Plume IQ – Back-to-School Insights: How Device Usage Shifts with Seasons
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Welcome to Plume IQ – our reveal of data-driven intelligence and consumer insights from 3 billion connected devices and 60 million locations, managed by Plume’s cloud platform. The data below is from a sample of our locations gathered this year.
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| Many factors influence the way we use our devices – such as the time of year, work schedules, world events, school calendars, and holidays. Device type also influences a users behavior and content consumption. Some services such as Netflix, YouTube, and Facebook apps are popular across devices – while some other services can be very specific, such as work software on laptops.
Sometimes the device itself is less important than the choice of app or service being used. The demands of running an application such as Netflix, Zoom or games do not necessarily change between devices. Part of what makes a managed WiFi service successful is going beyond simply identifying the device and making real-time decisions on traffic based on how the device is being used. Knowing that a packet of data from Zoom should be prioritized, as opposed to a routine app update, improves the user experience. Based on our analysis of available data, one event that changes user behavior is the back-to-school season. Plume IQ looked at a period of two weeks in July and compared it to the period over Labor Day in the US to see how the start of school impacted behavior. A big change we identified is the use of laptops – 14% more laptops were identified after the return to school. Laptop use greatly outpaced the use of streaming boxes and TVs – use of these entertainment devices only increased by roughly 4%. Smartphone use remained generally even between the periods – and gaming consoles decreased almost 2%. The applications being used before school started compared to after did not change significantly. Of widely available applications, Plume saw YouTube, Netflix and Amazon Prime lead the way in data transmitted both before and after school started. We also saw that TikTok usage was down about 4% – time to focus on homework! |
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| Haystack |
| We’re excited to announce the release of the newly improved Haystack suite, Plume’s latest upgrade to our customer experience management platform.
As a reader of Plume IQ, you are familiar with the fact that data is at the heart of our offerings. Plume uses the signals that come from operating networks around the world to improve our products. Whether that is to increase how well our algorithms work for everyone or make sure that a support agent at a CSP has the information they need, data informs our products and how we operate. One of the best expressions of that is Haystack, our platform for CSP network diagnostics, support, and management. The new version of Haystack comes with significant improvements, replacing the existing infrastructure with a more robust solution. Here’s what’s new:
If you’d like to explore the newly improved Haystack in greater detail, please request a demo here> |
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| News Roundup |
| “Technology has evolved on both sides of the equation—in the home and for the service provider. As Plume has matured, we have deepened the platforms that we give individuals, families, support center technicians and CSP executives to manage networks intelligently.” – Jasna Mihelj Coustaury
Bell has launched its Bell Business Wi-Fi App for small businesses in Ontario and Quebec, which lets small businesses easily manage their network. Plume’s Sean Robertson joined Darcy Richard from Bell to talk about the collaboration between the companies on small business products and what the future holds for SMEs. Check out CanadianSME Small Business Podcast here> “Managing culture in a rapidly changing business is not easy, particularly when it’s home to offices across the US, Canada, Switzerland, Slovenia, Poland, Taiwan, Japan, and India. But this is the task of Plume’s Chief Human Resources Officer, Iman Abbasi, the latest guest on the HR Grapevine podcast.” |
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