Symbol Unveils Innovative WS5100 Wireless Switch for True Mobility

Wireless Switch Market Leader Delivers Extensive Functionality, Security, Scalability and Management to Enterprise Wireless Networks

Symbol Technologies, Inc. , The Enterprise Mobility Company™, today introduced its new high-capacity WS5100 enterprise wireless switch for large, campus-wide enterprise Wi-Fi deployments, providing customers with additional opportunities to un-tether their networks for true mobility.

The new Symbol WS5100 will be publicly shown for the first time at the 2005 Annual HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) , which is being held from February 13-17 at the Dallas Convention Center (Booth #1135).

"Symbol's customers have made us the market leader in the wireless switch market with approximately 25,000 units deployed during the last year," said Anthony Bartolo, vice president and general manager of Symbol's Wireless Infrastructure Division. "As our customers mobilize more of their applications to create new operational efficiencies and further increase employee productivity, the new WS5100 gives them the wireless infrastructure needed to support higher data throughput and additional mobile workers."

The WS5100 is well-suited for organizations in the healthcare, education, retail and carpeted enterprise markets, each of which faces numerous "pain points" unique to the industry-specific business applications that true mobility enables. For example, in the healthcare industry, hospitals and clinics are looking to leverage wireless infrastructure to deploy mobile applications - such as medication administration, specimen collection, blood transfusion verification, asset and materials management, remote patient monitoring and nurse call - to enhance business operations efficiency and improve employee productivity. Hospitals believe that they can also improve the quality of patient care through the use of these applications.

Enhanced Throughput and Scalability

Symbol unveiled the market leading WS5000 -- the industry's first enterprise wireless switch -- in September 2002. As the newest member of this product line, the WS5100 leverages the award-winning and customer validated centralized intelligence model of the WS5000 and adds more capacity for larger scale implementations. At the same time, the WS5100 remains easy to set up and manage, while providing enhanced security with mobility and scalability. Adding capacity and new functionality is easier and less expensive than an access point-based wireless LAN.

The WS5100 is fully compatible with the software code, applications and network design of the Symbol WS5000, the industry's original enterprise wireless switch. Offering ten times more throughput capacity and 60 percent more coverage than the WS5000, the new WS5100 maintains compatibility with existing wireless switch installations and Symbol's complete line of AP100, AP200 and AP300 thin access ports.

Symbol's Global Services Division offers services designed to increase uptime and meet the support requirements of mobile products in the enterprise. Services programs developed to meet the specific needs of the WS5100 in an enterprise setting include an Advanced Exchange program for timely, next-day replacement, and an On-site program that provides technical expertise and support at the customer's site.

Pricing & Availability

The Symbol WS5100, which can support up to 48 access ports, is currently available to order. The suggested list price depends on the number of ports supported and a base 6-port capable configuration is available for $2,179.