business benefits from wireless mobility business...

FREEDOMBUSINESS BENEFITS FROM WIRELESS MOBILITY

Spring/Summer 2004

BUSINESSCOMPUTINGCOMES HOME

Digitalconvergence– time to getconnected

WIN aTablet PC– see inside

Howsecurelycan youroam?

contents �

In the short time since the first edition of Freedommagazine was printed, the importance of mobiletechnology to the modern-day business professional hasincreased immeasurably.

A recent survey by Computer Weekly of IT directors,heads of IT and CIOs, revealed that mobile computingwas regarded as the most important technological issuethat would impact on their business this year, becomingequally as important as data security.

Since our first edition the mobility agenda haschanged. We now live in a world where high bandwidthwireless data connections are possible, not just with theever-popular 802.11x hotspot technologies, but alsofrom GPRS and the recently launched true 3G servicesfrom, principally, Vodafone and T-Mobile.

Companies like yours are increasingly askingtechnology and service suppliers questions about how

you’ll derive the business benefits from mobile technology rather than what mobiletechnologies exist per se. These are the questions that we will address in this supplement.

We will focus squarely on how you and your company can realise the benefits of mobiletechnologies. For example, we will focus on hotspot technologies from the perspective ofhow well they are configured for your mobile workers to reap the benefits they promise.We will do the same with the phenomena of always-on connections and secure roaming.

Also on the agenda is the increasingly important topic of convergence and we will lookat how likely you’ll find business benefits from wirelessly enabled products such asprojectors and printers working with similarly enabled laptops and PDAs, with a specialfocus on Tablet PCs. We’ll also see how converged voice and data networks could work foryour company.

We will show how you can educate your staff to get the best from wireless services andhow you can optimise the cost of your investment in wireless technologies. This will beexemplified by a case study showing how the Tate Modern gallery displayed not just atalent for art but also business advantage from mobile technology.

Finally, we’ll see how innovations from Toshiba’s world-renowned laboratories are givingcompanies the business edge. There’s a lot of mobile technology out there. We aim toshow that Toshiba not only has the mobile technology your business requires; it also hasthe business knowledge that will enable you to put it to most effective use.

Future perfect

Page 4/5How do your fellow professionals usemobile technology to their business’advantage?Page 4/5Hotspots are springing up across the UK, but how easy is it for your workers to use them?Page 6How much education do your workersneed to reap the benefits of mobiletechnology?Page 7How to construct a return on investmentpath for your mobile technologyinvestmentPage 8The Home Computing Initiative couldsignificantly increase mobile workingPage 10Big promises were made when theTablet PC was launched. But how has itshaped up?Page 12How combined voice and data servicesover IP networks can benefit the mobileworkerPage 13Firms are finding new ways to implement secure mobile businesscommunicationsPage 15Why always-on connectivity is best foryour business Page 17How the wireless revolution is spreadingthrough the office – even to peripheralsPage 18What’s in store? We look at developmentsat Toshiba’s world-renowned laboratoriesPage 19How the Tate Modern is using mobiletechnology to improve the experience forvisitors

Printed in Great Britain for the proprietorReed Business Information, Quadrant House,The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS Origination by JJs Typographics, Southend-on-SeaPrinted by BGP.© 2004 Reed Business Information Limited

Reed Business InformationPublishing directorRobert BrighouseEditor Joe O’HalloranArt editor Tim ParkerProduction editor Adam RichesCommercial directorRichard StromITElligence 0208 652 [email protected]

Published by

Welcome to the Spring/Summer edition ofToshiba’s Freedom Magazine. Toshiba’sFreedom Computing vision is born fromunderstanding the business goals and ITconcerns of today’s enterprise businesscustomers. Freedom Computing enablesanywhere, any-time computing andcommunications. A growing number ofbusinesses across all industry sectors are

extending their corporate network into the field through new anddeveloping mobility solutions – empowering the workforce,improving productivity and gaining competitive advantage.

To find out more about Freedom Computing please visit:www.solutions.toshiba.co.uk or alternatively contact us by email on: [email protected]

Andy Bass, General Manager, Toshiba Computer Systems Division

FREEDOMSPRING/SUMMER2004 3

FREEDOMSPRING/SUMMER20044

� hotspots

Mobility: key questionsWhat do users of mobile technology really think about its effectiveness? Dina Foster asks a representative sample of fellow mobile professionals

Bob McCalden, Head of Client Systems, PriceWaterhouseCoopers: Primarily laptop PCs. Connectivity isvia a dynamic Virtual Private Network (dVPN) solution, giving secure authentication and encryptedcommunication over internet connections. Also, some PDA devices, to give email-only connectivity.

Paul Brayford, Acting Head of ICT Business Partners, Audit Commission: We currently use laptops(Satellite Pro, Portege and Tecra) to remotely connect to our network, plus a small number of desktopPCs in remote sites. Current connection means is dial-up (PSTN and ISDN), although we have piloted aVPN over both ADSL, cable and third-party LANs. We have piloted VPN over Wi-Fi hotspot access to ourWAN and will be rolling this out together with greater use of broadband (ADSL) as part of a VPN project.Later this year we will look at mobile telephony-based data services (GPRS, fast GSM and 3G) to see ifthere’s value in using them – previous investigations have found them too slow. We are just about to rollout 300 Orange SPV M1000 Pocket PC PDAs using GPRS and the Orange Office Freedom product toaccess our MS Exchange-based email and PIM services.

Michael P Williamson, Head of Information Systems, Grant Thornton: Some 80% of users haveToshiba notebook PCs and dial in via a Checkpoint VPN to one of our two gateways. They can also dialdirectly into their local Lotus Notes server if all they want is email. At present they use traditional modemsor infrared connections on their mobile phones. We are piloting the use of Orange GPRS data cards.

1. What devices do yourworkers use to remotelyconnect to the companynetwork?

Toshiba and SanDisk have developed a flash memory chip capable of storing 4 Gbytes, twice as much data as their existing largest-capacity flash memory product. The result is that devices employing flash memory can either be made smaller while carryingthe same amount of memory or kept the same size with the internal memory capacity increasing.

As a user you must have seen theadvertisements. A busy, hectic professionalworks on his or her laptop in the kitchen, the

bedroom, the garden and even on a windswept beach,all the time connected to the corporate network.

It’s an appetising thought. We have all stared out of thewindow from time to time wishing we could worksomewhere else and now the technology exists for us to

do it... to a degree. A hotspot, commonly referred to as aWi-Fi hotspot, is a location where a wireless Internetaccess connection exists and is available for use bycustomers. Sometimes this access can be free, but oftenwireless carriers charge for Wi-Fi usage and mostimportantly you need a laptop that has Wi-Fi connectivity.

RETURN ON INVESTMENT CASEGary Evans, technical services manager at ToshibaInformation Systems, explains: “Hotspots are there now.Lots of people, from telecoms companies to hardwaremanufacturers, are delivering hotspots to the market.

“If I leave the office in the UK and go to Germany, Iwant to work as if I am in the office in the UK. Themore mobile people become the more it will drive thewireless side of things. People thought that moving froma desktop to a laptop was mobility. Mobility is aboutgetting to that next step.”

Sean Renant, technical director at IT distributorEquip, adds his support to the proposition: “Many ofthese hotspots are being run by more centralisedvendors and companies who subscribe to that oneclient. The majority of these hotspots are put in bycorporates in their own foyers for their own employees,which means they are not across the country.”

“People want to sit down and have a coffee and workas they would in the office. Getting the connection upand running is what stops people from using it,” he says.

