When Wi-Fi fails, business stops. Unstable connections, slow speeds during peak hours, and time-consuming troubleshooting aren't just IT headaches-they put critical workflows, customer experiences, and bottom-line results at risk, making reliable, high-performing Wi-Fi a constant challenge, especially when most efforts are still reactive.

That's why Cisco is evolving network operations with AI-powered capabilities that support enterprises on their path to AgenticOps-systems designed to anticipate issues, act autonomously, and simplify management at scale. Cisco AI-Enhanced RRM applies this approach to wireless, reducing reactive troubleshooting into a reliable, intelligently optimized experience.

Why traditional RRM isn't enough anymore

Conventional radio resource management (RRM) solutions attempt to optimize wireless environments by automatically adjusting channel assignments and power levels. However, these adjustments often occur during peak usage, introducing instability when reliability matters most. IT teams are left choosing between making disruptive changes during high-traffic periods or delaying fixes and risking prolonged poor performance.

Without the ability to intelligently differentiate between transient disturbances and persistent issues, traditional RRM forces IT teams into reactive troubleshooting and manual tuning-consuming valuable IT resources and time that could be spent on strategic initiatives.

What a modern wireless solution requires

To address these challenges, organizations need a wireless approach that is proactive, predictable, and easier to operate-one that can:

• Identify and address repetitive interference patterns before users are impacted
• Schedule changes during non-peak times to prevent disrupting critical operations
• Distinguish between minor issues and significant ones, reducing unnecessary interventions
• Scale across large, high-density environments without requiring endless manual tuning

Cisco AI-RRM: intelligent, proactive optimization at scale

Cisco AI-Enhanced RRM delivers four key capabilities that turn reactive Wi-Fi management into proactive, automated optimization at scale:

• Proactive intelligence: Built on over 30 years of Cisco radio frequency (RF) innovation and 24 patents, Cisco AI-Enhanced RRM uses advanced artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) models to spot patterns in millions of data points and optimize Wi-Fi before users experience issues. This reduces the need for constant reactive troubleshooting and manual intervention.
• Nonintrusive optimization: Unlike conventional RRM, Cisco AI-Enhanced RRM automatically applies RF changes outside of high usage periods, ensuring uninterrupted performance when it matters most and minimizing disruption for users and IT teams.
• Proven results: With over 7000 customers and more than 3.3 million access points worldwide, Cisco AI-Enhanced RRM has delivered up to 200% better signal quality and, in some cases, 10x faster Wi-Fi speeds. IT teams have reported up to 75% fewer support cases, freeing them from firefighting to focus on strategic initiatives and long-term network improvements.
• Continuous learning: The system adapts to your unique environment, detecting and preventing recurring issues, eliminating guesswork, and reducing manual RF tuning while keeping performance consistent over time.

Scenario: mission-critical healthcare connectivity

To understand how these capabilities can impact operations, it helps to look at how they perform in real environments.

Before Cisco AI-RRM:

During morning shift changes at a busy urban hospital, hundreds of doctors, nurses, and medical devices all connect at once. Wi-Fi slows to a crawl, critical medical devices disconnect, and video consults freeze. IT receives a flood of urgent tickets but can only troubleshoot reactively during the busiest times. Patient care is impacted and IT is under constant pressure.

Figure 1. RF health shows dramatic improvements after enabling Cisco AI-Enhanced RRM.

After Cisco AI-Enhanced RRM:

The system continuously learns the hospital's wireless usage patterns and identifies hospital staff shift changes as critical periods. It schedules RF optimizations for late-night hours, when activity is low. When morning comes, Wi-Fi is stable and fast. Medical devices connect reliably, video consults run smoothly, and support tickets drop from daily deluge to rare occurrence. Issues are addressed proactively before they disrupt patient care.

The network team experiences fewer peak-hour crises and gains more time to focus on long-term improvements. Wireless becomes a stable, high-performing foundation for patient care, while IT benefits from simplified operations and fewer surprise issues during critical periods.

Real-world impact: University of Otago

Before Cisco AI-Enhanced RRM:

At the University of Otago in New Zealand, 21,000 students and thousands of staff relied on campus Wi-Fi every day. The network team struggled with performance issues and a high volume of support tickets, leaving little time to focus on network improvements.

After Cisco AI-Enhanced RRM:

After deploying Cisco AI-Enhanced RRM, the university saw a dramatic reduction in wireless-related support cases. The system proactively analyzed and optimized the RF environment, automatically implementing changes outside of peak usage times so that learning and research were never disrupted.

According to Young Cho, Senior Manager of Network & Telecomm at the University of Otago, "I used to get 10 wireless cases per day. After Cisco AI-Enhanced RRM, it's one case for an entire month." This freed IT to focus on innovation rather than constant firefighting, while faculty and students enjoyed consistent, reliable connectivity across the campus.

Young Cho added, "The pressure is off the network team, and our users are happier than ever. Cisco AI-Enhanced RRM means fewer disruptions, better performance, and a much better experience for everyone." It's a clear example of how proactive, AI-driven RF optimization can improve both user experience and IT efficiency.

Creating better experiences for users and IT teams

For wireless decision-makers, the message is clear: Cisco AI-Enhanced RRM isn't just an upgrade-it transforms the way wireless networks are managed and supported. IT teams reclaim valuable time and peace of mind as routine RF optimization and troubleshooting are automated, reducing risk. Users benefit from faster, more dependable connections-even at the busiest times. The network anticipates issues and resolves them before they impact users and services.

Reimagine your wireless operations with AI-enhanced RRM that:

• Brings AgenticOps to wireless, enabling proactive, automated optimization without disrupting critical business operations
• Simplifies operations by reducing manual tuning and dramatically cutting support cases, freeing IT for more strategic initiatives
• Delivers proven improvements: up to 200% better signal quality, 10x faster speeds, and 75% fewer support cases
• Is backed by decades of Cisco innovation and global scale

Ready to move from frustration to exceptional, dependable Wi-Fi? Discover what Cisco AI-Enhanced RRM can do for your organization. For a tailored consultation to see Cisco AI-Enhanced RRM in action, contact your Cisco representative.

Learn how better Wi-Fi boosts business
outcomes in the IDC report.