Exploring Present Applications for Wireless

Many corporations and industries are jumping into the wireless arena.Two of the industries most committed to deploying wireless technologies are airports and hotels, for business travelers’ communications needs. If they are traveling in a car, they use their wireless phones. When they are at work or home, they are able to use their computers and resources to again be productive. But when staying in a hotel for the night or even a week, there are few choices, a business traveler can look for the RJ-11 jack and connect to the Internet via 56-kilobit modem, not connect at all, or connect wirelessly. When
a hotel provides the correct configuration information based on the provider, and a software configuration, a business traveler with wireless capabilities
can connect to their network without worrying about connection speed or out-of-date modems.

Airports offer such services to increase travelers’ productivity at a time when they would otherwise be isolated from business resources.The same configuration applies: set the configuration in the wireless client software and, voilà, you are connected. This wireless technology allows users to get access to the Internet, e-mail, and even the corporate intranet sites utilizing a virtual private network (VPN) solution. Now, the work (or in some cases, gaming) can be done during what used to be known as idle time.This increase in productivity is very attractive to corporations

Using Wireless in the Retail World
Wireless point-of-sale (POS) applications are extremely useful for both merchant and customer, and will revolutionize the way retail business transactions occur. Registers and printers are no longer fixed in place and can be used at remote locations. Wireless scanners can further assist checkout systems.Wireless technology is used for connecting multiple cash registers through an access point to a host computer that is connected to the WAN.This WAN link is used to send real-time data back to a corporate headquarters for accounting information.

Another type of wireless point-of-sale application is inventory control. A handheld scanner is used for multiple purposes.The operator can check inventory on a given product throughout the day and wirelessly transfer the data back to the main computer system.This increases efficiency in that the device is mobile and small, and the data is recorded without manually having to enter the information.

Using Wireless in Monitoring Applications
We have been using wireless technologies for monitoring for years.There are typically two types of monitoring: passive and active. Active monitoring is conducted by use of radio signals being transmitted, and any of a number of expected signals received. An example of this implementation is the use of radar guns in traffic control. In this case, the patrolman points the gun and pulls the trigger, and a specific reading of a specific target is displayed on the radar unit. Passive monitoring is a long-term implementation whereby a device listens to a transmitter and records the data. An example of this is when an animal is tagged with a transmitter and the signal is collected and data is gathered over a period of time to be interpreted at a later date.

Monitoring applications in use today include NASA listening to space for radio signals, and receiving pictures and data relayed from probes; weather satellites monitoring the weather patterns; and geologists using radio waves to gather information on earthquakes.

Applying Wireless Technology to Horizontal Applications
Along with the many vertical markets and applications, you can apply wireless technologies to horizontal applications, meaning that delivery services, public safety, finance, retail, and monitoring can all use and benefit from them.Next post gives an overview of some of the more popular horizontal trends in wireless technology.