Polycom’s SpectraLink 8000 Series handsets enable location detection of personnel and assets
Ekahau Inc., the recognized leader in location-enabling enterprise Wi-Fi networks, today announced it has teamed with Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM), the world’s leading provider of unified collaborative solutions, to offer Ekahau’s Real Time Location System (RTLS) functionality on Polycom’s SpectraLink 8000 Series Wireless Telephones. By supporting Ekahau’s location protocol on its SpectraLink 8000 Series handsets, Polycom broadens the application support capabilities of its Wi-Fi handsets.
The RTLS-enabled SpectraLink 8000 Series Wi-Fi handsets work in tandem with the Ekahau Positioning Engine (EPE) server software, enabling enterprise users to determine the location of wireless telephones and employees at any given time. This capability is critical to any organization whether it is used to locate a salesperson on a retail floor to answer a customer question or a specialist in a medical facility. The EPE also enables users to receive and respond to work-flow messaging based on their location, further enhancing productivity across the wireless enterprise.
Frost & Sullivan estimates that the global RTLS market will grow to $1.26 billion in 2011 primarily from the healthcare and manufacturing industries.
"The increasing need for mobility is expected to result in convergence of RTLS technology with other wireless solutions," said Frost & Sullivan’s Global RFID Program Manager Priyanka Gouthaman. "By combining RTLS with its Wi-Fi telephones, Polycom addresses a key customer need to effectively track both staff and assets in real time."
"By working with Ekahau, we’ve significantly enhanced our application support for our enterprise customers across a broad range of industries," said Ben Guderian, Polycom vice president of product management for wireless voice. "Ekahau’s RTLS solution adds another dimension to Wi-Fi telephony to further improve mobility, productivity and responsiveness for critical employees."
"The combination of our high performance RTLS system and Polycom’s world-class wireless handsets makes these wireless telephones a valuable asset to any enterprise," said Antti Korhonen, president and CEO of Ekahau. "Polycom’s customers can now leverage accurate location tracking within enterprise campus for improved workflow, employee productivity and safety."
The Ekahau RTLS application enables Polycom handsets to be located over any brand or generation of standard 802.11 wireless networks. By utilizing the standards-based Ekahau technology, existing enterprise wireless networks can support the phones for a faster return on investment, and enable that infrastructure to seamlessly and simultaneously support new RLTS applications.
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