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Customers Walk Through Your Door. HotSpotVU Helps Bring Them Back

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LenzVU launches HotSpotVU, a free customer Wi-Fi service that helps small businesses collect customer contacts with permission, see who comes back and automatically invite customers to return.

TORONTO, Nov. 2, 2026 /CNW/ — Most cafés, gyms, salons and shops already offer free Wi-Fi. Very few get anything back from it. Customers connect, enjoy their visit and leave–without leaving the business any way to stay in touch.

LenzVU today launched HotSpotVU, a managed guest Wi-Fi service for small and multi-location businesses. When customers connect to a business’s free Wi-Fi, HotSpotVU shows them a customizable welcome page, collects their contact information with their permission and makes it available for automated defined marketing and follow-up, so the business can stay in touch with offers, reminders and automatic invitations to come back.

No technical knowledge is needed. HotSpotVU arrives as a ready-to-use router that is already set up. Business owners plug it in, follow the guided setup and their customer Wi-Fi is working.

What HotSpotVU does for your business

Turns free Wi-Fi into a customer list. Customers sign in to get online, and you can collect their name, email or phone number, with clear permission to contact them.Helps you recognize your regulars. See who is new, who comes back and how often. A front-desk screen can display who is walking in so you can welcome returning customers by name.Brings customers back automatically. Send an offer or a “we miss you” message to customers who haven’t visited in a while, without tracking anyone by hand.Shows when you’re busiest. Simple reports help you plan staffing and promotions.Keeps your business network safe. Customer Wi-Fi stays separate from your payment system, computers and other business equipment.Takes the tech off your plate. The router, setup, monitoring, updates and support are all included.

“Every business owner knows the feeling of a great regular who just stops coming in,” said Afi Aflatooni, Founder and CEO of LenzVU. “Most of them never left an email or phone number. HotSpotVU uses something businesses already have–free Wi-Fi–to keep that connection, with the customer’s permission, and to make inviting them back automatic.”

Who HotSpotVU is for

HotSpotVU is built for local businesses where customers spend time on site, including cafés and coffee shops, restaurants, gyms, fitness studios, yoga and Pilates studios, martial arts schools, hair salons, barbershops, spas, retail stores and waiting rooms. It also supports franchises and businesses that operate several locations.

Pricing and availability

HotSpotVU is available now across Canada for C$599 per year, (less than C$50 per month). The plan includes a preconfigured router, guided setup, device monitoring, software updates, support and a free LenzVU account. No equipment purchase or technical setup is required. Learn more at hotspotvu.com.

HotSpotVU features and capabilities

The sections below describe HotSpotVU’s full set of features for business owners, managers and IT teams who want the details.

Branded welcome page and flexible sign-in options

With HotSpotVU, the guest experience begins with a customizable sign-in page (often called a captive portal or splash page) featuring the business’s logo, colours, images and welcome message. After signing in, visitors can be directed to the business’s website.

Businesses choose the access method that fits their setting, from simple click-through access to name and contact collection, venue access codes, or email and SMS verification. Optional profile photos add another way to personalize the experience.

Previously authorized devices can reconnect within an access period selected by the business, ranging from five minutes to fourteen days. Returning guests get online with fewer repeated sign-in steps, while the business controls how long access remains valid.

Customer recognition and guest directory

HotSpotVU’s guest directory brings shared contact information, connected devices, visit history and consent status into searchable customer records. Verified devices can be linked to the same customer profile, helping businesses recognize returning guests across more than one device.

A branded front-desk display welcomes connecting guests by name and shows their photo when available. For businesses where personal relationships matter, this gives staff another way to recognize familiar faces and offer a more personal welcome.

Automated customer follow-up with LenzVU

HotSpotVU connects consented customer information with LenzVU, an AI-powered CRM and marketing automation platform. A free LenzVU account is included, giving businesses a starting point for organizing customer relationships. Optional marketing and engagement services are available separately.

With the relevant LenzVU services enabled, businesses can build follow-ups around customer activity. For example, a business could send an automated email to an opted-in customer after a month without a recorded visit. A café could share a new menu item, while a fitness studio could invite customers to an upcoming workshop.

This helps owners stay in contact with customers without manually tracking every visit or writing every follow-up, and gives them a practical way to build a contact list through everyday customer interactions.

Visitor insights and repeat-visit reporting

HotSpotVU’s visitor reporting goes beyond a simple count of Wi-Fi connections. Reports include new versus returning visitors, repeat-visit rates, visit frequency, visit-duration statistics and retention comparisons between reporting periods. Owners can review changes over time to understand customer engagement and inform marketing decisions.

