Cisco Location Services
Appear Networks® and Cisco Systems® Integrated Location Services Solution
The Integrated Location Services Solution assists organizations in deploying a more successful mobile workforce.
It helps make frontline employees more productive, reduces the costs of operating handheld devices and enhances customer satisfaction. The solution helps increase employee productivity while minimizing the headache of data synchronization, application provisioning, and tracking of wireless devices.
Together, the Cisco Unified Wireless Network and the Appear IQ Wireless Platform deliver context-aware intelligence that proactively provides mobile workers with the relevant tools and mission-critical information they need to work faster and more effectively.
For a demonstration of the solution capabilities in the City of Kista, Sweden, please follow the link to our Video on Demand.
In today’s anytime, anywhere business environment, having the right information at the right time is critical for effective business operations. Individuals must be able to respond to immediate business, customer, and environmental changes and requirements. Organizations need to supply their employees with real time access to critical business data—regardless of their physical location.
The need for accurate, immediate information is prevalent for mobile employees who work outside the typical office setting such as customer information specialists, maintenance engineers, healthcare professionals, or security personnel. Today’s customers and transportation passengers also need access to real time information to assist them in making purchasing or planning decisions. All of these mobile users need access to information quickly, without the complexities of using a search engine, moving between files, or executing complicated downloads. Organizations need a cost-effective, easy-to-use mobile solution that delivers real-time business critical data to a variety of mobile users.
SOLUTION
Appear Networks® in conjunction with Cisco Systems® offers an innovative and cost-effective solution for accessing business critical data in real time—the Integrated Location Services Solution. The Appear IQ Wireless Platform when combined with the Cisco® Unified Wireless Network provides users with the information they need, when, and where they need it.
The Integrated Location Services Solution consists of these key components:
The Appear IQ Wireless Platform meets the needs of mobile users, whether consumers or frontline workers, by facilitating their successful use of wireless technology. The platform delivers enhanced computing intelligence through the delivery of advanced data, video, and voice over WLAN (VoWLAN) capabilities.
When combined with the Cisco Unified Wireless Network, the Appear IQ Wireless Platform recognizes and anticipates the needs of mobile users based on their job responsibilities, user profile, physical location, time-of-day, device type, and more. The platform proactively pushes personalized, real-time information to the user’s mobile device whenever they enter or move between authorized wireless zones. Data is displayed in a user-friendly format using simple, straight forward icons that encourage user adoption of the technology. The provisioning of new applications and the synchronization of data is conducted automatically whenever necessary, without impacting the user.
The Cisco Unified Wireless Network is the industry’s only unified wired and wireless solution to cost-effectively address the WLAN security, deployment, management, and control issues facing enterprises. The solution includes innovative RF capabilities that enable real-time access to core business applications and provides proven enterprise-class secure connectivity. The Cisco Unified Wireless Network is an integrated end-to-end solution that addresses all layers of the WLAN, from client devices and access points, to the network infrastructure, to network management, to the delivery of advanced wireless services integration and award-winning, worldwide, 24-hour product support.
The Cisco 2700 Series Wireless Location Appliance is an innovative, easy-to-use solution that uses Cisco’s advanced RF fingerprinting technology to simultaneously track thousands of 802.11 wireless devices. This appliance is integrated directly into the WLAN infrastructure to extend the value and security of the existing WLAN by making it "location aware". The Cisco 2700 Series Wireless Location Appliance brings the power of a cost effective, high-resolution location solution to critical applications such as high-value asset tracking, IT management, location based security and business policy enforcement.
The Cisco Wireless Control System (WCS) simplifies WLAN operations by allowing IT managers to design, control, monitor, and manage enterprise WLANs from a centralized location via an easy-to-use GUI. The Cisco WCS manages the Cisco Wireless Location Appliance and displays location information.
Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers are responsible for system wide wireless LAN functions, such as security policies, intrusion prevention, RF management, quality of service (QoS), and mobility.
Cisco Aironet Lightweight Access Points deliver secure wireless access to any Wi-Fi compliant IEEE 802.11a/b/g client device.
Cisco Compatible Extensions client devices are strongly recommended for use with the Integrated Location Services Solution. Cisco Compatible Extensions devices support pre-standard features tested for compatibility with the Cisco Unified Wireless Network as well as a variety of diverse enterprise application requirements.
Customer Specific Applications can be easily merged with the Integrated Location Services Solution. Customer specific applications include:
- Security—Silent alerts and access to video using location positioning
- Customer service—Access to traffic information, ticket issuing, ticket control, and other relevant information including maps and schedules
- Maintenance—Task notification, diagrams, handbook information and collaboration tools
- Passenger information—Access to real time information to assist in making purchasing or planning decisions
Figure 1 Integrated Location Services Solution
DEPLOYMENT AND APPLICATION EXAMPLES
The Integrated Location Services Solution is deployable in a variety of environments and situations across multiple industries. Examples of key industries are listed below.
Transportation
The Integrated Location Services Solution smoothly integrates into a variety of public and private transportation systems to provide information to station managers, ticket takers, maintenance personnel, security teams, and passengers. For example, in a metropolitan railway station, the solution can provide rail personnel with instant information that enables them to better serve customers or support the delivery of maintenance requests to facilitate smooth railway operations. For passengers, the solution can provide timely travel information relative to the passenger’s current location. Delays and departures can be retrieved in real-time to assist passengers in planning their trip.
Shopping Malls
Shopping malls can directly benefit by deploying the Integrated Location Services Solution. Customer services staff can have relevant information available at their fingertips resulting in increased customer satisfaction and return rates. Maintenance personnel and security staff can benefit from having information readily available, for example security staff can access relevant video surveillance feeds. The solution can also provide shoppers with store or product information to assist them in making their purchasing decisions or push special offers and promotions to customers relevant to where they are in the mall.
Hospitality
Convention center hotels and other hospitality environments can use the Integrated Location Services Solution to deliver tradeshow offerings with personally tailored marketing or training material. These offerings can be sent as a mix of audio and visual information. Frontline employees in these environments can also be provided with the ability to access customer service information, maintenance, and security solutions.
BUSINESS BENEFITS
The Integrated Location Services Solution provides real and tangible business benefits via fast, readily available real-time information and tools. Benefits provided by this solution include:
- Increased employee productivity
- Better informed and more effective employees
- Reduced employee training requirements
- Improved customer satisfaction
- Improved security through context aware silent alerts
- Increased sales in retail environments
- Improved asset management and security through strategic positioning of connected devices, users or equipment
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