Communications

Challenge
As new communication standards and network protocols emerge, it is critical that  mobile solutions can leverage technology advancements for improved speed, security, and ease of use for the mobile workforce. A mobile solution should provide capabilities to use multiple connection methods (batch, LAN 802.11 WiFi, CDMA, GPRS, Edge, Satellite, dial-up), as well as seamless switching amongst network types. For enterprise mobile deployments, it is also critical that the solution enable system administrators with tools to monitor device connections, communications sessions, and data payload metrics.

Applying mNOW!

The mNOW! Mobile Framework^® uses SOAP over HTTP (Web Services 2.0) for all Runtime to Server and Command Center to Server communications and TCP/IP Sockets for Remote Control (Command Center to Runtime) communications.  This enables the mNOW! Mobile Framework to support the following Local Area Networks (LAN) and Wide Area networks (WAN) over the following technologies:

• Ethernet
• Dialup / RAS
• Cradle (USB, Serial)
• Bluetooth
• WiFi / 802.11x
• CDMA / WCDMA
• GPRS / EDGE
• UMTS

The mNOW! Command Center enables an administrator to simultaneously view and monitor device connection status and activity for multiple devices.  Devices with active connections are clearly distinguishable from those with inactive connections.  Connection activity and history are available for all devices through a “System Performance” module.