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Wi-Fi @ work
Leading users talk about wireless advantages, what to do, what to avoid and applications that make business sense.
By Denise Dubie, April Jacobs and Kathleen Ohlson Doctors and nurses at St. Luke's Episcopal Health System had to change the way - and even where - they dealt with patients to get the most out of their wireless LAN. "At first, we couldn't figure out why all of sudden a wireless device would lose its signal. Then we heard the transport elevator pass the floor, and it became very clear," says Gene Gretzer, project manager for access technology at the Houston hospital. After an IT stakeout of sorts, he discovered that metal beds on the elevator interrupted the connection between wireless laptops and the nearest access point. Since widely deploying the hospital's wireless LAN, Gretzer says, users have begun to realize that computer problems sometimes have nothing to do with the computer. "It's not uncommon to hear, 'Is someone using the microwave? My laptop stopped working,' " he says. Dos and don'ts for your wireless LAN Wi-Fi world Wi-Fi guide Wi-Fi spies
Getting around the physical hurdles of deploying a wireless LAN is just one concern a company must address when going wireless. Network managers also must learn which applications work well on the network and how to better secure the wireless network from potential intruders. More and more companies today - particularly those in retail, healthcare, financial services and education - want to conduct business wire-free for easy access and mobility. Many, such as St. Luke's, have learned a few things along the way that have made their wireless deployments a business asset. In Gretzer's case, as soon as he and his staff performed extensive site surveys, St. Luke's connectivity issues disappeared. And he says routine follow-ups ensure that no one puts, say, a shelf in front of an access point. For the most part, St. Luke's staff uses wireless laptops to scan patient wristbands that are produced with a bar code when a patient is admitted to the hospital. All data regarding that patient is then accessible via the bar code. To avoid inputting a lot of information by hand, hospital staffers use laptops equipped with wireless network interface cards to scan the wristbands. Gretzer estimates staff productivity is up 15% to 20% because of the wireless scanning. "The wireless system allows caregivers to spend more time with the patient and less time filling out paperwork," Gretzer says. "On the computing side, it's much faster and gives multiple people immediate access to patient records." St. Luke's is careful to use applications that work well within a wireless LAN, Gretzer says. Bursty applications, such as e-mail, fit the bill because they allow immediate access to data, while consuming little bandwidth. St. Luke's initially invested about $1 million to set up the wireless LAN and roll out 130 access points. The healthcare group is upgrading its Proxim 802.11 wireless LAN to a Cisco AiroNet 802.11b system. The 802.11b standard, aka Wi-Fi, operates on the 2.4-GHz frequency and offers users speeds of 11M bit/sec, as opposed to the 1M to 2M bit/sec rate of an 802.11 wireless LAN. The upgrade will cost about $250,000, and the boost in speed will reduce the hospital's access points down to 80, while still providing the same service. Another healthcare facility exploiting wireless technology is the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, which in March deployed Cisco 802.11b wireless LAN technology to 120 nurses, doctors, administrators and other employees. The 15-access-point wireless LAN will cost the center about $45,000, and there are plans to roll out wireless LAN access points to 67 more clinics over the next three years, says Jim Thompson, director of communications and computing. While implementing the wireless LAN pilot, Thompson and his team encountered an unexpected volume of previously existing signal traffic. "It turned out we had wireless [pockets] everywhere" because staffers bought their own antennas, Thompson says. Conducting a thorough site survey is important, he says: "You don't want to put an antenna where you have a meshed concrete wall - you can't get a signal out." Wireless LAN implementations in some types of businesses can face challenges that are not common to private companies. Aaron Ruggaber, director of purchasing for the Penticton Lakeside Resort & Casino in British Columbia, installed a Lucent Orinoco wireless LAN in mid-2000 to give guests high-speed Internet access. Before implementing the wireless LAN, Ruggaber had to configure each guest's laptop to dial in to the resort's Internet setup. "It was a very slow [process] and a pain in the butt," he says. "We weren't able to give the