Delegates at a conference use data in a pattern you can predict. Most of the day they sit in a venue with Wi-Fi they do not trust or cannot join. Between sessions they check email and messages. In the evening they use maps and ride apps to reach dinners and hotels. This guide turns that pattern into a number you can choose a plan with.
What uses data
Rough figures for a typical smartphone, to be used as a guide:
- Email and messaging, text only: a few megabytes an hour of active use.
- Messaging with photos and voice notes: 20 to 50 MB a day for most people.
- Maps and ride apps: 5 to 10 MB for each journey, more with satellite view.
- Video calls: 500 MB to over 1 GB an hour, depending on quality.
- Background app and photo backups: unpredictable, and the reason delegates run out. A phone that finds a new network can decide to upload a week of photos.
Three kinds of delegate
Most delegations split into three groups, and you can plan for each:
- Attendees who check messages and navigate. 300 to 500 MB a day covers them.
- Staff who run the delegation: booking changes, shared documents, the occasional call. Plan 1 GB a day.
- Anyone who joins video calls with the office. Plan for each hour of calls on top of the above, or ask them to take calls on the hotel Wi-Fi.
Day passes or one allowance
A day pass gives a set amount every day and resets. It protects the delegate who burns through data on the first evening, because they get a fresh allowance the next morning. A fixed plan gives one allowance for the whole period, which suits delegates whose use is uneven. For a conference with a steady daily rhythm, day passes are usually the safer choice. MUSTER orders a day pass for every day of the trip, so choose the trip dates to match the nights people are away.
A worked example
Twenty-four delegates travel to a four-day event: twenty attendees and four staff. The attendees need about 500 MB a day, and the staff about 1 GB. You can run this as one trip with a 1 GB day pass for everyone, which is simple and costs a little more, or as two trips on the same dates, one per plan. The generate screen prices each roster before you confirm, so you can compare the two totals before deciding.
Put the four staff in a Staff group on the roster either way. On the install board you want them green first, because they are the people everyone else calls when something goes wrong.
Watch the outlined rows
The install board marks a traveller as running low once they have used 80% of their allowance. On a day pass, that usually means a heavy evening and nothing to worry about. On a fixed plan in the middle of the week, it means a delegate who will be offline before the closing session. Ask them to turn off photo backup and background refresh for mobile data. Most phones let you do this per app in settings.