Wireless Valley Introduces RF Manager Software
Offers real-time management of wireless networks to ensure optimal network performance
Austin, TX -- Wireless Valley Communications today announced an addition to its product portfolio, RF Manager, a software solution that visualizes real-time RF activity to assist network managers in detecting and resolving problems impeding wireless network performance.
A robust, scalable, and readily available wireless network is essential in today's business environment, especially as companies depend on always-on access to mission critical applications. However, wireless networks are challenging to design and manage because of dynamic RF signals and the variety of interference sources that affect network availability and performance.
Founded in 1995, Wireless Valley pioneered the concept of deploying wireless networks based upon a comprehensive network design. Using site-specific data and predictive technologies, Wireless Valley's products provide users with a rich 2D and 3D visualization of how RF signals perform and the impact this performance has upon network coverage and capacity.
Wireless Valley's approach to successful wireless implementations involves a comprehensive network design and a solid understanding of RF signals, both of which are critical to on-going management. The company's LANPlanner predictive design software understands and accounts for the various factors affecting a wireless signal, enabling users to create a network design with optimal capacity and coverage levels while minimizing interference. RF Manager seamlessly imports the facility model and network configuration data from LANPlanner, providing customers with a visually rich platform for monitoring and managing either local or remote RF activity in real-time. The software alerts IT managers of potential problems by comparing real-time network activity with the design specifications. Wireless Valley's family of products reduce total cost of ownership of wireless networks by ensuring the proper bandwidth provisioning for voice, video and data, the continuous availability of mission critical applications and on-going analysis of coverage requirements.
Gartner, Inc. recently commented on the impact of effective design and management on network costs and performance, "Through 2006, 80 percent of enterprises will not pre-assess WLAN management needs. This will result in 50 percent more investment post-deployment in WLAN infrastructure and management solutions." These post-deployment costs are often overlooked or not considered by those deploying wireless networks. RF Manager can help offset the costs by enabling network managers to better diagnose, understand, and resolve network problems.
"RF management is a core part of our intellectual property portfolio and a natural extension of our existing design products," noted Jim Welch, Wireless Valley CEO and president. "Wireless Valley was founded 10 years ago on the concept that site-specific knowledge and RF prediction would be critical to understanding wireless network performance and ensuring quality of service. The increased dependency on wireless networks for mission critical applications and VoIP solutions is validating the need for our design and management products."
"Wireless Valley's products have been critical for Getronics as we deploy VoIP enabled wireless networks for our clients," said Michael Bray, director of the Mobility Practice for Getronics. "We have been able to deploy networks that work the first time, and as a result, provide our clients with quality, cost-effective solutions. The management product from Wireless Valley will provide Getronics and our clients a method for ensuring network performance on an on-going basis. The ability to use the same network design plans for managing these complex networks will be very valuable to us and our clients."
RF Manager is a platform independent software solution that enables network administrators to monitor RF activity, detect wireless network issues, and resolve problems. The software collects real-time network data from a variety of sources including access points, network management software, and sensor overlay systems. It identifies problems by determining the discrepancies between the planned network parameters and actual activity. Using the RF Manager console, the network manager can quickly and easily:
- view a wireless dashboard containing critical network performance statistics
- identify deployment and configuration errors,
- view real-time coverage maps and identify coverage holes,
- discover areas with interference,
- evaluate bandwidth usage and capacity utilization, and
- monitor and guarantee the availability and performance of mission-critical business applications delivered via the wireless LAN.
After a problem is identified, the software recommends one or more possible courses of action to solve the issue, such as a hardware configuration change or the addition or removal of access points from the network. Unlike many other solutions which are tied to a specific hardware vendor, RF Manager enables management of all access points, regardless of the manufacturer.
The product will be available in early Q3 2005.
Source: Wireless Valley