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Cisco Unveils Wireless
Location Solution and New Unified Wireless Network Software Release
May 27, 2007
® today
announced an architected industry first - integrated Wi-Fi chokepoint and telemetry services into the Cisco Location Solution.
Cisco’s Location Solution, which includes the Cisco Unified Wireless Network and integrated partner applications and
active/passive tag offerings, is designed to mobilize assets across an enterprise environment. This solution is made possible
by a new, major extension to Cisco’s Unified Wireless Network family, which provides a broad array of rich mobility
services and new wireless LAN management capabilities.
"Real-time location and management of mobile assets
is crucial in order to deliver rich business experiences anytime, anywhere and across any network," said Brett Galloway,
vice president and general manager of Cisco’s Wireless Networking Business Unit. "With the implementation of a
Cisco Unified Wireless Network and supporting Location Solution, businesses can take advantage of their WLAN to incorporate
location as a mobility service to improve business processes and allow for better business resource decisions."
With the new Cisco Location Solution, organizations can track high-value assets and gain real-time visibility into the status
of specific devices or their environments, including temperature, battery power, humidity levels, usage status, and more.
Customers across many industries benefit from this by gaining a new opportunity to monitor and streamline operations, improve
inventory management and curb asset loss.
"With the Cisco Location Solution, customers can extend their Wi-Fi
network to drive more productivity and business value out of their network infrastructure," said Brian Brouillette, vice
president, Mission Critical, Networking and Education Services, HP Services. "With Hardware Support, Software Support
and Implementation Services provided worldwide by HP, customers have a trusted source to design, build, integrate, and maintain
a Cisco wireless environment that allows them to be intelligently aware of how their mobile assets are used in near real-time."
Infusion of Chokepoint Capabilities Extend Wireless Location Services
Integral to the Cisco Location Solution is the new ability to utilize
chokepoint technology and telemetry capabilities. By teaming with chokepoint suppliers AeroScout and WhereNet, chokepoints
and associated tags can be used in conjunction with a Cisco Unified Wireless Network to optimize location and tracking of
mobile assets. Customers can implement chokepoints that wirelessly monitor thresholds, such as doorways or hallways. When
a Wi-Fi tagged asset moves through a chokepoint, an alarm can be triggered, thus providing data recording and notification
of an asset moving from one area to another. This new integration of chokepoint capabilities with the Cisco Location Solution
brings asset tracking to a new level of sophistication and accuracy.
"With the Cisco Location Solution, our
hospital can extend its Wi-Fi network in an unprecedented manner," said Professor Bart Sijnave, University Hospital of
Gent in Belgium. "By setting up chokepoint zones, we can keep track of mobile hospital equipment, as well as our patients,
by having them connected to monitors that generate alarms to update us on their status."
Cisco Location Solution
Adds Power of Telemetry
In addition with this release, customers can take advantage of new telemetry capabilities.
Telemetry provides real-time status information on any tagged item, and with it people can remotely monitor and manage a vast
number of devices that require regular interaction or inspection. The Cisco Location Solution is capable of monitoring tagged
devices, such as medical equipment, production tool kits, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, pumps or other remote items and equipment
that need to communicate or relay changing data, such as temperature, pressure, humidity, status, availability, quantities,
distance or motion.
As with location information, telemetry data is available to business-specific applications
via open APIs of the Cisco Wireless Location Appliance, which allows businesses to respond and proactively manage systems
before critical faults develop. As well, with constant telemetry monitoring and data collection, predictive models can be
developed and deployed with supportive crisis response plans in place.
Cisco Unified Wireless Network - Deploying
Pervasive WLANs, Made Easy
Whether the solution is Cisco’s Location Solution or one of the other new Mobility
Solutions announced today by Cisco, one of the enablers for each is delivering a wireless network that drives management scale,
simplicity and integrated mobility services. Cisco’s new software release 4.1 for the Cisco Unified Wireless Network
also offers a compelling set of features designed to deliver significant increases in WLAN manageability and a suite of client
troubleshooting tools. Cisco’s Wireless Control System (WCS) now features the WCS Navigator tool, which offers centralized
management of up to 20 site licensed WCS applications. This equates to management of up to 20,000 access points.
IT departments and professionals have pointed to client troubleshooting tools as an absolute requirement for planning and
deployment of large-scale WLANs. To meet this customer requirement, Cisco responded with a substantial suite of client troubleshooting
tools and reports that allow network managers to diagnose and address a broad range of client challenges. Cisco’s focus
on delivering industry-best client troubleshooting tools is in direct response to customers’ requirements to make pervasive
WLAN deployments and operation as easy as possible.
Cisco Compatible Extensions Go Location
The Cisco
Compatible Extensions (CCX) program for Wi-Fi tags helps to ensure widespread availability of tags that are interoperable
with the Cisco Location Solution. With this announcement, customers can now take advantage of innovations for accuracy, telemetry
and network management delivered by Cisco and its technology partners. Today, Cisco opens its CCX program for Wi-Fi tags to
leading location technology providers, including: AeroScout, G2 Microsystems, PanGo and WhereNet.
In doing so,
these vendors will have the ability to integrate even greater performance, capability and flexibility in their location solutions.
By utilizing CCX-compliant tags with a Cisco Unified Wireless Network and Cisco Location Solution, customers gain the option
to choose tags from a variety of vendors and utilizing an optimal tag selection for key applications while eliminating tag-to-network
compatibility concerns.
Availability
Release 4.1 for the Cisco Unified Wireless Network is now shipping
and available for download from www.cisco.com. The Cisco Location Solution is available now from Cisco partners. Cisco and
its Wireless LAN Specialized Partners offer a broad portfolio of end-to-end services based on proven methodologies for planning,
designing, implementing, operating, and optimizing the performance of a variety of highly secure voice and data wireless network
solutions, technologies, and strategies. A variety of Cisco Wireless LAN Location Services are specifically available to help
deliver a high-performance location solution with the optimal coverage, calibration, and implementation methodologies.
More information is available at: www.cisco.com/go/location.
About Cisco Systems
Cisco, (NASDAQ:
CSCO), is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information
about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, go to http://newsroom.cisco.com.
Source: WebWire
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