On supported equipment, anonymous activity trends also show relatively quiet and busy periods, with calibration and data-quality indicators to help interpret them. These reports can support decisions about staffing, promotions and the customer experience. They reflect observed device activity rather than a complete count of everyone who enters a venue.

Automatic sign-in prompts and venue information (CAPPORT)

In plain terms: when a customer joins the Wi-Fi, their phone can automatically bring up the business’s welcome page, so they don’t have to ask how to connect.

HotSpotVU supports CAPPORT (Captive Portal API), a modern Wi-Fi standard that helps compatible phones and other devices recognize when guest sign-in is required and direct visitors to the welcome page. CAPPORT also supports a venue-information link on supported devices. A restaurant could link to its menu, a fitness studio to its class schedule, or a retail business to current offers. How these options appear depends on the visitor’s device and operating system.

Easy smart-device setup with OpenRoaming

In plain terms: compatible screens, sensors and other smart devices can join the network securely without anyone typing a Wi-Fi password into each one.

HotSpotVU’s OpenRoaming support and built-in connected-device onboarding help businesses deploy compatible devices without manually entering a Wi-Fi network name and password on each one. OpenRoaming enables supported devices with the appropriate credentials to connect automatically and securely to participating networks. HotSpotVU combines this with dashboard-based management of approved connected equipment.

For businesses with multiple locations, this makes it easier to repeat a deployment across venues without configuring every device for a different network. Automatic connection requires compatible devices and appropriate provisioning, and businesses retain control over which devices are authorized to use their network.

Network security and bandwidth control

HotSpotVU separates guest access from private business systems such as point-of-sale terminals and office computers, and applies authorization and expiry rules to guest connections.

Businesses can also manage how available bandwidth is shared. Connection-speed measurement and separate shared speed limits allow different treatment for ordinary guests and verified customers in selected LenzVU audiences. Audience-based benefits require the relevant LenzVU feature.

Content filtering and website restrictions

Website and service restrictions provide additional control, with separate rules by access tier. Businesses can apply supported service blocks, category restrictions, custom domain rules and allowed exceptions. Filtering operates on a best-effort basis.

Guest network usage reporting

Live connection and usage reports show connected devices, connection history, session duration, upload and download totals, and device characteristics and more.

Multi-location management and remote equipment tools

HotSpotVU provides centralized control from a single dashboard for businesses with one venue or many. Owners can review company-wide results, inspect individual venues, and access guest records and equipment information.

Remote equipment tools provide router health and connectivity status, diagnostics, remote commands and software updates. Supported equipment also allows adjustments to Wi-Fi channels and transmit-power settings.

Privacy, consent and compliance

HotSpotVU includes separate consent choices for contact storage, marketing communications and photos, so businesses can distinguish between information a guest agrees to share and permission to use it for marketing. Consent status remains visible within customer records so staff can review the permissions associated with a profile.

Versioned terms and privacy notices, business-specific addenda and configurable retention settings support how each business manages guest information over time. HotSpotVU is designed to help businesses meet Canadian privacy and anti-spam requirements, including PIPEDA, CASL and Quebec’s Law 25.

Frequently asked questions

What is a Wi-Fi hotspot?

A hotspot is the free Wi-Fi a business offers to customers on its premises. HotSpotVU is a managed hotspot service: it provides the equipment, the sign-in page and the tools to turn that Wi-Fi into a way to stay in touch with customers.

What is guest Wi-Fi marketing?

Guest Wi-Fi marketing means using your free customer Wi-Fi to build a contact list, with permission, and then staying in touch through email, text messages and offers. HotSpotVU and LenzVU handle both parts.

Do I need technical skills or an IT person?

No. HotSpotVU arrives as a preconfigured router with guided setup. Monitoring, software updates and support are included.

Do I need to buy my own router?

No. A preconfigured router is included with the service.

How does HotSpotVU help bring customers back?

It records when consenting customers visit. With LenzVU, you can automatically send offers or reminders, for example to customers who haven’t visited in a month.

Do customers have to sign in every time they visit?

No. Returning devices can reconnect automatically for a period the business chooses, from five minutes to fourteen days.

Can customers use the Wi-Fi without agreeing to marketing?

Yes. Businesses can offer simple click-through access, and permission to receive marketing is a separate choice from sharing contact information.

Is my business network safe if I offer free Wi-Fi?

HotSpotVU keeps guest Wi-Fi separate from private business systems and lets you limit bandwidth and block selected websites and services.