access we wanted to clients." Guests have the option of receiving a wireless network PC card and client software that can be integrated into the laptop for wireless access. However, Ruggaber says resort guests have not embraced the wireless technology as he had expected. He also has encountered more obstacles than he anticipated deploying the equipment, and from vendors. Ruggaber was told a wireless card installation would take about 10 minutes, but it actually averaged 35 to 40 minutes for each installation. The Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas also deployed a wireless LAN to let staff check in guests in the convention center or at the carport using handheld wireless devices that are equipped with belt printers, credit card swipers and key encoders. Chris Stacey, Internet marketing manager, says the hotel uses wireless devices because of the volume of guests who check in between Thursday and Sunday every week. "We had mobile check-in stands where people could check in, but the handhelds are a lot easier because we can serve guests anywhere in the hotel," he says. As with the hotels, convenience and efficiency are two of the reasons FedEx expanded its wireless deployment in the past five years. Currently in the process of rolling out upwards of 10,000 access points, the shipping giant upgraded from 802.11 to 802.11b about 18 months ago. Since implementing a wireless LAN five years ago, FedEx estimates staff productivity to be up 30%, which is easier to envision when you consider each package receives an average of 12 scans during its travels. Not only does wireless offer mobility, it also has safety advantages. "People scanning aren't tethered to anything and can work freely without getting caught up in any wires," says FedEx Director of Wireless Strategy Ken Pasley. In the near future, FedEx plans to bring wireless technology to its fleet of wide-body planes to track packages and repair aircraft without a wired connection on the tarmac. "We've dealt with airports for years, and they're fairly static, but with wireless we're finding different techniques to get access points out there," Pasley says. "Wireless is not mundane. This is an exciting business." However, it's the "gee-whiz" aspect of today's wireless technologies that can bring down a wireless LAN, says Joe Baron, network architect at Prudential Financial in Newark, N.J. He says the thrill of easy, remote access makes employees want to tie their unauthorized PDAs and handhelds into the corporate wireless LAN. "The biggest risk to deploying [wireless LANs] in the enterprise is the low-cost consumer gear that someone plugs in to the corporate net," Baron says. Wireless security must extend to the physical devices, as Earl Fischer discovered after deploying wireless LANs in each of Famous Footwear's more than 50 shoe stores. Fischer, vice president of information systems at the Madison, Wis., shoe retailer, says the Symbol SPT 1700 handhelds he designed for staffers to scan bar codes on shoes are often stolen. But because part of his wireless strategy is to "keep the devices as vanilla as possible" most thieves deposit the PDAs in nearby trash cans. On the brighter side, Fischer says deploying wireless LANs reduced pricing errors by 75%. With an access point per store, the handhelds tap back into the headquarters system via a VPN. Fischer strips down the Symbol devices to only run his proprietary applications that deal with inventory and pricing and keep each store updated weekly. He says keeping the devices simple lessens the learning curve for users. "It's about adding convenience and efficiency that you wouldn't get with tethered devices," Fischer says, but adds that he doesn't worry about the people pocketing his devices eventually tapping into his corporate network. "If you plan properly, [wireless LANs] will help you do your business better, without putting that business any more at risk." Related links Contact Staff Writer Denise Dubie Other recent articles by Dubie Contact Senior Editor April Jacobs Other recent articles by Jacobs Free event: Integrating and managing wireless in your network Wi-Fi world Wi-Fi guide Wi-Fi spies Breaking newsWireless LAN breaking news page Wireless breaking news page NewslettersNetwork World's Wireless in the Enterprise newsletter Learn how to get the most out of your wireless LANs and WANs. Network World on Mobile Computing newsletter ResearchWireless research pageAlmost everything you want to know about wireless trends and technologies, including wireless LANs, mobile and fixed wireless and more. Wireless LAN research page ReviewsPutting 802.11b to the testCisco's Aironet access point knocks us out in the 802.11b arena, but others aren't far behind. Network World, 02/05/01. 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