Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, has introduced HPE OfficeConnect 20 (OC20), a mobile app that provides a business-grade WiFi connection to small businesses.
According to Aruba, the OC20 is a cost-effective wireless solution designed for businesses without dedicated IT resources. The free app, downloadable from Google Play store or Apple's iOS, allows companies to deploy and manage WiFi through a management tool that sits on the cloud.
Working as an access point (AP), the app sends information to the cloud and connects back to the business environment, providing WiFi connectivity to handle business-critical applications, including voice, video and cloud-based applications, adds the company.
Pieter Engelbrecht, country manager for HPE Aruba, Hewlett Packard Enterprise SA, says OC20 has built-in Web site filtering, which protects the business network from cyber threats.
"The OfficeConnect application offers intuitive remote monitoring and troubleshooting. A network health dashboard provides network visibility at a glance, including information about wireless performance, number of devices, and who is connected to the WiFi network.
"It also allows a business or its resellers to configure and monitor a network in minutes from any location. Multiple offices can be managed at once, and IT or the user's channel partner can quickly respond to network changes and outages remotely without network downtime," he explains.
Engelbrecht notes that when setting up the wireless network, the app automatically detects the cloud access point, and the business owner is then required to create a network name and password and their network is ready to go.
According to Aruba, around 43% of local small business owners use a smartphone over WiFi as the primary device to run their operations, and 65% conduct bookkeeping and accounting on cloud-based apps, demonstrating the need for reliable, ubiquitous wireless connectivity.
However, small businesses tend to have limited installation and configuration IT resources, so the option for quick self-set-up or configuration with the assistance of a channel partner is essential, adds Aruba.
Aruba's wireless solution is aimed at addressing these challenges.
"When businesses are ready to expand their network, new OC20 APs can automatically join the network and will copy their configuration settings from a previously configured OC20 AP. Business owners, or their channel partners, can create an optional and separate guest network with a choice of open guest access," explains Engelbrecht.
The HPE OfficeConnect OC20 is available at a retail price from around R1 950, excluding VAT.
Share