Can I manage several locations?

Yes. One dashboard covers every location, with company-wide and per-location reports.

What types of businesses use HotSpotVU?

Cafés, restaurants, gyms, fitness studios, salons, spas, retail stores, waiting rooms and multi-location franchises.

What does HotSpotVU cost?

Plans costs C$49.92 per month with an annual plan. The router, setup, support and a free LenzVU account are included.

Is HotSpotVU available in Canada and US?

Yes. HotSpotVU is available across Canada and US (the units are shipped from Canada and might be subject to import duties and brokerage fees).

About HotSpotVU

HotSpotVU is a managed guest Wi-Fi service from LenzVU that helps small and multi-location businesses turn free customer Wi-Fi into customer relationships. It combines a branded Wi-Fi welcome page, permission-based contact collection, repeat-visit reporting, automated follow-up through LenzVU and centralized network management. Learn more at https://www.hotspotvu.com.

About LenzVU

LenzVU Inc. is a Canadian company based in Vaughan, Ontario. Its flagship platform, LenzVU, is an AI-powered CRM and marketing automation platform that helps small and medium-sized businesses, particularly in fitness and wellness, turn enquiries into conversations, bookings and customers. It brings phone, text messaging, email, web chat and AI-powered front-desk tools together so businesses can respond promptly and keep potential customers engaged.

LenzVU helps businesses continue the conversation with automated follow-ups, timely reminders and relevant messages based on a lead’s interests and activity. Staff can review conversation history, track opportunities and step in when personal attention is needed, while automation handles repetitive outreach.

HotSpotVU extends this approach to in-person visits, connecting consented guest information with LenzVU so businesses can nurture relationships after visitors leave. LenzVU Inc. also offers PayrollVU, CalendarVU, ScreenVU and LiveSign.

SOURCE LenzVu Inc.

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Deloitte named a Leader in IDC MarketScape Worldwide AI-enabled Adobe Professional Services 2026 Vendor Assessment

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This report is a quantitative and qualitative assessment of the characteristics that explain a vendor’s success in the marketplace

NEW YORK, Nov. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Deloitte has been positioned as a Leader in the IDC MarketScape Worldwide AI-Enabled Adobe Professional Services 2026 Vendor Assessment (Doc #US54114626, October 2026). Deloitte is recognized as a “worldwide services provider that combines a long heritage in business consulting with broad and deep IT services capabilities, and with a strong understanding of its clients’ business on multiple levels.” Deloitte’s Adobe-focused professional services are delivered through Deloitte Digital.

This assessment was produced by “key findings from IDC’s 56 calls with reference clients of Adobe professional services.” This IDC MarketScape evaluation “is based on a comprehensive framework and set of parameters expected to be most conducive to success in providing professional services relating to AI-enabled Adobe professional services in both the short term and the long term.” Deloitte was positioned as a Leader of the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Experience Design Services 2025 Vendor Assessment (Doc #US52973225, October 2025) and the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Experience Build Services 2025 Vendor Assessment (Doc #US52973125, October 2025). 

“We’re honored to be recognized by IDC MarketScape as a Leader in the 2026 Worldwide AI-Enabled Adobe Professional Services Vendor Assessment,” says Kim Frazier, Deloitte Global Chief Commercial Officer, Adobe Alliance. “As technology reshapes customer expectations, our deep knowledge of Adobe solutions and forward deployed models help organizations respond quickly and turn new possibilities into meaningful outcomes. We’ll continue building on the strength of our alliance and the innovation of our teams to help clients realize greater value from their investments.”

“Organizations today are looking for collaborators who can bring together creativity, technology, data, and industry insight to drive meaningful business outcomes,” says Mark Lush, Deloitte Global Consulting Services Customer Offering Portfolio leader and Global Head of Deloitte Digital. “We’re proud of this recognition, which I believe reflects Deloitte Digital’s dedication to helping clients create exceptional customer experiences, accelerate growth, and realize the potential of AI-powered transformation.”

“Adobe and Deloitte have built a strong relationship around a shared focus on customer outcomes,” says Kyle Ellis, Global Vice President & General Manager, Strategic Partnership Program, Adobe. “Deloitte brings a thoughtful, practical approach to complex experience challenges, helping organizations put Adobe’s AI-powered technology to work in ways that strengthen their brands, engage customers, and drive growth.”

According to the IDC MarketScape:

“Based on conversations with Deloitte’s clients, the three main areas where clients commended Deloitte were people quality, value creation, and Adobe-specific thought leadership.”

