The industry's first Enterprise iPhone Wi-Fi hotspot solution

May 5, 2009 14:32 GMT  ·  By

iPass, Inc. has announced the first enterprise-configurable Wi-Fi hotspot solution for the iPhone and iPod touch – iPassGlobal Wi-Fi. The company has also confirmed updates to the iPassConnect mobility manager software for Mac OS X and Nokia S60 OS. iPass is a provider of mobility services to many of the world’s largest companies.

“Enterprise IT managers face challenges supporting the multitude of employee-owned mobile devices that are making their way into business settings,” Eric Paulak, managing vice president, Gartner, Inc., said. “This consumerization trend will continue as Gen Y employees grow to dominate the workforce, and presents new cost control, support, and security risks for the enterprise. Wi-Fi hotspots provide a great opportunity for enterprises to offload 3G expense, especially the massive bills that can accrue from international roaming.”

“iPass is dedicated to helping our customers harness the power of the mobile Internet in a simple, secure and cost-effective manner. Extending and improving our iPass Mobile Office service across consumer-driven enterprise platforms such as the iPhone, Nokia S60 and Mac OS X is critical to this effort,” Evan Kaplan, iPass president and CEO, added. “As web-friendly smartphones enter the business via employees’ pockets, they are driving increased IT complexity. iPass will continue to be the answer for enterprises who want to cost-effectively serve the evolving needs of their mobile workforce.”

According to iPass, the benefits of using its global Wi-Fi hotspot network on smartphones include: ·Lower 3G charges: enterprises can offload megabytes from their user’s 3G data plans, and avoid international roaming charges, without adding new user fees for a second device. · Ease of use: users simply download the iPassConnect mobility manager software from the Internet, enter a company-specific code for a one-time configuration to corporate policies and connect to iPass hotspots using their existing corporate username and password. · An integrated enterprise solution: There is no up-front work required by IT to enable the service. IT Managers get detailed usage reporting and an integrated invoice from iPass covering all of a user’s devices and usage methods. · Real-time and multimedia performance: Wi-Fi delivers higher throughput and lower latency than 3G, and is better able to support real-time applications such as Skype, videoconferencing and online collaboration. · Rural, indoors and in-flight coverage: 3G coverage often degrades or disappears as one leaves urban centers or heads indoors. On flights, Wi-Fi is often the only data solution.

iPass has revealed that it will not charge enterprise customers additional fees for individuals who use two or more devices in a given month. According to the company, this approach helps enterprises reduce 3G usage without incurring extra charges.

Visit iPass here for more information, or download iPassGlobal Wi-Fi for iPhone and iPod touch using the link below.

Download iPassGlobal Wi-Fi via iTunes (Free)