The challenge: Cost-effective, reliable connectivity for a senior living center

While digital connectivity has become the norm for many, many industries still rely heavily on voice communications. As many as 25 million plain old telephone service (POTS) lines are still used by enterprises, often connected to safety‑critical infrastructure like elevators, fire alarms, and security systems. South Light Services specializes in replacing these systems. “We provide reliable, simple connectivity for critical and voice infrastructure,” explains CEO Tina Telson.

A major market for South Light Services is senior living communities, which face several unique challenges. Lacking IT staff, building managers without specialized training are often left dealing with network connectivity issues. These often‑remote locations depend on HIPAA-compliant fax machines for medical staff on‑site to access medical records as needed, making reliable connectivity crucial. To support residents on fixed incomes, they depend on cost-effective connectivity solutions.

South Light Services approached one enterprise in this space that operates 50 separate sites across North America. This network of senior living centers needed a flexible, reliable solution that could connect all 50 locations with a minimum initial setup and ongoing maintenance. To ensure the solution would perform under any conditions, the customer challenged South Light to prove its effectiveness at the enterprise’s most demanding location.

The solution: Simplified deployment and reliable performance

To prove its solution could meet the customer’s needs, South Light Services conducted a test deployment of its Digi-POTS solution to connect a secondhand fax machine to a cellular network. The objective was to demonstrate that the solution and the connection could work anywhere with any machine. The South Light Services solution uses the Inseego Wavemaker 5G indoor router FX3110, which provided several crucial capabilities for the test deployment.

First, the dual-SIM capability of the FX3110 was crucial to delivering reliable connectivity. “If we’re replacing a copper line, it needs to have multiple network paths,” Telson says. “The first SIM slot holds the native SIM while the other holds a multi-carrier roaming SIM. This allows us to provide four potential network paths instead of just two. The automatic network failover and WAN switching powered by the FX3110 maintain seamless performance. So, if the device has to switch carriers, it just works without any issues, which is exactly what our customer needed.”

The FX3110’s ability to provide a high-quality connection regardless of where it was deployed was also a critical factor. “The customer had been struggling with a poor-quality signal, no matter what they tried,” Telson adds. “What was crucial for them was to have a solution that just worked, and worked well. We were able to deliver that with the FX3110.”

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The value: Lower cost and superior performance

South Light Services successfully deployed its proof of concept, demonstrating the solution’s ability to handle the customer’s most challenging scenarios.

“Despite being understandably risk-averse, the customer was willing to sign a contract for connectivity to all 50 of their locations based on the success of this test deployment,” Telson says. “The solution we will deploy will save the customer money by consolidating their wireless usage and reducing the cost of using their existing phone lines for connections. With an average of four or five lines per site, the return on investment for them is huge.”

For South Light Services, the relationship with Inseego and performance of the FX3110 has proven to be key to delivering connectivity solutions in their market niche. “The ease of doing business with Inseego has been critical for us,” Telson says. “We have a unique partnership with Inseego that is unheard of for a company our size. We’re a small business and not having any barriers to doing business is really important for us. Our partnership with Inseego and the ability to use the FX3310, which we’ve standardized on for our 5G offerings, helps us offer the simple, reliable, cost-effective connectivity solutions that our customers need.”