“Deloitte’s breadth and depth of capabilities, and its ability to mobilize its people quickly on a global scale, are important capabilities for clients.”

“Since 2021, Deloitte has won 10 global Adobe Digital Experience Partner or Customer Experience Orchestration Partner awards, has had 16 of its employees appointed as Adobe Community Advisors, and has been a Diamond sponsor of Adobe Summit every year.”

“Deloitte Digital has a number of intellectual property assets to help its clients drive value from Adobe technology, including:Connected Studio Powered by Adobe: An Accredited Solution combining Adobe’s Creative and Experience Cloud platforms with Deloitte Digital’s technical, operational, and creative expertise, including Workfront, to help clients create more content, faster and for less, in a real-time market.

Deloitte Digital Dual Zone: An Accredited Solution that resolves pre-ingestion data hygiene and identity resolution issues, helping clients build complete, consistent customer profiles and unified data sets from multiple platforms and target market segments from a complete view of customers.

Adobe Xccelerator (AX): An Accredited Solution providing a production-ready platform and a suite of reusable components, templates, features, and integrations that extend Adobe Experience Manager, giving clients faster time to value on Adobe’s digital platforms.

Closed-Loop Marketing Solution: A closed-loop marketing (CLM) Accredited Solution that combines marketing automation and financial management for more cost-efficient marketing (Customers using this solution are able to track more than performance of content based on click-throughs, since this solution tracks actual ROI of content and campaigns).

Investment to Value Map: A tool to help CMOs strategically transform and modernize the marketing function.

ConvergeCONSUMER™: A tool that combines Deloitte’s proprietary consumer data with applied AI and machine learning to help organizations know their customers, predict demand, and personalize experiences.

IndustryAdvantage™: An industry-benchmarking framework Deloitte draws on when building clients’ marketing transformation road maps, including competitive analysis, a marketing capability maturity model, and a multiyear business case and road map.”

For more information about Deloitte Analyst Relations, please visit our Analyst Relations page.

About IDC MarketScape
IDC MarketScape vendor assessment model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of technology and service suppliers in a given market. The research utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each supplier’s position within a given market. IDC MarketScape provides a clear framework in which the product and service offerings, capabilities and strategies, and current and future market success factors of technology suppliers can be meaningfully compared. The framework also provides technology buyers with a 360-degree assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and prospective suppliers.

About Deloitte
Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL), its global network of member firms, and their related entities (collectively, the “Deloitte organization”). DTTL (also referred to as “Deloitte Global”) and each of its member firms and related entities are legally separate and independent entities, which cannot obligate or bind each other in respect of third parties. DTTL and each DTTL member firm and related entity is liable only for its own acts and omissions, and not those of each other. DTTL does not provide services to clients. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more.

Deloitte provides leading professional services to nearly 90% of the Fortune Global 500® and thousands of private companies. Our people deliver measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in capital markets and enable clients to transform and thrive. Building on its 180+-year history, Deloitte spans more than 150 countries and territories. Learn how Deloitte’s nearly 500,000 people worldwide work together every day to make an impact that matters at www.deloitte.com.

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SOURCE Deloitte Global

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HUSK Launches All-in-One Ecosystem, Uniting Healthy Living and Clinical Care in a Single Platform

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New offering connects health plan-covered nutrition and mental health care with a personalized engagement journey — giving employers a way to measure whether wellness spend is reducing healthcare costs

WAYNE, Pa., Nov. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — In both self-funded and fully insured health plans, most employees already have access to registered dietitians and licensed therapists, yet much of that care goes unused. Today, HUSK, a preventative wellness technology company serving self-funded and fully insured employers and health insurers, announced the launch of its all-in-one wellness ecosystem, HUSK Wellness. The all-in-one ecosystem brings healthy living programs and clinical care together in a single personalized experience, with outcomes reporting employers can act on.

For three decades, HUSK has helped employers engage their workforces in wellness. In that time, it has seen the same gap again and again. Benefits are spread across separate vendors, covered care goes unused, and employers have no reliable way to connect wellness spend to outcomes. HUSK Wellness closes that gap by building each employee a personalized journey across five benefits: Challenge, Rewards, Marketplace, Nutrition and Mental Health. Each journey is shaped by employer goals and driven by employee choice.

