Migrating Networks

But one man's problem is a VAR's opportunity. Denver-based Anyware Network Solutions, a wireless-applications solution provider, is typical of how local government-based VARs have capitalized on the switch. Anyware has stepped up to the challenge and helped several of its customers migrate their applications without loss of service.

The migration is especially critical for municipal governments for two important reasons. First, the applications often are at the core of services delivered by the public-safety departments of these local governments. Second, many of these agencies don't have the funds to pay for huge network retooling and recoding of existing applications.

"AT&T is putting its smaller, underserved customers at the bottom of its priority list, and these underserved markets may not have other options available," says Charles Franco, Anyware's vice president of sales. "In municipalities alone, there are several departments that rely on the CDPD network for field automation, including fire and police departments, building inspectors and utilities that use the network. The switch to GPRS will affect a good percentage of our existing customer base," he says.

Anyware Network Solutions assembled a solution for its customers, based on software from NetMotion Wireless of Seattle. The software provides a network-neutral layer for existing wireless applications so that these applications don't have to know the underlying network infrastructure and can operate seamlessly across any wireless or wired network connectivity that is available to them. "NetMotion allows for internetwork roaming, session persistence, best-bandwidth routing, enhanced performance and advanced security," Franco says. "It helps eliminate the frustration of the inconsistent connectivity of wireless networks."

In fact, AT&T's migration to GPRS creates several problems for its existing customers. First off, the existing CDPD network customers pay a fixed monthly rate. The newer network will have usage-based pricing, which could jack up the costs for customers who send large amounts of data over the network. The newer network also has longer latency times, making data-transfer applications, such as sending mug shots and software updates, problematic. But the biggest problem has to do with the change in network infrastructure itself and how the network doles out IP addresses.

"Many of the public-safety applications, such as Computer-Aided Dispatch and report writing, require a fixed IP address to run over a wireless network," Franco says. The older CDPD network provides fixed IP addresses, but the newer GPRS networks use dynamic IP addresses, which would break these existing applications if the NetMotion software isn't employed.

"NetMotion will insulate applications from these IP address changes, so they can continue to use the same applications in the future, regardless of which wireless network they are running on," Franco says. "Without NetMotion, significant changes would have to be made to each client on the network via software upgrades, etc. With NetMotion, absolutely no changes are required, and the transition would be seamless to our end-user customers."

In a sense, Anyware Network Solutions has made the best of bad timing by AT&T Wireless: It has stepped in and saved older applications from extinction and eliminated a massive recoding and retooling of the applications. At the same time, using the NetMotion software has future-proofed these public-safety customers from other changes in the wireless infrastructure by AT&T and other suppliers. "NetMotion works across all IP networks, which allow for a built-in migration path to new technologies as they become available," Franco says.

The NetMotion product offering is just one part of Anyware's arsenal of tools.

"We have an elaborate ecosystem of wireless vendors with varying applications, including security, networking management, Voice-over-IP and wireless LAN and WAN infrastructure," Franco says. He also gives NetMotion high marks: "They have provided us with comprehensive classroom and field training, assisted with our installations, kept us and our customers up-to-date with the latest revisions and have provided quick and accurate resolutions to our customers' technical-assistance questions," he says. "They are also at the top of our list of vendors in regard to our margins. They bring a high level of value-add to our customers."

More intriguing is that the software also lets applications take advantage of private 802.11 wireless networks where available, which can help boost performance close to that of wired networks. Some municipalities are overlaying their metropolitan areas with the 802.11 networks to provide full field automation. "If police officers are kept closer to the crimes and the streets, it has a tremendous benefit on the communities that they serve," Franco says.

Can better wireless connectivity cut crime? It's only a matter of time.