If we are all to sit windswept on the beach, or more

hotspotHotspots are gaining coverage aroundthe UK, but just how well are theyconfigured for a mobile business user like you? Chris Walton investigates

Hitting the


strategy clinic �

Bob McCalden 1. Reliability: it’s a business critical technology and we would lose chargeable time if reliabilitywasn’t high.2. Long-term product planning and vision: to give confidence in product futures. 3. Effective accountmanagement: in an increasingly competitive market, account management is a key differentiator. Paul Brayford: 1. Wi-Fi compliance: interoperability with our other kit. 2. Standards-based security features:interoperability with our other kit, configurable within our security framework and policies. 3. Ease of use: must beeasily usable by staff who are technology-averse.Michael P Williamson: 1. Convenient connectivity: users don’t have to make varied decisions depending onlocation.2. Security: our work is highly confidential. 3. Adequate speed: more important than cost.

Bob McCalden: Integrated optical drive in an ultralight sub-3 pound form factor.Paul Brayford: Combined standards of 802.11b/g/a, fuller integration of Bluetooth into Windows XP and IrDAsecurity.Michael P Williamson: To have the data card built into the PC, so all we had to add was the SIM. ��

2. What are thethree key elementsyou ask of yoursuppliers of mobiletechnology andservices? Why?

Bob McCalden: Hard disc encryption to secure all data on PCs. Encrypted dVPN remote connectivity to protectdata in transit over the public internet. Two-factor authentication on dVPN to prevent unauthorised usage.Paul Brayford: PEAP IPSec VPN on PCs, personal firewall software with centralised policy management and pre-boot authentication software.Michael P Williamson: Mainly the authenticated VPN. In addition, the mobile data cards are configured so thatthey can only work via the VPN. Wi-Fi is disabled in configuration. Also piloting mobile devices (Orange SPV andTreo 600) using OneBridge technology – probably with attachments disabled.

3. What securitymethods do youdeploy on yourmobile technology?

4. Does your company have an acceptable usage policy about how workers use wireless technology?Bob McCalden: Yes; it is being further developed to take into account industry changes.Paul Brayford: Yes; we have a handheld computers policy for PDAs/smartphones, etc, plus standard policies forPCs.Michael P Williamson: At present we have the same policies for wireless or connected use – as wireless isdirected through our gateways and VPN the issues of ‘acceptability’ are the same. We are negotiating flat ratedeals on the mobile data cards so costs, while high, will be controlled.

4. Does yourcompany have anacceptable usagepolicy about howworkers usewireless technology

5. If you could addany additionalfeature to yourwireless laptop,what would it be?

Research by market analyst EMC has identified rapid growth in the take-up of 2.5G services in Europe, with 16m active users.According to EMC’s latest figures, for the quarter ended September 2003, there was a 30% jump in GPRS customers on the previousquarter ending June 30. The growth is party attributable to GPRS-branded services such as Vodafone Live! and T-Mobile’s ‘t-zones’

realistically in the coffee shop next door to the office,working as we do in the office, hotspots have to be wellconfigured for use. Chris Brown, managing director atPan-European broadband provider Swisscom EurospotUK admits his company has had to spend a lot of timemaking sure hotspot locations are user friendly. Hepoints to a case where two different companiesattempted to use Swisscom hotspots without realisingwhat the company needed to do to its equipment sothat the hotspot could be used effectively. “[They triedto] use our service with their proxy transparency andvarious VPNs (virtual private networks). Some laptopsdid not have a Wireless LAN (local area network) builtin so [they needed to use] one of our wireless bridges.”

As with any emerging technology there will always beteething troubles but hotspot providers have to reachout to the mobile business community as best as theycan. This can be seen in the increasing installation ofhotspots in the office, and while it might be useful tomove from desk to desk in the office, the true goal ofwireless is to get your employees working outside theoffice and that can only be done as hotspot providersget the hotspots installed throughout the country.

Brown is clear about what is needed to make suremobile professionals know about what benefits hotspotscan deliver. “We are making direct contact withcorporates through marketing campaigns,” he says.

Andrew Doe, chief executive officer at Toshiba partnerWireless Networks, ventures: “A lot of the marketing

activities from Intel and other vendors areaimed at creating demand from executives,who can tell the IT director to install awireless network. But the idea is new andthere are new types of technology to getfamiliar with.”

Renant adds: “The TV adverts [for theseproducts] are good at telling people aboutwhat hardware is available to performhotspot functionality. What needs pushingmore is the science. One simple thing weneed more is signs – signs to indicatehotspot availability do not give billinginformation.”

The key to hotspots succeeding iseducation. If marketing wants to plant theidea of wireless in your mind assomething desirable, you also have tounderstand the practical implicationsbehind being a wireless user.

The hotspot market is still immature, and as themarket matures, so will the advertising, and so theunderstanding of the science behind working on thatwindswept beach. This is a feeling that Toshibaendorses. Ultimately, the technology is there to makesure hotspots can be used to deliver business benefits.This may require a mind-change in the way you work.But this change is an opportunity for you to achievegreater effectiveness in the way that you work. ��

“We are constantlyworking with our hotspotlocations to make directcommunication with theircustomers to explain thebenefits of wireless”


� education

Mobile professionals demand that thebenefits of mobile technology are gainedinstantaneously. Chris Walton investigateswhat needs to be done to ensure this

“Mobile working is not about technology but aboutproductivity. We tell the user that if they look at thetechnology they will lose the requirement. They need toconnect by the best available connection programme anddo it as cheaply as possible. A user who has remoteaccess to email will be 30% more productive thansomeone who has not.”

But some people do not share the dream of a mobileworkforce boosting their productivity. Moray Barclay,business development manager of COLT Telecom,cautions: “There has been a lot of talk about Wi-Fi,particularly in the hotel and hospitality industry, but the

vast majority of public broadband access isnot from a Wi-Fi connection.

“I think it is a manifestation that businessusers are using laptops for wireless access.For the majority of users, it is fixedbroadband access that is used, but it isprobably over-looked in terms ofnewsworthiness compared to Wi-Fi.”

Barclay admits that most advertising forinternet access in hotel chains refers tobroadband access and not Wi-Fi.

This is a view not shared by everyone.Andrew Steggles, director of mobilitychannels for enterprise solutions at Nokia,argues that many people had the sameheadaches moving from desktop internetaccess to laptop internet access, withwireless access being the next stage in theevolution of getting online.

“First of all, that move was strange forsome. It was bad enough that you had tofind different mains connectors and use adifferent phone number and that would

create a problem about how to get connected on a fixedline. Now you do not have to worry about the connection;the ease of using wireless is there. And the more peopleadopt it, the more simple it is going to become.”

IMPROVEMENT IN SECURITYAndrew Doe, chief executive officer at Toshiba partnerWireless Networks, concurs, stressing that wirelesstechnology is still a new idea that users are getting togrips with. “Security has improved and there are not theworries there were 12 to 18 months ago,” he says.

Kelly adds: “IT departments need to look at howflexible they want to be. They have to look at what it isthey need [the company] to access and how secure theywant that access to be.”

Yet with flexible working programmes becoming morecommonplace and employers and employees striving fora better work-life balance, then maybe the time has comefor you to forget the cables and worry about how thosewireless connections work. ��

When you use your mobile phone, do youcare how the connection works? No – you wantto get hold of people as soon as possible. The

same principles should apply to wireless IT, otherwiseyour employees will fail to reap the benefits.

Cast your mind back to when you put the cables in tocreate your network. You wanted the connection to work;you wanted your employees online. It was going to makeyour employees more efficient.

Today, in a wireless world, you want the connection towork and you want your increasingly mobile work force tobe on-line and be more productive. David Kelly, MarketDevelopment Manager at Toshiba Information Systems,says: “When I speak to customers about mobility, theysay they want to get connected in the office, go into a liftand come out two floors later still with the connectivity –as you’d want with a mobile phone call.”

But the barriers that need to be overcome are ascomplicated as those you faced when you put cables in.This is attributed mainly to the fact that the cables arealready in, explains Dave MacFarlane, chief technologyofficer at Wi-Fi and wired broadband supplier Sirocom.

“Some 98% of our revenues are still generated by dial[static broadband],” he says. “But companies likeToshiba and Intel are driving money into marketingcampaigns and are right at the edge. Wi-Fi is areplacement for dial [access], where you subscribe to aprovider like BT or T-Mobile, but there is a disjointedstructure [with having] to register with every network.”

