ReefEdge: Gives Doctors Uninterrupted Wireless Service on Campus

Computerworld -

ReefEdge Inc.

CATEGORY: Security

LOCATION: Fort Lee, N.J.

TECHNOLOGY: ReefEdge Connect System

HOW IT WORKS: ReefEdge's Edge Controllers are packet-filtering hardware appliances that enforce wireless access control rules, implement bandwidth management and perform data encryption. They are centrally configured and managed by Connect Servers. Connect Servers and Edge Controllers can be tied together in pairs to ensure high availability. The products are part of ReefEdge's Wireless Services Fabric, designed to address issues such as security, management, radio frequency monitoring, mobility, alerting and reporting in a wireless environment.

CUSTOMER SAMPLING: Memorial Health System, California Lutheran University, Caterpillar Inc., Williams International Co.

TIP: Ensure that users are covered by at least two access points at any time or location in a wireless LAN. Positioning access points in this manner can ensure redundancy in the event that one access point fails.

WHAT'S IN STORE: In the short term, the need to secure wireless access will drive demand for products such as those from ReefEdge, says Craig Mathias, an analyst at Farpoint Group in Ashland, Mass. But in the longer term, it's the WLAN mobility enabled by such technologies that will drive user interest, Mathias predicts.

ReefEdge's Wireless Services Fabric lets users maintain secure wireless connectivity even when roaming. "This sort of seamless mobility between networks over a secure authenticated link is going to be of great interest," Mathias says.

User Profile

When Memorial Health System decided to implement a wireless LAN as part of an effort to give doctors more efficient access to patient records, data security and privacy were the top issues to be addressed.

The Springfield, Ill.-based health system also had to ensure high availability, high-speed roaming and session persistence to enable uninterrupted service for its 360 physicians as they roamed about the 1 million-square-foot Memorial Medical Center campus.

"The idea was to totally saturate the medical center and nearby buildings with wireless signals so that doctors had access to patient data securely from wherever they were [on the hospital campus]," says O.J. Wolanyk, Memorial Health's CIO.

The goal was to enable doctors to use devices such as Pocket PCs, tablet computers and smart phones, instead of having them line up to use stationary terminals on specific floors, says Wolanyk. Not only is this approach more efficient, but it's also cheaper than buying stationary equipment, he says.

"I wanted to create an environment in which I could say, 'Here's a mobile device. You can try it out anywhere in the enterprise,' " Wolanyk says.

ReefEdge's Connect System plays a central role in helping Memorial secure and manage its wireless electronic medical records system, says Kyle Links, a systems programmer at the hospital.