Are You Wide Enough?

I've also historically been a big fan of wireless LANs,not just because they let CRN's reporters (or at least those who have finagled wireless cards on the sly) file stories from directly on the scene of the news, but because of the leg-up that they give small businesses and companies with unique communications challenges. But I think many of us, yours truly included, are thinking about wireless networking far too narrowly.

The most exciting development will extend beyond local networks. Indeed, the enterprise wireless switching technology being unveiled this week by Proxim,and developed with its longtime partners Avaya and Motorola,has profound implications for how businesses will communicate.

Proxim's technology, due in the second quarter, strives to let users of enabled communications devices,be they phone-centric or PDA-centric,roam between wide-area cellular networks and Wi-FI networks without service disruption for either voice or data. In essence, this sort of capability promises to do for the wireless world what VoIP is doing for the telecommunications world.

"This technology is purpose-built,thought through from the beginning with telephony in mind," said Kevin Duffy, Proxim's senior vice president for product line development and product line management. That means Proxim has taken on a number of core issues of concern to solution providers, including load balancing, power management, dealing with waxing and waning user densities, and, of course, quality of service.

Now, I'm not naive enough to believe Proxim's technology will take off overnight, especially since it claims to stand alone in this market. However, the vendor's approach to training its VARs and systems integrators,one that stresses the transfer of the core skills necessary for specific solutions rather than products,

certainly will be an advantage. And its longtime attention to key verticals such as health care will prove to be another strength.

Is your wireless strategy wide enough? HEATHER CLANCY, Editor at CRN, appreciates your feedback and comments at [email protected].