“IT departments need tolook at how flexible theywant to be. They have tolook at what it is theyneed [the company] to access and howsecure they want thataccess to be”

Hit the ground running

Swisscom Mobile has followed the trend among European telecoms operatorby announcing plans to set up, by early 2005, a broadband mobile networkthat combines EDGE, UMTS and wireless local-area network technologies.The aim is to provide users with the optimum wireless mobile consistentexperience.

For more information on mobility click on www.solutions.toshiba.co.uk6

number of large enterprises were delaying wirelessprojects until 3G mobile networks were launched.

If wireless technology is used appropriately, firms canusually achieve a return on investment (ROI) in less thansix months, says Charles Homs, an analyst with ForresterResearch. “Wireless technology is relatively inexpensiveand costs less to run, so if it is used in the right places, itcan deliver tremendously fast results,” he says.

Calculating the ROI of wireless begins with anunderstanding of the costs involved. There are no hardand fast rules, but most ROI calculations should includehardware, software, connectivity, implementation andongoing management. Typically, management andsupport will account for 50% of the total costs.

The other half of the ROI equation is calculating thebenefits of wireless. It’s important to plan ahead and thinkabout what benefits you expect to see. For example, ifyou hope to see an improvement in the number ofqueries agents can handle in a day, measure yourstarting point. According to Forrester, the most commonbenefits of wireless are better productivity (60%), fasteraccess to information (40%), improved customer service(36%), and better logistics (20%).

When mobile phone operator T-Mobile rolled out 200GPRS-enabled handsets to field service engineers, it sawa 20% improvement in productivity. Engineers use themobile phones to receive job details and to tell managerswhen repairs are complete – something that used to bedone using a combination of pagers and paper reports.The wireless technology also improved efficiency, saysSteven Boyne, a T-Mobile project manager. “Now wehave a centralised view of where everyone is, whichmeans we can deploy engineers more efficiently tominimise travel time and reduce downtime because offaults,” he says.

However, it’s important not to confuse new capabilitieswith concrete benefits, says Homs. “If your staff aresaving 15 minutes a day, don’t assume you can translatethat into a dollar value,” says Homs. “Unless you can getrid of those workers or get them something else to dowith that time, it shouldn’t be counted as a benefit.”

Presuming you have identified what benefits yourcompany wants to achieve from wireless – and how it willbe measured – the ROI of wireless can be remarkablyfast. For example, family brewer Charles Wells expects toachieve a return on investment from its Bluetooth andWireless LAN deployment in less than a year, thanks tolower infrastructure and maintenance costs.

The company didn’t include improvements to billing andstock processes in its ROI calculations because it was toodifficult to measure the impact of wireless in those areas,explains managing director Charles Wells. “Sales reps can

enter orders while they’re on the road – beforethey waited to come into the office one or twodays later. That’s a benefit but we couldn’tquantify it,” he says.

However, it is possible to underestimate thebenefits of wireless. You can measureemployee morale and customer satisfactionand the total ROI can amount to more thanthe productivity and efficiency gains that youmight have expected. ��


roi �

Advertising watchdogs recentlylaunched an investigation into a TV commercialthat showed mountain climbers accessing the

Internet from Everest base camp. Viewers complainedthe ad was unrealistic, but the company was indeed ableto show that wireless Internet access is possible halfwayup the world’s highest mountain.

Possible, yes. Cost-effective? Probably not. Perhaps thebiggest problem with wireless technology is thatorganisations get caught up in what they can do, notwhat they should do. Such thinking can prove costly toyour company which potentially could end up with awhole host of technology that does not deliver tangiblebenefits to the business. Research in 2003 showed that a

How do you go about constructing areturn on investment path? And how canyou optimise your mobile technologyinvestment? Sally Whittle investigates

Many happyreturns

Intel has introduced four mobile processors for ultra portable systems. The chip giant says that it will add faster processors to its LowVoltage and Ultra Low Voltage Pentium M processor families, as well as introducing the latest Celeron M processors. The Ultra LowVoltage chips will likely be used in systems without a cooling fan, such as Tablet PCs.

and up to 41% for a higher rate taxpayer. The DTI’swebsite (www.dti.gov.uk/hci) gives a useful outline ofwhat the scheme can cost: “If an employee is loanedequipment worth around £1,500 over a period of threeyears, they could sacrifice as little as £9.62 per weekfrom their gross salary (which net of tax and NIC wouldbe £6.44 for a basic rate taxpayer and £5.67 for ahigher rate taxpayer).”

The reduction in employee’s salaries also has aknock-on effect on the amount of NICs yourorganisation pays. These savings are often enough tocover the cost of the scheme’s administration andsometimes more. Plus, by convincing a large numberof your employees to take part, you can benefit fromcost savings in bulk buying of equipment.

David Kelly, Market Development Manager at ToshibaInformation Systems, explains some of the benefits thatHCI can provide: “Toshiba’s participation in the HomeComputing Initiative allows employees to benefit fromusing leading-edge multimedia laptops at a very cost-effective price. By combining Toshiba multimedia

With nearly all jobs predicted to require atleast basic IT skills in the next few years, acomputer literate workforce is vital for any

company to remain competitive in the currentenvironment. Increasingly, organisations are striving toachieve greater results with fewer resources. In orderto do this the full potential of every employee must berealised.

In recognition of this, the Government has set up theHome Computing Initiative (HCI). This scheme takesadvantage of the government’s 1999 tax legislation, theaim of which was to “extend the opportunities of theinformation age to all… to create the right incentivesand support for businesses to seize the opportunities ofnew technology”, according to Tony Blair. Thelegislation offers a tax exemption on computers loanedfor private use in employees’ homes, thus increasingaccess to IT for all.

Through the scheme your employees are loanedcomputer equipment for home use, as an employeebenefit, much like a company car, but in this case youremployees are not subjected to tax on the benefit. Sowhat are your incentives to supply employees withaccess to computers at home?

Implementing the HCI can greatly improve IT skillsacross your workforce. Your employees will be able tolearn about IT in a home atmosphere, at their ownpace. They are given access to computer based onlinelearning, the internet, email, and financialmanagement. These newly developed skills translatedirectly into the workplace, create a more skilled andflexible workforce, which in turn increases productivity.These new skills give your company a firmer foundationon which to grow its business and a more adaptableworkforce able to tackle the ever changingmarketplace.

The financial incentives for both employees and yourcompany can also be a real draw. Your company couldimplement a salary sacrifice scheme, where employeesaccept a reduction to their salary in return for the useof the computer. In many cases such a scheme can becost-neutral to the organisation.

The combination of tax and National InsuranceContribution (NIC) savings may reduce the cost ofobtaining a computer by 33% for a basic rate taxpayer

HCI: Benefits to theemployer:• Boosts IT literacy• Enhances

workplace skills• Creates a more

productiveworkforce

• Highly attractive topotentialemployees

• Strengthensemployer/employeerelationships

• Operationalsavings throughreduced NICs

• Staff use thelatest technology

Benefits to theemployee:• Boosts personal

development• Increases career

prospects• Increases learning

opportunities• Introduces the

whole family to IT• Entertainment and

leisure benefits• Saving of up to

41% on the cost ofa home computer

• Access to thelatest technology


� home computing initiative

The home computing initiative (HCI) couldoffer your company tremendous benefits.Toshiba is perfectly placed to deliver onHCI. Dina Foster finds out how

For more information on the HCI click on www.dti.gov.uk/hciFor more information on theHCI click on www.dti.gov.uk/hci

Home sweet home

FREEDOMSPRING/SUMMER2004 For more information on the HCI click on www.dti.gov.uk/hci 9

case study �

laptops with e-learning packages and broadbandspeed, for example, the benefits to the home userbecome irresistible.” In addition, Toshiba’s HCIpackage allows employees to buy the system for aslittle as £10 at the end of the scheme.

