For IT & Network Teams

Network requirements

Scan To Listen is designed to be plug and play. Some venues won’t need to change anything on their network, and when changes are needed, they’re typically quick and easy.

What Scan To Listen needs from your network, what it doesn’t, and the questions we’ll ask before an install. Share this page with whoever manages your network.

Overview

How it uses your network

Each Scan To Listen unit connects to the audio output of your TVs or receivers and plugs into your network by Ethernet. Guests listen in their phone’s web browser. There is no app to install.

The unit is wired inIt plugs into a network port on the same network as your guest Wi-Fi.

Guests join your Wi-FiThey connect to your guest Wi-Fi and scan the QR code at their table.

The page opensThe listener page loads over a secure connection from the unit. Nothing needs to be opened on your firewall.

Audio stays localAudio goes straight from the unit to each phone across your local network. It is never streamed over the internet.

Why guests listen over Wi-Fi. We designed Scan To Listen so the audio from your TVs stays on your venue’s own network and is never relayed over the internet. It also means a phone needs to be on your guest Wi-Fi to listen; on cellular data the page may open, but the audio won’t play. Your table cards tell guests which network to join. Listening follows your network, not your walls; see who can listen.

Requirements

What we need

Requirement	Details
A network port for each unit	One wired network (Ethernet) port per unit. You don’t need a port for each TV: one unit connects to several audio sources, so you may only need one.
Units on your guest network	The units should be on the same network as your guest Wi-Fi. If that isn’t possible, we’ll work out another setup with your IT team. Please tell us about every guest network ahead of time, and before you add or change one later, so we can make any adjustments needed.
Guests can reach the units	Guests’ phones must be able to connect to the units. If your guest Wi-Fi stops devices from talking to each other, the units need an exception.
Internet for the units	The units need an internet connection to deliver the listener page and for our remote support. If your internet is down, guests who aren’t already listening may not be able to start. If you restrict outgoing traffic, we’ll send your IT team the list of connections to allow.
No sign-in page for the units	A Wi-Fi sign-in page for guests is fine, but the units can’t click through one, so they need an exception.

Footprint

What we don’t need

No changes to your internet firewall. Nothing needs to be opened or forwarded.
No apps or settings on guests’ phones.
No access to your other networks. The units must not be on your payment (point-of-sale) network.

Guest Wi-Fi

Your Wi-Fi

Most modern guest Wi-Fi works well. We’ll review your setup with whoever manages your Wi-Fi before install.

Reach & Licensing

Who can listen

Our units refuse to send audio to phones that aren’t on your local network. Within your network, your setup decides who can listen.

Anyone on your network who scans the QR code can listen. Wi-Fi often reaches past your walls, onto a patio or into a parking lot or a neighboring business. Placing access points and tuning their power controls how far that goes.
Tell us if your guest network is shared. If the network the units are on also serves other buildings, addresses or businesses (common at resorts, campuses, malls, hotels and airports), people there could listen too. We’ll plan placement with you before install.
No remote listening without permission. Please don’t make the units reachable from outside your venue, whether over a VPN, through remote access, or by extending your network to another location, unless your content licenses expressly allow it and we’ve agreed in writing.
Your licenses should cover everyone who can listen. You’re responsible for the licenses for what you play, such as a commercial TV account (for example DirecTV for Business) and music performance licenses. We can’t give legal advice; if you’re unsure, check with your providers or your attorney.

Before We Quote

Questions we’ll ask

To quote, we usually just need a few answers, and “not sure” is fine. We’ll cover anything else on a quick call.

How many TVs or other audio sources do you want guests to hear?
Is there a network port near the TVs, or in a network closet?
Who manages your network or Wi-Fi?

Security

Security, in brief

Audio is sent only to devices on your local network. The units refuse to send audio over the internet.
Nothing to open on your internet firewall. The listener page is delivered over a secure, encrypted connection that the unit makes outward, and the admin page requires an approved sign-in.
Guests get a trusted, encrypted connection in their browser, with no security warnings to click through.
Keep the guest network separate. For the highest level of security, put your guest Wi-Fi and the units on a network that has no access to your other systems, such as point-of-sale or data storage.
Units install operating-system security updates automatically and may restart overnight to apply them.
Guest privacy: listening statistics are aggregate counts plus a general device type (iPhone, Android or other). No accounts, names or device identifiers.

Have a question we haven’t covered? See the FAQ, or email scantolisten@gmail.com. We’re glad to work with your network team directly, and we can send this as a questionnaire.