of dollars in business."
The power remained out for an entire business day, but after the PSU Mini was set up, Wilson Amplifiers did not miss a beat.
We rely on QuickBooks, BigCommerce, Salesforce, and more to coordinate supply, orders, and more,” Hatton said. “All those softwares are useless if our warehouse networks are down. The PSU Mini gave us the WiFi we needed to keep everything up.
The PSU Mini costs $899.99. In Hatton's opinion, this is a very worthwhile investment. "Absolutely," he said. "I mean, think about it. Without it, we'd have lost thousands. It paid for itself in one power outage."
High praise, but it's the whole point of the thing: signal where and when you need it, no matter the circumstances.