VALUE-ADDED BONUSImplementing the HCI can also aid staff retention andstrengthen your employer/employee relationships.“Employer feedback has been very positive,” explainsToshiba’s Kelly, “the key benefit being that theemployees feel more valued. In addition, productivityhas been seen to rise as computer skills improve.Employees feel that this very cost-effective access tothe latest multimedia laptops improves their quality oflife at home.” Kelly’s findings are backed up by a 2003NOP work survey which reports that 77% of those witha home computer said it improved their work/lifebalance.

For staff with families there is the added bonus thatchildren gain access to all the educational facilities of

the internet, and online learning. And the whole familycan enjoy online shopping, entertainment and emailfacilities.

Another bonus is that an organisation offering an HCIcan gain an advantage in the recruitment market.Discerning candidates will be draw to a company whichoffers such a forward-thinking benefit that promotespersonal development.

SUCCESS STORIESOver the past few years many major organisations havesuccessfully implemented HCIs, including Siemens, BT,Royal Mail and Nationwide. Ben Debnath, Head ofPolicies and Processes at Siemens, illustrates how itsHCI, launched in 2000, is working. “The demand faroutstripped our expectations in the first round of thescheme. We expected 1,000 applications, but we gotnearly 4,000 – a 38% take-up from all eligibleemployees at that time,” he reveals. As a result of theHCI, NICs at Siemens could fall by £900,000 during thelifetime of the three programmes it is currently running.

BT is equally impressed with the results from its HCI.Caroline Waters, director of people’s networks at BTgroup, sums up the benefits BT obtained from its HCI:“Greater IT literacy is an important benefit of thisscheme and means that we have a more productiveand versatile workforce… It’s a way of giving a wholenew family of benefits and helps you keep your staff.We also know that it’s an effective way of attracting newcandidates. It helps them get a better work/life balanceand develops their IT skills.”

GETTING STARTEDThe benefits are numerous, so how exactly do you getstarted? Depending on the size of your company,getting a HCI under way could be your individualdecision or it may require collaboration across HR,Finance, and IT departments, or even involve boardmembers. “Toshiba’s HCI partners will provide theemployer with all the guidance required to implementthe scheme,” explains Kelly. They can advise on how tomaximise benefits and take up of the scheme; how toimplement salary sacrifice; help you through the taxlegislation and assist with integration of the schemewith any existing benefits packages.

And there is no need for your IT department to panicabout any extra workload, as Kelly reassuringlyexplains: “There is no impact on the internal IThelpdesk of the employer. The HCI provider offers atelephone helpline to support the employee at home.The provider will also deliver the product, set it up,connect to the internet and demonstrate itscapabilities. The provider then provides ongoingsupport for the duration of the programme. Theemployee doesn’t have to do a thing.”

In fact, in time IT departments will probably notice areduction in calls to the helpdesk, as a more IT-literatework force is more likely to resolve basic problemsthemselves.

The benefits of the HCI are manifest. You gain amore adaptable and computer literate workforce,resulting in greater productivity and your employeesand their families receive access to the latesttechnology, at a fraction of the usual cost, and benefitfrom a greater work/life balance. This initiative reallycan help lead your organisation into a secure andconfident future. ��

For more information on Tablet PCs click on www.computers.toshiba.co.uk FREEDOMSPRING/SUMMER200410

� tablet pc

The London Borough of Lewisham housing department believesit will eliminate 30% of its paperwork and double productivityby deploying mobile technology, including tablet PCs.

The borough is in the process of migrating its Novell andLotus Notes infrastructure to Microsoft Windows 2003. Aspart of the programme, a number of employees have beenprovided with mobile devices, explains Simon Berlin, theLewisham’s head of e-government. “There’s a real pushtowards flexible working, and people have been given theoption of using a laptop or a tablet,” says Berlin.

Currently, around 50% of employees using mobile deviceshave opted for tablet PCs. Knowledge workers who attend a lotof meetings or spend a great deal of time reading like thedevices because they are easy to handle. “It can be verydifficult to use a laptop on the train if you’re not at a table,”says Berlin. “Being able to take out a tablet and read meansthat you’re perhaps gaining an hour each day.”

The tablets are also used by a number of field workers,

including surveyors, who visit houses to assess their council taxrating. Previously, these workers spent half their time in theoffice, printing out forms and inputting the data they hadcollected. This process was inefficient and producedunacceptably high error rates, says Mike Ireland, projectmanager at the borough’s public services division. “Errors couldcreep into the data entry system because information wasentered so many times,” he says. “The result was staff werespending too much time in the office dealing with paperwork.”

The council now uses forms created in XML using MicrosoftInfoPath, which surveyors can complete using the digital penand tablet PC. The council estimates that it the InfoPathsolution will save 30% per visit, with each individual visitreduced from £10 to £7. The amount of time that staff areable to spend assessing properties will increase from 50% to80%. “This is an example of something we simply couldn’t dowithout tablet PCs, and so the business case is verycompelling,” says Berlin.

The London Borough of Lewisham

Microsoft chairman and chief softwarearchitect Bill Gates is a big believer in the TabletPC. Microsoft has spent almost $500m on a

version of the Windows operation system designed fortablets that supports the use of a digital pen.

Windows XP Tablet PC Edition has ushered in a newwave of tablet computers, which promise the portability ofa PDA with the usability of a notebook computer. Unlikeearlier tablet devices, the new Tablet PCs allow users to‘write’ directly onto forms and applications using a stylusand ‘digital ink’.

The Tablet PC is aimed squarely at what Microsoft callsthe “corridor warrior” – knowledge workers who rely oncomputer applications but are regularly away from theirdesks. “We’re seeing adoption where people want thefunctionality of a PC but they aren’t sitting at a desk,”says Paul Randle, Windows client product manager atMicrosoft UK. “This lets you write notes in a meeting andstore that knowledge in a way you couldn’t do before.”

Tablet PC technology, of which Toshiba isa leading provider, promises an excitingfuture. Sally Whittle outlines the benefitsyou can get from it

the tabletsTaking

FREEDOMSPRING/SUMMER2004 For more information on Tablet PCs click on www.computers.toshiba.co.uk 11

devices, says Randle. “The new Tablet PCs have farbetter ergonomics, so people can hold them with onehand and write with the other,” he says. In addition, thenew version of Windows XP for tablets makes it easier forIT departments to manage tablet devices in the sameway as laptops, reducing total cost of ownership (TCO).

Manufacturers hope that the Tablet PCs will becomean alternative to laptops for your knowledge workers. Youget a significant productivity benefit moving from a laptopto a tablet. You can take notes in meetings using a penand paper but that’s easily lost. With a tablet, you canmake notes directly to software and you can send anemail to share that knowledge.

It may be early days yet for the tablet market –research group IDC predicts that those with definite plansfor tablet deployment hover below the 10% mark rightnow, but that 15% of the market will be tablet-oriented by2007. But according to work carried out by the GartnerGroup on behalf of Microsoft, the benefits of using tabletsare very clear and may have profound effects on yourbottom line. Microsoft studied the use of tablet devicesacross 16 companies and found that Tablet PCsgenerated a 10% improvement in efficiency, equivalent toa $13,800 saving. For example, workers using laptopsspent on average 77 hours searching for information; thiswas reduced to 44 hours using a Tablet PC.

IDC figures show that just over 50,000 Tablet PCsshipped in the second half of 2003 and, according to IDCprogram manager Andy Brown, issues regardingprice/performance will inevitably be addressed as themarket matures. Brown identifies the earliest adopters ofTablet PCs as those in markets where laptops are toobulky and PDAs too small. For example, your warehousestaff could use tablets to check off deliveries on anelectronic form far more easily than they could by using asmall-screened handheld device.

SAP has already created a version of its warehousemanagement software for the Tablet PC, says KenDulaney, VP of mobile computing for Gartner Group. Thetypical Tablet PC user today is a council worker orinsurance clerk working in the field, he says. Other usesare limited by the relatively small number of applicationsavailable, be believes. “Most software was designed for

use with a keyboard and a mouse, and thatneeds to be redesigned to enable tabletusers to access that information,” he says.“At the moment, there are relatively fewapplications for Tablet PCs, so the devicesare being used with custom-designedsoftware, in vertical sectors.”