“Employers have spent years buying wellness one vendor at a time, and the result is benefits that sit unused and no clear line to healthcare costs,” said Erin Markowski, President and CEO of HUSK. “The clinical care is already covered by the health plan, whether an employer is fully insured or self-funded. Our job is to connect it to the healthy habits people enjoy, so employees actually use it and employers can finally see whether their wellness investment is reducing healthcare spend.” — Erin Markowski, President & CEO of HUSK

The HUSK Wellness journey begins with onboarding led by Poppie, HUSK’s wellness assistant. Poppie learns each employee’s goals, interests and preferences, then builds a personalized path across all five benefits. Because everything lives in one connected ecosystem, employees spend less time searching and more time engaging. Employers can see utilization, ROI, and how participation relates to high-cost utilization such as ER visits and chronic condition spend.

“Most wellness platforms are built to nudge people into engagement. We built ours around choice,” said Samantha Chase, Head of Product at HUSK. “Employees tell Poppie what they care about, and the platform builds a journey around that. People stick with what they chose for themselves.” — Samantha Chase, Head of Product at HUSK

HUSK Wellness is available now to employers and health insurance partners. Employers can request a walkthrough at https://huskwellness.com/.

About HUSK Wellness

HUSK Wellness is a preventative wellness technology company serving employer clients and health insurers. Operating under parent company Volaris, HUSK combines engagement solutions (Rewards, Challenge, and Marketplace) with clinical care delivered by Registered Dietitians and Mental Health Therapists. Learn more at huskwellness.com.

Media Contact
Keri Lindenmuth
Product Marketing Manager
klindenmuth@huskwellness.com

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SOURCE Husk

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Listrak Debuts Integration with Dataships, Creating a Connected Approach to Compliance and Growth

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Consent collected through Dataships now flows into Listrak automatically, with each subscriber’s opt-in type preserved.

LITITZ, Pa., Nov. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Listrak, the cross-channel personalization platform, today announced its new integration with consent optimization platform Dataships. Dataships and Listrak work together to help consumer brands grow their direct marketing audiences while maintaining compliant consent practices across regions.

Dataships optimizes how marketing consent is collected across forms, checkout, confirmation pages, and other collection points, showing each shopper the appropriate consent experience based on factors like location, consent history, and applicable regulations. Through the Listrak integration, subscribers and their consent status collected through Dataships flow directly into Listrak, with no manual exports or imports, allowing brands to activate those audiences across their marketing programs. Single opt-in contacts are subscribed right away, double opt-in contacts receive Listrak’s confirmation email, and unsubscribes in Listrak sync back to Dataships, so consent records stay aligned on both platforms. 

Use cases of the Listrak + Dataships integration include:

Consent optimization. Dataships optimizes forms, checkout, confirmation pages, and anywhere else direct marketing consent is collected, showing every shopper the right ask based on their location, consent history, language preference, and more, which helps brands grow email audiences from their customers.Consent compliance. As each ask is optimized for growth, compliance is enforced underneath so no ask that could bring a brand out of compliance is shown. Opt-ins are stored as a permanent timestamped record, so brands stay compliant everywhere they sell and can prove exactly who they can legally reach.Consent intelligence. Dataships measures how marketing consent performs across channels, markets, and collection points and provides benchmarks, so brands understand the impact marketing consent has on their business, including audience growth, incremental revenue, and overall compliance posture.

“Since growing your audience and staying compliant go together, consent should follow the shopper into the marketing platform automatically,” said Leah Beitler, VP of Partnerships & Ecosystems, Listrak. “With Listrak’s compliance center of excellence combined with Dataships’ consent expertise, retailers grow their lists by increasing opt-ins across channels while staying aligned with regional rules.”

“Dataships is built on the belief that compliance is the infrastructure for growth,” said Matt Gottron, Head of Growth, Dataships. “Through our Listrak integration, retailers access a connected approach to audience growth, compliance, and retention marketing, which results in increased long-term customer value.”

About Listrak

Listrak is the cross-channel personalization platform for retail. By unifying customer data, identity, AI, and cross-channel marketing in one platform, Listrak enables retailers to deliver relevant, personalized experiences across email, SMS, RCS, app, web, and in-store. Listrak helps brands win new customers, increase engagement, drive conversions, strengthen loyalty, and grow revenue. Listrak publishes quarterly retail marketing benchmarks, drawn from data across its platform, at https://www.listrak.com/quarterly-benchmarks. For more information, visit https://www.listrak.com/.

About Dataships

Dataships is a marketing consent optimization platform for consumer brands. We optimize forms, checkout, confirmation pages, and anywhere else direct marketing consent is collected to help brands grow email, SMS, and WhatsApp audiences, stay compliant wherever they sell, and understand the impact marketing consent has on their business. For more information, visit https://www.dataships.io/.

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SOURCE LISTRAK

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