Hospitality Companies Benefit from Integration with Property Management and Credit-Card Processing Systems AUSTIN, Texas, June 16
AUSTIN, Texas, June 16 /PRNewswire/ -- HITEC 2008 -- Colubris Networks,
the leading global provider of intelligent wireless LANs (WLANs) for
enterprises and service providers, today announced several major enhancements
to the Colubris Intelligent Mobility Solution, the company's flagship wireless
LAN offering. The new feature set enables Internet service providers (ISPs)
and hospitality companies of all sizes to deploy a range of services that can
be specifically tailored to their venues and customers. In addition, the
solution boasts an unprecedented level of deployment flexibility that supports
multiple ISP business models, payment vehicles and network deployment models,
and allows services to be delivered to client devices connected by Ethernet or
wireless LANs.
Among the new features is the ability for hospitality companies to
integrate their Wi-Fi networks with existing property management and
credit-card processing systems, which gives these companies more flexible
options for deploying WLANs. In addition, hospitality companies, as well as
hotspot operators, retail companies and other businesses that offer public
Internet services, can now offer tiered subscription plans and deliver
advertising, thereby generating more revenue for their businesses.
"Consumers of public Wi-Fi want the service to be as easy to use as
possible, and that often means not being locked into limited subscription
models. By the same token, hospitality companies are looking for new ways to
provide customers with the services they want while also increasing their
revenue opportunities. The new version of Colubris' products enables
organizations to achieve both goals," said Tom Racca, vice president of
marketing of Colubris Networks. "Additionally, the enhancements to our Wi-Fi
solution allow hospitality companies to easily integrate their Wi-Fi networks
with their existing property management and credit-card processing systems,
providing an even more seamless experience to guests."
The enhanced features in the new version of the Colubris Intelligent
Mobility Solution include:
-- Integration with hotel property management systems: Colubris now
interfaces with property management systems using the Hotel Billing
Information Center (HOBIC) standard and popular third-party protocols.
This means hotel operators can integrate the Wi-Fi network with a
customer's billing data, allowing customers to charge wireless service
to their room bills rather than paying for it separately.
-- Integration with credit-card processing systems: Now, by integrating
directly with major online credit-card processing systems, Colubris
gives hotspot operators, smaller properties and retail chains the
ability to set up their own Wi-Fi networks and bill customers directly
for wireless service.
-- Ability to offer subscription plans: Colubris now enables companies to
create more sophisticated and flexible subscription plans for their
customers. Service providers have the flexibility to offer subscription
plans based on any combination of time duration, upload/download
quotas, maximum bandwidth, advertising-free selection and assignment of
public IP addresses. This allows ISPs to drive more revenue by
tailoring services to local market conditions.
-- Security Overlay for Payment Card Industry compliance: Colubris offers
the option to encrypt/decrypt selected communications streams in its
central controller for security that meets Payment Card Industry Data
Security Standard (PCI-DSS). The Security Overlay mode uses strong
IPSec or AES cryptography to protect the security of payment card
information from end-to-end as it traverses the network and enables a
single network infrastructure to deliver multiple services.
-- Flexible advertising opportunities: In addition to being able to
provide ad-free service, companies can also use Colubris to provide
free Internet service supported by advertising revenue. For example,
they can offer a toolbar for the user session and offer rotating ads on
that toolbar. Colubris also provides companies with a greater number of
portal page options, on which properties can advertise their own
services or sell ad space to local businesses. The portal pages can be
hosted on the controller or delivered by a central server.
-- Deployment flexibility: Colubris gives Wi-Fi service providers the
flexibility to deploy the 5000 Series MultiService Controller in a
central location, such as a network operations center, or distributed
on the premises of the venues served. A new NAT traversal feature
enables Colubris Wi-Fi access points and controllers to communicate
across any intervening IP network, including the public Internet.
The new version of the Colubris Intelligent Mobility Solution also
features a software licensing model that provides a strong value proposition
for Colubris' channel partners and customers. Unlike other WLAN solutions that
rely on pre-deployed firmware to define usable feature sets, number of
supported users and other functionality, the new Colubris software licensing
model allows for easy and convenient upgrades without requiring the purchase
of new hardware.
"The enhancements Colubris has made are extremely beneficial to our
customers, and also make it easy and attractive for us to sell their
products," said Gary Patrick, president of Hotel Internet Services. "The
Colubris solution is ideal for public Wi-Fi providers, regardless of size, as
it allows them to tailor their wireless service to offer the most attractive
options to their customers in order to generate maximum revenue."
Pricing and Availability
The new features are offered with Colubris Operating System version 5.3,
which will be available in September 2008. Most features are standard, except
for Property Management System Integration, Credit-Card Processing and
Security Overlay, which are licensed separately beginning at $599, $499 and
$499, respectively. All features require a Colubris 5000 Series MultiService
Controller.
About Colubris
Colubris Networks is the leading global provider of intelligent wireless
networks (WLANs) for enterprises and service providers. Its optimized WLAN
switching systems deliver unmatched bandwidth efficiency, seamless mobility
and secure, easy access for thousands of organizations and 40 million users
worldwide. With its "future proof" architecture, Colubris provides
organizations with the most cost-effective migration from legacy standards to
802.11n. Its systems unify and integrate with existing network
infrastructures, as well as security and management systems. Colubris'
numerous recognitions include Red Herring's top 100 private companies in North
America, Fierce Wireless Fierce 15, CRN's Emerging Tech Vendors and Mobile
Trax Mobility Award. For more information, visit Colubris on the Web at
www.colubris.com.
MEDIA CONTACTS: Carl Blume Kathy Sucich
Colubris Networks, Inc.Davies Murphy Group, Inc.
781-547-0325 781-418-2409
cblume@colubris.comcolubris@daviesmurphy.com
http://www.colubris.comhttp://www.daviesmurphy.com
SOURCE Colubris Networks