By comparison, a typical Toshiba tabletcustomer comes from the healthcare orinsurance industries where employees workextensively out of the office, says Ken Chan.However, he has witnessed a rise in demandfrom company executives and consumers.

“The offering of a better and a faster processor thanthose found in earlier tablets has made a hugeimpression on this broader set of customers,” he said.

Gartner believes the Tablet PC could become a goodoption where laptops are too cumbersome and handhelddevices too small. That’s Bill Gates’ vision. “The idea ofink as a standard data type will become as commonplaceas the graphical user interface did with Windows,” hesays. “By 2010, people will ask how we managed withoutthis kind of accessibility to information.” ��

“With Windows XP thenew tablets have larger screens, fasterprocessors, better batterylife, faster wirelessconnections andimproved securityfeatures”

tablet pc �

Windows XP Tablet PC Edition has prompted newtablet devices from manufacturers including Toshiba,Fujitsu and Acer. Entry-level devices cost around £1,000,although IT departments may also want to invest in amonitor and docking bay for when workers aredeskbound. This would adds around £400 to the cost.According to Ken Chan, Notebook Product Manager,Toshiba, the extra investment enhances portability andversatility. “A docking bay enables the user to write on thescreen in a comfortable and natural position while at theirdesktop. A dual axis accelerator detects the way the useris holding the laptop, either landscape or portrait, andadjusts the screen accordingly. These functions go farbeyond the traditional realm of a notebook,” he says.

Manufacturers say that these devices offer better priceand performance than the first generation of tabletdevices. “With Windows XP the new tablets have largerscreens, faster processors, better battery life, fasterwireless connections and improved security features,”says Microsoft’s Randle.

Hardware manufacturers have done a lot of researchwith focus groups to see exactly how people use tablet

For more information on voice solutions click on www.telecoms.toshiba.co.uk FREEDOMSPRING/SUMMER200412

� wireless technology

IT departments are under greatfinancial pressure to do more with less. At thesame time, they are being told that they must

make their businesses more global and so have beenlooking at ways of upgrading and extending thecompany network.

IP network access extends the company network toanywhere where there is an internet connection,providing a cost-effective point of entry to mobileworkers. Yet this is not all that IP can deliver. Theextended IP network can also be used to mergecompanies’ data and voice networks.

The attractions of such a converged network aremanifest, especially in terms of cost savings. Evenbetter news for the mobile business professional isthat there will soon be voice services using the samewireless IP technology that is revolutionising the waywe use computers.

Yet the benefits of the IP based communicationsinfrastructure can only be achieved through adroitplanning, implementation and execution. It’s easy tobe mired in a morass of technologies that create aheavier financial burden than those they replaced.

In terms of voice services over IP networks, the keymeasurements are not just cost savings but alsoperformance, intuitiveness, ubiquity, security and easeof use.

The most commonly known application of voiceservices using IP technology is Voice over IP (VoIP). Intheir earliest implementations towards the end of the1990s, VoIP networks were bedevilled by unreliabilityand poor quality of service compared with traditionaltelecoms technology. Until recently, the business casefor VoIP was not universally convincing. That’s differenttoday, says James Cox, Product Marketing Manager ofToshiba’s Business Communications Division.

CRITICAL LEVEL OF MATURITYCox argues that the technology has reached a criticallevel of maturity and that IP based voice services willbe on companies’ wish lists. “You can now get callingline ID, party name display, camp-on, and have aphone ring and connect automatically. All of thosefeatures that you expect in a business network. Thebusiness case is there for wide area network (WAN)access or branch access or connection for homeworkers.”

Cox adds: “Toshiba IP telephony technology nowoffers exactly the same type of functionality that digitalphones on traditional networks offer. You use the IPtelephone in the same way and you get the samedigital productivity that the digital phone offers.”

But the key is to look not just at the telephony perse, but at the power of the network. Any IP networkhas to offer a guaranteed quality of service, reliability,redundancy and guaranteed line power across thenetwork. To do this entails a significant investment andto extract more value you should not think about whatis needed to just plug in phones, but to look at how IPsupports voice in the context of contact managementand customer relationship management.

The good news is that the cost of the technology isfalling rapidly and the overall message that Toshibapreaches about business benefit seems to be filteringthrough. This message is being delivered not just byToshiba but also by the educated sales channelrequired to implement the technology.

To boost service Toshiba will provide a tiered level ofIP solutions including a users’ network audit to seewhat you would need to do to your local area network(LAN) in order to get the optimum infrastructure.

At the ‘bleeding edge’ is technology that will deliver IPvoice services using hotspot technology. Once aguaranteed quality of service is delivered, and standards

evolve, such services will be a lot morecommonplace. The issue then will be whatdevice you use with what wireless technology.Toshiba is looking at products that arecompatible with both GSM/GPRS mobilephone technology and the 802.11 standard.This could mean a whole new range ofapplications for businesses. Says James Cox:“A killer app for IP telephony will be presenceapplications, very much like MS Messenger,where people can see who is online.”

The bottom line is that IP voice and dataservices will transform businesses. Toshibahas the technology to help you make thejourney to this brave new converged world. ��

“Toshiba IPtelephonytechnology nowoffers exactlythe same typeof functionalitythat digitalphones ontraditionalnetworks offer”

The voice ofgood businessUsing established IP networks to runvoice as well as data services is now areality. Jim Stephen analyses its potentialfor mobile users

– integrated flat screens and digitally-enhancedcordless telephony.

Comments Andy Bass, General Manager of Toshiba’sComputer Systems Division: “In the future, businesscommunications will increasingly rely on wirelesstechnology. It is predicted that by 2007 it will be difficultto buy a non wireless device. Whether it be the home,workplace or public location, wireless communicationwill be available, allowing choice and freedom of how,when and where to work. The benefits for both theindividual and the business are very clear and also allowfor flexible working practices to be a reality.”

Wireless LAN (WLAN), largely regarded as integral tothe mobility proposition, is a high-speed data deliverynetwork that is able to support broadband dataservices, as well as provide access to existingcorporate applications. According to the GartnerGroup, by next year more than 20 million notebookPCs and PDAs in Europe will have WLAN capability.

WLAN is based on the 802.11 standard, and isstable, mature and designed to fill an obvious gap inmobile communications where applications areinconsistent or hard to reach.

Toshiba regards WLAN technology as“complementary” to the plethora of wirelesscommunication standards available. Itrecognises that 802.11 has become thestandard of choice at present for laptopand client devices and as the technologygrows and matures it will allow yourbusinesses to develop faster and moreefficient delivery methods for your users.Using current existing technology you canroam between dissimilar wireless networks


secure network roaming �

Wherever you are, from airport departurelounge to motorway service station, fromcoffee shop to country club – or simply in your

own front room – it’s increasingly a matter of bootingup your laptop and gaining instant, high-speed accessto public and private networks via internet protocol (IP)and wireless solutions.

The business benefits are obvious. The ability to gainaccess to the internet as well as your company emailand databases from an ever-increasing number oflocations all around the country, eliminates the worry ofwork piling up in your absence, or the possibility ofmissing crucial deadlines.

The mobile business model is equally beneficial toemployees in so much as they are better able to benefitfrom flexible working practices. Research shows thatflexible working – supported by technical applicationssuch as virtual post boxes and phone numbers tosafeguard personal information, and the extension ofvirtual private networks (VPNs) and local areanetworks (LANs) to remote sites – can increaseproductivity, reduce costs, improve staff retentionand recruitment and, of course, make for a happierworkforce.

