Wavelink Finds Another Use for Smartphones

September 7, 2010 Alex Woodie

Companies that use Wavelink‘s software to manage and secure their wireless networks for barcode scanners, RFID sensors, and other wireless devices will soon be able to use the latest generation of consumer smartphones to manage and diagnose problems with their wireless devices.

In mid August, Wavelink announced that the next major release of its flagship Avalanche product will enable managers to manage and diagnose problems with their wireless devices using smartphones. The smartphone operating systems that Wavelink will support with this feature include Apple‘s iOS, RIM‘s BlackBerry, and Google‘s Android smartphone operating systems. (Microsoft Windows Mobile, while a supported OS for devices managed under Avalanche, will not be used for master device management.)

Wavelink intends the smartphones to be used by managers or remote help desk personnel to solve mobile device and application problems in the field. The company says “a remote administrator can use his or her smartphone to directly connect to a mobile device that needs attention to perform tasks such as verifying the registry or starting and stopping processes.”

Wavelink’s Avalanche system is used by 10,000 organizations that need to automate the implementation, configuration, and management of wireless devices. The company serves a number of IBM i shops in the manufacturing and distribution industries, that utilize Wavelink’s 5250 emulation on barcode and RFID scanners, and take advantage of the centralized administration that Avalanche provides.

Midvale, Utah-based Wavelink said the support for iOS, BlackBerry, and Android would be available in the next major release of Avalanche. The company is currently shipping version 5, and did not indicate when the next version would be available.