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LET US DO YOUR WORK FOR YOU
Pacific CoastCom will do your research for you. Our 100+, combined
years, of wireless experience will provide your organization with
an informed decision. Pacific CoastCom will do a wireless audit
to provide you with the most effective wireless strategy for today
and the future contact us for a quote. [top]
THE IMPORTANCE OF CHOOSING
THE RIGHT SOLUTION
Just a few short years ago, the cellular telephone became a "must
have" in the company arsenal. Imagine a world without the cell
phone...difficult to imagine living without it, isn't it? Now imagine
a world without e-mail and the many applications you rely on to
do your job. You probably don't have to imagine it - every time
you leave your office you leave a wealth of information back at
your desk. But with the advent of a wireless business solution,
businesses can now gain access to corporate e-mail, calendar,contacts,
intranet, Web-enabled applications, and the internet - wirelessly,
which means they have access to the vital communication tool (e-mail)
and vital information they need to do their jobs - whenever they
need it.
Having a wireless business solution means you can remain connected
to all that important information - which can also mean saved time
and money, improved communication between employees, customers and
partners, better business relationships, and increased revenues.
However, the key to getting all of this is choosing the right solution
- and as with most technologies, not all wireless solutions are
created equal.
Choosing the right wireless solution can enable your company to
increase productivity, improve communication, seize business opportunities,
strengthen business relationships, and increase revenues - both
now and in the future. The right solution will provide the flexibility
and scalability to meet future requirements as well as serve your
current needs. [top]
WHAT YOU SHOULD LOOK FOR
Selecting the right wireless business solution requires an understanding
of what the solution requires as well as your particular needs.
Knowing how the solution works and what it needs to work is a major
consideration. [top]
WHAT ARE THE COMPONENTS OF
A WIRELESS BUSINESS SOLUTION?
There are several components involved in a wireless solution. The
following should be considered:
- Wireless device - where you will receive and interact with data
(laptop, PDA, phone, etc.)
- Wireless Modem - the means by which you transfer data
- Wireless Network - the network the data will travel over
- Enterprise software - gives you reliable, secure and easy to
manage access to your data
The wireless business solution you choose should be able to handle
the devices you currently have, or may have in the future. It should
also be able to handle the various wireless networks available today:
- CDPD (Cellular Digital Packet Data)
- CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access)
- 1XRTT (high speed cellular digital data network) launching June
2002
The raw data rates for the networks being used today range from
8 Kbps to 144 Kbps. The solution you choose should be able to optimize
and maximize that data transfer rate, as well as provide reliability
and security for the data being transferred.
With the advent of enterprise wireless over the past several years,
many companies are available to help your company go wireless. However,
there are several factors that will determine which solution is
right for you:
- Does the solution meet your company's security needs?
- Will the solution meet your needs for speed and reliability?
- Can it leverage existing technology, or will you needto buy
special devices or significantly change your corporate infrastructure?
- Will the solution meet your needs now and in the future?
- Do you have a need to support multiple devices - will the solution
support these devices?
- Is the solution easy for your technical team to manage and easy
for end users to learn?
[top]
DETERMINE YOUR REQUIREMENTS
AND RESTRICTIONS
Choosing the right solution for your organization involves determining
what your specific needs are, and ensuring that the solutions you
look at will adequately meet these needs. Some of the factors you
should consider are:
- Number of employees who travel or need access to corporate information
away from the office
- Your business infrastructure - operating system(s), mobile devices
used currently (and in the future), messaging system, security
requirements and restrictions, what assets need to be available
to mobile employees, applications employees use regularly, etc.
- Locations of mobile employees - this will determine which wireless
data network you will use. If you have multiple locations, your
organization may need to use more than one network.
- Create an internal team - another important step in determining
requirements and restrictions is to form an internal team focused
on choosing the best wireless business solution. It's important
for all sectors of the organization - especially business users
and technical personnel - to agree upon a solution and a plan
for implementing the solution.
[top]
SECURITY AND RELIABILITY CONSIDERATIONS
Security is a real concern for wireless users, and corporate network
security is of paramount importance. Wireless providers include
some security, but not up to the level required by many corporations.
Using virtual private network (VPN) technology is problematic for
wireless users because it adds significant overhead (up to double
the amount of data transmitted) in an environment that already has
limited bandwidth.
Your wireless business solution should provide an end-to-end security
model by creating a secure pipe from the mobile user, through the
wireless data network, to the corporate server. For complete security,
the system must provide for authentication, authorization, encryption,
and data integrity. Authentication proves the identity of the user;
authorization determines what the user is allowed to do; encryption
assures the privacy of transmissions; and data integrity assures
that the information has not been altered.
Users and IT managers often consider wireless networks unreliable
for many types of business applications due to coverage and transmission
issues. This is especially true for applications that require the
transmission of large files and longer-term connections.
With that in mind, the wireless business solution you choose should
provide a reliable transport solution that is designed to maintain
connectivity and reestablish dropped connections. It should also
be designed to ensure data integrity through coverage problems,
data loss, roaming, and other network related issues. For example,
if you are running an application wirelessly and lose coverage with
the wireless network in the middle of a file transfer, the solution
you choose should have the ability to allow the data to continue
to flow as soon as the connection is re-established. [top]
RESEARCH YOUR OPTIONS
Whichever wireless business solution you choose, that solution
should be able to help your organization increase productivity,
seize more business opportunities, and leverage your existing technology.With
anytime access to needed information, downtime turns into productive
time. Communication and collaboration can happen spontaneously anywhere,
and employees can respond in real-time to customers, suppliers,
partners, and colleagues. Additionally, your company has invested
heavily in key applications on your corporate network, as well as
hardware, software, integration and training. Having those resources
be more available to more employees more of the time is a clear
economic benefit.
Before you make a decision, be sure to check out the full range
of wireless business solutions. Determining your wireless strategy
by creating an internal team to address the issues discussed in
this paper will be extremely valuable in helping you to reach the
right decision.
Develop a requirements checklist, review product specifications
as well as in-depth product demonstrations. While this research
will require some time and effort, choosing the right wireless business
solution will result in gained economic benefits over the long-term.
[top]
AGAIN; LET US DO YOUR WORK
FOR YOU
Pacific CoastCom will do your research for you. Our 100+, combined
years, of wireless experience will provide your organization with
an informed decision. Pacific CoastCom will do a wireless audit
to provide you with the most effective wireless stategy for today
and the future contact us for a quote.
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