Neither is the model of mobile working exclusiveto so-called ‘road warriors’. Traditional officeenvironments can benefit from practices such ashot-desking facilitated by, for example, wirelesscomputer systems – including keyboard and mouse

Win-win with roaming Firms are finding new ways to implementsecure mobile business communicationsto increase agility and productivity

“In the future, businesscommunications willincreasingly rely onwireless technology. It ispredicted that by 2007 itwill be difficult to buy anon wireless device”

For more information on secure roaming click on www.secgo.com

For more information on secure roaming click on www.secgo.com FREEDOMSPRING/SUMMER200414

� secure network roaming

according to what is available, what itsbandwidth is, or how much it costs touse.

The VPN, meanwhile, is a voice and/ordata network that offers the features andcharacteristics of a private network butis, in fact, configured from part of apublic network or the internet. Usersessentially gain the economy of scaleand flexibility of using public switchedservices, which translate to high-speed,secure access to corporate networks.

The idea behind VPNs is to protectyour data from being viewed by pryingeyes on the internet. Information such asfinancial records or passwords couldpotentially be captured by someoneoutside your organisation. IP packets donot encrypt their payload so, oncecaptured, passwords and other sensitiveinformation can be viewed. Most modernfirewall systems include a VPN solutionthat allows an authenticated user tosecurely pass through the firewall andaccess internal resources. The VPNcomponent also encrypts the databetween the user and the VPN server, securing theconnection to the office LAN.

Says Bass: “Fundamentally, deploying a VPN tosecure an external connection can equally be applied toan internal one, such as wireless hot-desking. Using thismethodology could allow one deployment to secure all.”

ECONOMIES OF SCALE Internet Protocol (IP), an agreed standard protocolacross all internet systems for transporting data packets,also serves as an enabling technology for VPN.

IP-enabled VPNs allow you to enjoy the security of aprivate network using access control and encryption,while taking advantage of the economies of scale andmanagement capabilities of large public networks. IPVPNs run over global IP networks for any-to-anyconnectivity between multiple locations, and result in alower cost of ownership than private networks.

Another piece of the jigsaw that extends the conceptof the VPN is IP-capable Multi-Protocol Label Switching(MPLS).The key benefits are quality of service, speedand security. With the technology, data packets follow aspecific path in the network, identified by a label. As wellas cutting down the time that network routers andswitches need to identify packets, MPLS-based networkscan prioritise the travel of certain labelled packets and,most importantly identify and authenticate them. Thismeans that mobile professionals get, theoretically, aquicker, more secure, connection.

Key to both these systems – and to some extentintegral to them – is security.In essence, their successdepends on the ability toprovide a secure frameworkoffering peace of mind to youand your customers.

For WLANs you will needauthentication and privacy(encryption) services on yourWLANs in order to deploy

strategic applications securely. Additionally, user andgroup access control as well as tools for monitoringusage and perhaps identifying internal breaches ofsecurity policies, are helpful.

Says Bass: “WLAN security must be measured againstthe data you are protecting; whether that is on the clientdevice or the data network you are connecting to.Consideration must also be made towards any DataProtection laws that need to be abided by in both thetransmission and storage of the data.”

Wireless data can be secured and to what level is thechoice of the business.

It is a good idea to choose a technology that can beused across all the wireless communications that will beused rather than have a solution for each as this couldprove both costly and inflexible in the future.”

There is a wide range of solutions in the marketoffering WLAN security services. Many are verysophisticated in terms of management capabilities thatnot only enhance the security but also the manageabilityof wireless devices. However, these products mayrequire careful installation planning to ensure they donot constrain WLAN performance.

Furthermore, these products are often expensive toacquire, and also to implement and manage. Pricingvaries, of course, but if your WLAN is spread across ageographically large area but the number of users isrelatively small, you may find better value in softwarelicensed on a per-user basis. However, if you have lots ofusers, hardware solutions may be more cost-effective.

Aspects you may want to consider – in addition to cost– when evaluating different products are features andfunctionality, performance, ease of configuration andmanagement, ease of integration with legacy systems,and diversity of client support.

As far as IP security systems are concerned, IPSec isan encryption protocol intended to ensure the security ofpublic wireless LANs. IT managers are understandablyconcerned about wireless network security and justifiablyso, as Department of Trade and Industry figuresrevealing that nearly two-thirds of all UK businesseshave, at some time, suffered a security breach.

IPSec operates on two fronts: first guaranteeing theauthenticity of a particular packet of data, and secondlyprotecting the packet’s contents from unwanted viewers.To guarantee the authenticity, it uses authenticationheaders on each packet. These ensure that the data hascome from the person who claims to have sent it andthat it has not been modified in transit.

The IPSec system also requires vigilance in setting upand maintaining the system – not just for storing thekeys but for establishing peer relationships and datatransport modes between users. It is not the easiestsystem in the world to set up, but once working as itshould, it is very secure.

Ultimately the technology is now there that willenable you to work anywhere using a variety oftechniques and technologies, encompassing wired andwirless, hotspot and telecommunications interfaces.The technology is also there to let you roam anywheresafe in the knowledge that your connection will berobust and secure with technologies such as VPNs andMPLS. Now that these safeguards are in place, thereare not many reasons why you and your company,wherever you are based, will be able to reap thebenefits of a far more flexible working future. ��

“Consideration must bemade towards any DataProtection laws that needto be abided by in boththe transmission andstorage of data”


Twenty-four/seven...Always-on capabilities form the basis of today’s communicationssystems, the mainstay of time saved and productivity increased. NicolaGodwin shows how you can harvest the profits by being always-on

Sometimes it may feel that in order tocope with the speed your business operates atyou have to run just to keep up. Working more

hours isn’t necessarily the answer, however – increasedflexibility may be the way to keep on top of the workload.

One way to achieve flexibility is to have always-oncapability. It offers you the ability to work quickly andconsistently, without the hassle of constant interruptionor the need to work in linear fashion. It means you’realways connected – your communications system isalways active – which is what you require in a worldwhere the globalisation of markets and the rapidconvergence of information and communicationtechnologies create greater and greater demands.

For remote workers, in particular, a connection isrequired that mimics, in every way, a corporate localarea network (LAN), and that means always-on.

Time and time again, industry research sees always-on capabilities top business user wish-lists. In fact,recent surges in broadband take-up – particularly forsmall to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – have beenattributed, in part, to the attraction of always-on.

The Yankee Group’s recently published 2003Convergence Survey shows that key motivators for

upgrading communications systems include:• Cost – the ability of the converged phone system tosave money on calling, management and installation.• Scalability – to be cost-effective, companies need tohave a telephony infrastructure that adapts to thechanging needs of the organisation (both expansionand contraction). When hiring new employees oropening a new location, companies do not want to payfor an expensive upgrade to add extensions.Companies are also looking for a flexible platform thatadjusts for staff or location consolidation.• Manageability or ease of use – most firms are short-staffed, and if the solution is hard to use and takes a

long time to learn, they will not be veryinterested. They also look to reducedependency on consultants for minormoves, additions and changes.• Performance and features – includingthe ability to email large files quickly andtake advantage of always-on capabilities.

At a conference organised by researchcompany Gartner, analyst Nick Jonesproposed that as the always-on generationof consumers and employees evolves, the

always-on communications �

For more information on always-on connections click on www.solutions.toshiba.co.uk www.satsumas.com

For more information on always-on connections click on www.solutions.toshiba.co.uk www.satsumas.com FREEDOMSPRING/SUMMER200416

� always-on communications

networked world will create new opportunities andchallenges for enterprises, individuals and government.He suggested that this would cause technology-ledtransformations in the workforce, enterprises andsociety at large. He added that organisations had to askhow they would leverage technology to redefineenterprise boundaries and processes, and whatbusiness discontinuities and opportunities would resultfrom an always-on society.

As we know, always-on connection means essentiallythat you can conduct your business anywhere you like.But so what? Isn’t this what normal dial up connectionsoffer you already? Well yes and no. While it is true thatall you need is some connection, be it always-on ordial-up, to get access remotely to such items as e-mail,web access and online customer queries and salesenquiries, the key question is to consider is how do youguarantee a high quality connection? The answer reallyis that only always-on facilitates this.

