Volunteer Uses CradlePoint to Remotely Update Website During Pet Adoption Events

CTR500 Allows Pet Adoption League Volunteer Uses CradlePoint to Remotely Update Website During Pet Adoption Events and to Immediately Post Photos and Profiles of For-Adoption Pets to Draw Prospective Owners to Adoption Events

SITUATION

The Pet Adoption League is a pet adoption service in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Unlike some pet adoption organizations, they don't own a physical facility to house for-adoption animals. Instead, their volunteers provide foster homes for the pets until they can be adopted. The Pet Adoption League website shows pictures and profiles of the for-adoption animals. In addition, the Pet Adoption League participates in national "Adopt-A-Pet" events held in conjunction with PetSmart. Local residents bring their for-adoption pets to local PetSmart stores, where prospective owners can come and meet the animals.

Brian Jackson is a web developer and IT professional who volunteers at the Pet Adoption League. In addition to providing a foster home for pets, he created and now maintains the Pet Adoption League website (www.pet-adopt. org). During the PetSmart events, he takes digital photos of the dogs and cats up for adoption and gets information from their owners to use in the profiles posted on the website.

CHALLENGE

Before getting the CTR350, Brian would take photos and profile information, then bring it all home after the event to work on. Brian wanted a way to this minimize this "homework." More importantly, he wanted to make the photos and profiles immediately available. "A lot of people look at the website before coming down to an event at PetSmart," says Brian. "And a photo of a dog or cat is what captures the hearts of people." Brian started looking for a way to update the website during the event so potential owners could see the pets that were available and be motivated to come to the event while it was still going on.

SOLUTION

"I have a bus that I've set up with a laptop and a full mobile workstation," says Brian. "It's self-contained with power and everything, but I wanted to add Internet capability. I have a friend who got a Verizon air card and wireless router because his house had no DSL or cable access. I thought that was a good idea, so I started searching on the Internet and found an air card and the CradlePoint at a 3G wireless online retailer."

Now at PetSmart events, Brian will snap digital photos of all the dogs and cats. "I'll take quite a few photos, in order to get two good ones of each animal. I take photos of their faces and their whole bodies, usually standing next to a volunteer, so people can get an idea of the dog or cat's size."

Once he's finished taking pictures, Brian loads the photos from the camera onto the computer in his bus. He spends a few minutes cropping them on the computer, which is connected to the CradlePoint CTR350. Using FTP client software, he uploads the final pics to his web server, connecting via his Cricket broadband service which he accesses using an air card in the CradlePoint 500.

"Then I use a remote desktop session to access my web workstation so I can remotely add the new pictures and profiles to the website, and publish them," reports Brian. "In less than an hour, I'm able to show all the dogs and cats up for adoption at the event. Anyone with a computer can see photos of the animals and come on down while the event is still going on. Not only that, but I don't have 'homework' when I get back at the end of the day."

BENEFITS

•                 Easy. "The CradlePoint is very easy," Brian notes. "I think I had it working in 10 minutes and then I fiddled with it just to see all the things it could do. It has a good interface. It's easier than using the air card with my laptop."

•                 Reliable. "[The CTR350] just seems to work," reports Brian. "I turn on the power in the bus, everything comes on—including the CradlePoint—I plug in the air card and off we go."

•                 Performance. "[The CradlePoint CTR350] has good performance," says Brian. "The actual limiting factor is the speed of the Cricket service, but it's fast enough."

•           Affordable. "I was very pleased with the price," reports Brian. "I think I paid half of what my friend paid for his wireless router."

Brian has these final thoughts: "If you want the ability to share your broadband mobile connection, the CTR350 is just what you need. CradlePoint has a lot of good features, the interface is sensible and logical. And it's simple enough so I can get the technology behind me and focus on what I need to do to help the dogs and cats. I'd personally suggest you pick CradlePoint." Volunteer to Immediately Post Photos and Profiles of For-Adoption Pets to Draw Prospective Owners to Adoption Events