In 1993, when Cox first began offering commercial services, the primary focus was providing business class internet, voice, and video solutions to its customers. But as technology needs evolved over time, so have the companies that provide those business-critical services.
Gone are the days of Cox being just a cable and internet company, says Denise Natali-Paine, VP of Cox Business Omaha. “While the Cox name is familiar to many of us as our local television and internet provider, Cox Business today focuses on delivering secure, next-gen technologies and platforms that enable their customers to success in a digitally driven economy.”
What are those next-gen technologies and platforms? And how is Cox Business working together with businesses to adapt to rapidly advancing tech?
Hospital systems, for example, are not asking for IoT platforms alone, they’re asking for solutions to their problems, such as, “How can we automate processes and use all of our available data to make better decisions?” Cox Prosight is a secure and extensible IoT platform that helps hospitals track and monitor conditions, equipment, and people.
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Most recently, Cox Prosight announced new hand hygiene monitoring capabilities that enable hospitals to observe hand hygiene events and help reduce preventable healthcare-associated infections.
Each sanitizer dispenser facility-wide is equipped with a sensor that transmits real-time data to the Cox Prosight Core platform for analysis and reporting. This enables users to monitor the overall number of hand hygiene opportunities throughout a facility and monitor staff, job roles, individual employees, departments, and shifts. It’s designed to enable the infection prevention team in hospitals to meet stringent Leapfrog requirements.
Edge computing is another technology that Cox has invested in bringing to their customer base. The growth of IoT, AI/ML, the Metaverse, gaming, and streaming services are driving the need for real-time computing to support the next generation of applications. Edge computing is bringing that computation processing closer to the devices and applications that need it, resulting in lower latency, improved application resiliency and continuity, better security, and reduced cloud transport costs. Historically, data would travel hundreds or even thousands of miles away, but Cox Edge provides a full-stack, cloud-agnostic compute infrastructure at the network edge. Think of it as the last mile that connects to the customer interface, using Cox’s fiber infrastructure and a global network of edge locations.
The challenge is that moving all computing to the cloud doesn’t necessarily support the real-time interactive nature of some apps. Often, data insights are time-sensitive, but the cloud has inherent latency due to the distance between the cloud data centers and where the data is being collected. Companies need to bring workloads (processing power) closer to the user.
As a cable company that manages extensive networks, Cox has the advantage in delivering infrastructure to the network edge using their fiber infrastructure. Unlike other providers, Cox Business brings all network edge services under one umbrella to deliver a seamless experience for regional organizations.
Another cutting edge solution that Cox Business recent launched is Cox Private Networks. As 5G begins to take shape in our communities, and enable more high-bandwidth applications for users, Cox is in position to deploy private cellular networks that can support the growing bandwidth and security needs these new applications will require.
Utilizing a private cellular network, Cox Private Networks provides a faster and more responsive cloud architecture where services can be deployed easily and efficiently managed while keeping capital expenditure at a minimum.
Imagine a large mixed-use development that wants to deploy WiFi and other next-gen applications throughout the site. A typical solution would require dozens of access points and equipment that require specialized HVAC controlled boxes to house that equipment throughout the development. However, with a solution like Cox Private Networks, Cox can deploy a secure, private cellular network that takes the place of the access points and HVAC requirements, while providing an ultra-low latency and high bandwidth network that will run those business-critical applications.
These three examples illustrate the significant role that next-gen technology can play in how businesses connect with each other and those they serve. As their product and solution portfolio continue to grow, Cox Business remains committed to scaling and growing alongside their customers by helping them drive new and adjacent growth through technology.