That is to say that there is no need for you to keepdialling in with your laptop, PDA or other mobile deviceto connect to your corporate database. Once you havea connection it is there until you choose to end thesession. Furthermore, your experience isinstantaneous: you are not waiting and waiting for theconnection to become available. There are alsomanifest cost benefits from choosing the always-onconnection to that of the dial-up option.

But you should not take theoretic guarantees forgranted. Only real applications should convince you ofthe efficacy of the use of mobile always-on. Obviousapplications areas where the technology could provideinvaluable are in field force automation and customerrelationship management (CRM). An always-onconnection will ensure that field workers can use CRMsystems to stay constantly in touch with their controlcentres, being alerted immediately to service messagesor advice regardless of where they roam in the field.This could mean if key customers’ circumstances,service history or contents details etc change at anytime, this information is available to the mobile workerimmediately without it having to be asked for.

Another key area for mobiles always-on business isanywhere that depends on immediate transactions. Thefinancial markets are a prime example where mobiletechnology is enabling companies to send out keypersonnel who are capable of performing immediatetransactions using always-on internet connectionswherever they are and from whatever means, wired orwireless. With the rapid development of technology from

industry leaders such asToshiba, there are now availableconnected solutions that areeasy to use that allow businessesto react quicker to marketchanges, customer demandsand business dynamics. One ofthese is the always-on solutionfrom Satsuma, which enablesthe immediate sending andreceiving of data between amobile worker and a corporate

head office. This allows the effective communication ofpersonal information (such as email and calendarentries), corporate Information (such as CRM, intranet,ERP and Stock Management Systems) and specialistapplications such as field service engineers, sales forceautomation and quality audits. A recent example of amobile communications system that required always-onfunctionality is that of South East Water (SEW) which, asa result of efficiency initiatives driven by regulatory pricereductions, decided to implement a communicationssetup that helped them streamline the activities of field-based staff.

Considerable amounts of time and money were beingwasted by staff visiting offices and depots on a day-to-day basis to collect work instructions and feedbackprogress and data updates. South East Water decided toset up a mobile working environment where staff had fullaccess to core business systems without recourse to adepot. In practice, an always-on communicationsnetwork that didn’t break the bank was required.

The resulting solution was a feature-enhanced GPRS(General Packet Radio Service) system with genuinealways-on capability – black spots leading to signalunavailability were countered by ‘store and forward’functionality. The business benefits for the companyincluded cost savings resulting from improvements tobusiness efficiency, reductions in operational costs,improvements to job management, and improvements tocustomer relations.

HAPPY MEDIUM…Finally, in one interesting, recent development, somesuppliers are offering users a compromise solution, in abid to balance always-on capability with even moreaffordable prices.

US West, for example, recently launched a servicecalled ‘MegaBit Select’, which offers a significant pricebreak to users who decide they want to choose whenthe always-on capability of their DSL service will beavailable. For a reduced rate, users dial into a DSLmodem pool instead of having a continuous networkconnection, which confirms the principle that resourcesmay be cheaper in the packet-switched world than theyare in the circuit-switched world, but shared packetservices are cheaper still.

Jeremy Sneller, Head of Business Development atSatsuma Solutions, sums up the benefits of beingalways-on: “[It] enables mobile workers to carry out avariety of tasks immediately using an optimised[wireless] connection rather than remembering to carryout a promised action at a later date. Businesses thatintroduce an always-on solution gain competitiveadvantage, more efficient processes, increasedproductivity and offer greater customer service.” ��


convergence �

conferenced to a wider audience. Clive Longbottom,service director at analyst Quocirca, agrees that wirelessprojectors are going to take off soon. “I’ve always feltthis is something that should have greater take-up,” hesays. “With normal projectors, people can never quiteget them set up correctly, the cable connection is oftenweak and people are always fiddling around with them.As a result, to go wireless makes a lot of sense.”

Longbottom thinks uptake will improve towards theend of this year. When it comes to printers andscanners, however, he believes there are lesscompelling reasons to make the switch to wirelesstechnology. “There is very little reason to go for awireless printer or scanner,” he says. “A printer is notreally a mobile device, and I have yet to see anybodyusing a wireless printer outside of demo areas.”

Ferman is of a similar opinion, believing that suchdevices tend to stay firmly on the desktop. However,Julio Vial, printer analyst at IT analyst IDC, thinks thatmore and more printers will be used wirelessly. “It is notpopular at the moment, with only a small percentage ofcompanies having them, but the potential is there,” hesays. “We don’t have any projections, but it will be morepopular in a few years’ time.”

Security concerns always prevent some users fromtrying out new technology, particularly big corporations.Their networks tend to be more vulnerable to attack,purely because they are more attractive targets thanSMEs. Switching to wireless would also be a biginvestment for them as it means a greater volume of kitto overhaul. Ferman says those security issues havebeen allayed somewhat as providers have devised betterways of encrypting and hiding data from intruders. Buthe thinks it will take a few more years for business toreally embrace the idea of the totally wireless digital hubfor all office products.

For Toshiba, wireless convergence means looking atthe digital home as much as the digital office, saysJames Cox, Product Marketing Manager, BusinessCommunications Division. Toshiba offers a home serverthat plugs into your home broadband connection andwill support wireless access for a number of connectingdevices such as PCs and mobile phones. Says Cox:“There are all sorts of initiatives and overlappingtechnologies and applications. Toshiba will have aunique position in the market.”

Once such device is Toshiba’s TransCube. Onceconnected to broadband and/or a digital TV service, youeffectively have something that makes your home awireless, multimedia entertainment, communicationsand security system.

Cox sums up the TransCube and the potential ofconvergence: “You will be able to look at files fromdigital phones, store and download music to PDAs andMP3 players, and store MPEG-4 movies to readerdevices. All of these things are going to be veryexciting.” ��

The revolution spreadsWith wireless spreading, Roisin Woolnough looks at what the convergencebetween home and office technology could mean for your business

Growing numbers of mobile workers areusing a vast array of wireless devices in theireveryday working lives. This is not only

because the technology is more sophisticated thesedays, but also because the business community has abetter appreciation of the benefits to be had from goingwireless. While demand is on the rise, business islagging behind the consumer space in terms of take-up. “A lot of companies haven’t yet embracedwireless,” says Jonathan Ferman, Business Managerfor Options and Accessories at Toshiba.

Ferman argues that the wireless evolution begins inthe domestic and educational sectors primarily beforebecoming popular in the business sector. The uptake ofPDAs is a good example. “We are finding that PDA styledevices are growing rapidly,” says Ferman, “especiallyin areas like warehousing and logistics, where they aregreat for small amounts of data input. The other area isin with field workers, such as sales people.”

It is not only PDAs and notebooks that can be usedas productive business tools. Pretty much any piece ofIT equipment can be made wireless. “Theoretically,anything can be wireless,” says Ferman. Some deviceseven come with the necessary networking point,regardless of whether the buyer has requested it.

Printers, scanners, projectors, faxes, mobiletelephones – all these office peripherals have thecapacity to be made wireless. Whether they actually areused in this way is dictated by demand.

According to Ferman, mobile telephones are the nextbig thing in terms of wireless technology. He alsopredicts an increasing demand from business forwireless projectors. “Normally, if you want to presentwith a projector then you have to connect up,” he says.“With wireless you don’t. You can be anywhere within100-150 feet of the projector and still present.”

Ferman thinks this can be particularly useful ifseveral people want to use the same projector at thesame presentation, or if the presentation is to be video-


� blue sky

“Staying ahead of the market in orderto be in step with the market,” is theapparent paradox that Professor Joe

McGeehan employs to describe what the last fewmonths have meant for him and his team atToshiba’s renown telecommunications researchlaboratories (TRL).

The TRL managing director and telecoms guru iswell tasked in delivering this aim, just as the explosionin demand for mobile technology has meant a call fordevices that can work at much higher data rates andyet are more portable. Only when these issues areaddressed can you look forward to using devices thatare small enough to meet market demand and work attoday’s increasingly higher data speeds.

