|
|
|
ARUBA Extends Enterprise Networks To Mobile Users |
|
|
Sunnyvale, CA, May 21, 2007 - Aruba Networks, Inc. today announced two new software products
that afford mobile users the same phone and secure network access they enjoy at work when they are away from the office. The new Mobile Access Point software provides enterprise connectivity and follow-me security by enabling role-based user access controls, stateful firewall and split-tunneling in any Aruba access point into which it is loaded. In addition, the unique HotelConnect™ feature enables road warriors to access hotel Internet connections using dual-mode phones, PDAs, and other devices that would otherwise be blocked by the hotel’s billing system. The new Mobile Voice Continuity software heralds the third phase of Aruba’s enterprise FMC program that was launched last year. Without requiring IP PBX upgrades or partnerships with cellular carriers, the Mobile Voice Continuity software automatically manages the hand-off of data and phone calls between Aruba’s wireless LAN and a cellular network. Taken together these powerful new tools securely connect mobile voice, data, and video users anywhere they travel.
“The trend in networking is to bring infrastructure and applications to the user,” said Rachna Ahlawat, a research director at Gartner. “New location-based technology prompted follow-me Internet services, and new tracking technology spawned find-me call redirect offerings. Follow-me security and follow-me calling are logical evolutions of developments in these industries.”
Aruba’s mobility solutions associate security and access policies with individual users instead of ports, allowing security to follow users instead of forcing users to connect to the network through specific ports. Carrying this follow-me security concept forward, the policies enforced by the new Mobile Access Point firewall mirror those enforced by the corporate Aruba Mobility Controller. If multiple users connect to an access point equipped with Mobile Access Point software, each user will be managed separately, consistent with policies established at the corporate office.
Travelers to hotels and other locations regulated by captive portals have previously been unable to use Wi-Fi enabled dual-mode telephones, PDAs, or other non-PC devices to connect to the portal-protected network. Aruba’s HotelConnect feature remedies this situation by registering with the portal and allowing any authorized device to be used just as it would in the corporate office - for data access, to send and receive voice-over-IP telephone calls, for streaming video delivery, and for Skype and video conference calls. To optimize local traffic flow, the software’s split-tunneling feature directs only corporate traffic back to the Mobility Controller, while Internet access and printer traffic remain local.
The new enterprise FMC Mobile Voice Continuity software provides seamless data and voice call hand-offs between an Aruba wireless LAN and a cellular network. The software runs on an Aruba Mobility Controller and works with a standard SIP-based IP PBX to bridge calls between networks without any intervention by the user. Calls that originate on a Wi-Fi enabled phone are registered with the Mobility Controller and then completed by the IP PBX. Aruba algorithms detect when a user is roaming off-site and automatically initiate a cellular call to the user via the IP PBX. An Aruba client on the phone silently answers the call and the Mobility Controller bridges the call and terminates the Wi-Fi connection. When a user roams into the enterprise the Mobility Controller, in concert with the IP PBX, transfers the call to the wireless LAN and terminates the cellular call.
“FMC is the next frontier in enterprise networking, and represents a major opportunity to increase productivity, control billable cellular minutes, and better leverage the enterprise network,” said Keerti Melkote, Aruba’s founder and head of products and partnerships. “Aruba’s approach to eFMC stands out because it doesn’t require additional new infrastructure beyond the wireless LAN or carrier support, and that makes it very cost-effective and readily deployable.”
The Mobile Access Point software will be shipping in July 2007, and the enterprise FMC Mobile Voice Continuity software in the fourth quarter of 2007.
|
|
|
