Why ProVision ME™?
At 6connect, we’ve always prided ourselves on making network automation accessible to a rich and varied group of network operators. For years, the ProVision Suite has made it possible to automate and conveniently manage massive network deployments in a truly robust fashion — and this is why it has been chosen by top-tier ISPs and enterprises across the globe.
However, as long as there are network admins manually cobbling together API calls or organizing their IP addresses in spreadsheets of spreadsheets, we know that we can never rest. We are on a quest to make network automation and IPv6 deployment accessible to all.
A Mission of Inclusion
We asked ourselves: who is being left behind? Who else can we help along their journey toward powerful network management? To answer these questions, we conducted extensive market research.
We held focus groups.
We carried out in-depth interviews.
We surveyed our professional networks.
We hosted community brainstorming sessions.
In the end, we flipped a coin. We knew when the coin landed on tails and we wished it had landed on heads that we had our answer: Millennials.
But how can a group of “olds” relate to this demographic? After some internal discussion, we decided it would be best if I reached out to my nephew, David. He responded almost immediately:
At first, I wasn’t sure what David meant by his response. I certainly wasn’t going to text him back for clarification – after all, I wanted to play it cool (or “kewl” as I had been tempted to write back). But then the deeper meaning of his reply struck me: millennials use emojis to communicate. It’s their native language.
If there was only some way that we could incorporate emojis into our ProVision Suite we could finally make network automation accessible to this next great generation. Then one day, 4 years later, our R&D Team of Data Scientists had the “Aha” moment: IP address emojis.
A New Approach to IP Addresses
Let’s face it, IP addresses are ugly. Take this IPv4 address, for example: 171.63.26.204. YUCK! It’s just a bunch of numbers. Who even cares about a bunch of numbers? And now consider this example IPv6 address: 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334. Ouch. What does that even mean?
There’s a better way. And it’s available starting today in ProVision Millennial Edition™.
Here’s how it works. Anywhere that you would ordinarily see a confusing bunch of numbers representing either an IPv4 or IPv6 address, you will now see a fun and friendly string of emojis. Each 8-bit segment of the IP address is automatically converted to one of 256 hand-curated emojis. This all happens seamlessly and in real time.
Using ProVision ME™, this is how you will now see your IPv4 addresses:
✅???
And here’s an example of an IPv6 address:
?☂:?⏰:⏳:?:⏰:☕?:?☁
Screenshots from ProVision ME™
It’s nothing short of magic — except that we just told you how it works.
By using emoji for all IP addresses, they become easier to remember, and more fun to use. The information density is increased by 3x*, which can occasionally save valuable screen real estate**. Once you begin using emoji IP addresses, you’ll never look back.
But we didn’t stop there.
We’re also pleased to announce the BETA version of our IP Address Horoscope. Sometimes, when you can’t figure out what’s wrong with your network, it’s best to seek guidance from the sun, moon, and stars. Simply load the app whenever you are in a pinch, and a solution will be provided for you based on your current IP address***.
Welcome to the new millennium, millennials. Welcome to ProVision ME™.
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*Assuming numbers are displayed at a font size of 32 pixels and emoji images are 16px across. Otherwise, no thought has been placed into this multiplier – feel free to augment as needed.
**is this still a thing with all the high res displays?
***6connect is not responsible for any damage caused by following advice from IP Address Horoscope.