Toshiba is leading the field in these areas, thanks tothe work going on in places like TRL. ProfessorMcGeehan’s time is mainly spent solving the problemsof reconfigurability and complexity reduction. One ofthe reasons why 3G services had initial problems, hesays, was that some of the handsets were not availablein a power-efficient form. In order to process the highdata rate information, the devices needed powerfulprocessors which drained life from them. With theadvent of even high bandwidth services on the horizon,the problem could similarly plague mobileprofessionals.

Professor McGeehan explains the problem: “I’m notsure what will emerge in terms of the presentdiscussions regarding wireless standards [specifically802.11n], but one thing is certain: you are looking atsomething like [data rates of] 100 Mbps plus (108maybe). With the present wireless LAN technologies,the throughput at the physical layer may be 54Mbps

but by the time you get to the top layer, the MediaAccess Controller (MAC) layer then it drops right downbecause the MAC is inefficient. And so what we aredoing with future wireless LAN systems [is to] improvethe efficiency of the MAC. It’s pointless having hugethroughput at the physical layer if you have a MAC thatdoesn’t deliver.”

Professor McGeehan proposes that the industry hasto think radically about the MAC if devices are ever tosupport really comprehensive wireless systems thatsupport multiple streaming of all forms of data –including video – for multiple users generatingsignificant data traffic. TRL believes that it has foundthe answer with MIMO, which stands for multiple input,multiple output antenna systems. In October last year,Toshiba demonstrated a wireless network offering adata rate of 108 Mbps through the physical layer usinga 4x4 MIMO system. For a given bandwidth, Toshibawas able to use MIMO antennae to drastically improve

data throughput and was able to showthe transmission of full video images athigher quality than previously available.

To Professor McGeehan it is an issue ofcomplexity: ”As the data throughput goesup in the physical layers, the complexityof implementation goes up exponentially.

If you increase the input to 108 Mbps you need some prettypowerful processors – particularlyin the receiver in order to decodethe information – unless you bringabout complexity reduction.”

Toshiba is now delivering on thispromise, and ultimately aims todeliver the performance in terms ofthe applications and the servicesthat you, the mobile professional,

wants now and will need in the future. This futureincludes things such as 3G networks, personalnetworks, converged home/business networks, andconverged devices. Whatever the scenario, you willsurely expect swift, secure and reliable access to yourcompany’s database and to the business enablingservices that you require.

And TRL aims to make sure this happens. AsProfessor McGeehan sums up: “Our business is to keepon improving the range of products available and we arelooking to wireless technologies to keep on pushingahead. Toshiba has presence in establishing [wireless]standards and we have reconfigurability ideas that willkeep us at the forefront of the terminal business that willrealise superior performance for professional equipment.We intend to keep on pushing.” ��

Toshiba’s world-renowned laboratories are at the forefront of mobiletechnology research to make your business better. Jim Stephen reports

Finding MIMO

“As the data throughputgoes up in the physicallayers, the complexity ofimplementation goes upexponentially.”

For more information on Toshiba research click on www.toshiba–europe.com/research


case study �

Its ability to inspire innovative thinkingand originality is perpetuated; Tate Modern nowexploits the latest in wireless technology in its

exciting multimedia visitor guides. Using Toshiba’swireless personal digital assistants (PDAs), visitors canself-select content-rich information from a centrally-storeddatabase while they roam freely between exhibits.

Three types of digital tours are currently available to thepublic, designed to enhance the visitor experience andwiden the appeal of art: the Multimedia Highlights tourhelps individuals learn about and interpret selectedpieces; a British Sign Language tour designed for deafpeople; and a Collections tour featuring in-depth, text-based information on the Tate’s permanent collection.

Tate Modern is the first museum in the world to launcha multi-media guide of this standard. Gillian Wilson,Assistant Curator – Resources at the museum explains:“We believe Tate Modern has a responsibility to provideinnovative programmes for visitors, and contribute to thefuture landscape of education technology. Our aim hasbeen to impart information in a compelling, but notconfusing, way. It’s been very rewarding to witness peoplegain a more memorable and meaningful visit to the Tateas a result of our new multimedia guides.”

This sentiment is echoed by Andrew Nugée, ChiefExecutive of Antenna Audio Worldwide: “We are seeing apowerful momentum behind networked, interactive andmultimedia tours to complement existing audiointerpretation at client sites worldwide. We welcome this:it is clear, not least from our work with Tate Modern, thatthese technologies have significant potential to enhanceand broaden the nature of the visitor experience.”

The popular Multimedia Highlights tour allows visitorsto explore the background to a particular piece using avariety of entertaining and engaging media. Aimed

primarily at the 16-25 age group, this tour includesilluminating video footage, photo stills, soundtracks,interactive games and text-messaging services, providingadditional context information and interpretation for 19artworks in the Still Life/Object/Real Life andLandscape/Matter/Environment displays. Favouritefeatures include the 1948 film footage of Jackson Pollockpainting Summertime; the interactive surrealism gamelinked to Salvador Dalí’s Lobster Telephone and evocativeanalysis of Mark Rothko’s The Seagram Murals.

For exhibits yet to be incorporated into the Highlightssection, the Collections tour is the comprehensive,alternative text-only resource. This links directly to Tate’sown central database and contains extensive up-to-dateinformation about every installation in the museum.

With sponsorship from Bloomberg, Tate co-developedthis pioneering project with Antenna Audio, the leadingprovider of audio and multimedia tours in the globalcultural arena. Nancy Proctor, Head of New ProductDevelopment at Antenna Audio, says: “As with anyproject that enters new territory, there were a number ofchallenges that, by working with Tate and Toshiba, wewere able to overcome. These ranged from optimising therich media content for wireless delivery, creating acustom-built recharging unit to house 25 PDAs, toreducing the risk of theft.”

ELECTRONIC MAPFrom the main multi-media desk Tate staff can view anelectronic map that pinpoints the location of each PDA inreal-time. Proctor says: “An alarm sounds if a machine isremoved from the authorised areas, and the network tellsus where it is so we can get it back.” The AntennaMultimedia Manager (AMM), the software that drives thetour system, also accumulates powerful analysis datasuch as visitor footfall, route taken and time spent ateach installation. “Staff can send alert messages, such asannouncing the start of a film shown in one of Tate’sgalleries, and can also provide remote technical support,such as rebooting a device if needed,” says Proctor.

Before recommending their preferred PDA to the Tate,Antenna Audio undertook a full market analysis. Proctorexplains why Toshiba’s e750 models became theirtechnology of choice: “Our brief was to find a PDA thatcould deliver an optimum mobile experience for multipleusers. Toshiba’s models were ideal because of their fastprocessing speed, powerful enough to handle Tate’scomplex and voluminous multimedia.” She says: “Thesedevices are incredibly robust and lightweight – bothimportant qualities when catering for the public. We alsoappreciated the integrated Wi-Fi capability, as thisremoved the security risk of lost or stolen wireless cards,and the extended battery life that delivered over sixhours’ computing, even when continuously connected tothe Wi-Fi network.”

Nick Barrass, Toshiba’s representative on the project,says: “Since providing the PDAs andserver that delivers the content wirelessly,we’ve worked closely with the Tate andAntenna Audio to address the uniquechallenges encountered in a publicenvironment like this. This project offersan excellent blueprint for other museumsand galleries who are beginning torealise the huge potential wirelesstechnologies offer.” ��

Picture thisThe Tate Modern is a fitting venue for aground-breaking development in digitalvisitor guides. Susan Bowden reports

“As with any project thatenters new territory, therewere a number ofchallenges that, byworking with Tate andToshiba, we were able toovercome”

for more information on Tate Modern click on www.tate.org.uk/modern

Toshiba Information Systems (UK) LtdToshiba Court, Weybridge Business Park, Addlestone Road, Weybridge, Surrey KT15 2ULTelephone: 0800 028 1061Website: www.solutions.toshiba.co.ukEmail: [email protected]

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