The Connection Manager is easy to use for students and provides the bridge to safe internet access that travels with each student device.
Alpharetta, GA (PRWEB) August 06, 2013
Manage Mobility and Smith Micro Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: SMSI) today announced they are partnering together on a powerful and user-friendly wireless connectivity and device management solution to meet the needs of K-12 schools launching or managing mobile learning programs. The new education-focused Connection Manager will enable administrators to set policies that prioritize wireless networks so that students simply press a button to connect securely.
The Connection Manager automatically connects with preferred networks, notifies students when they are close to their 3G/4G data limit, and forces the device to use Wi-Fi only if data limits are reached. This feature offers valuable budget protection to school districts that could save thousands of dollars each month. The new Connection Manager, a component of the Wireless Campus Manager education product, launches today for deployment in the 2013 fall school year and will work with multiple devices and carriers in either 1:1 or BYOD initiatives, or a hybrid of both. Wireless Campus Manager offers K-12 schools asset management, procurement, device imaging, logistics, and help desk solutions as well as turnkey bundles that add additional features such as mobile device management (MDM) and learning management software (LMS).
The Connection Manager is a network agnostic solution that works across all devices in and out of the classroom and has the unique ability to enforce CIPA (Children’s Information and Protection Act) compliant content filtering. Devices that are lost or stolen can be remotely locked down or wiped by administrators who will also be able to customize district policies and easily configure, update, and enforce them on devices.
Demand for wireless devices among K-12 schools is increasing rapidly. However, a key element that has been overlooked is a solution that provides a user-friendly way for students to get online and be automatically directed to wireless networks that are prioritized by school policy. “School districts have complex and unique policies to address the mix of school-issued and BYOD devices. The Connection Manager solves complexity issues for both administrators and users. We need to minimize teachers having to act as help-desk support for their students,” said Mike McGuire, president and CEO at Manage Mobility. “It also makes sense for students to be able to access their devices off-campus in order to complete mLearning homework. But K-12 Administrators need to have a way to keep children safe while they are online and researching school work even when away from the classroom. The Connection Manager is easy to use for students and provides the bridge to safe internet access that travels with each student device. We are pleased to be working with Smith Micro on this project, a leader in both connection management and device management technology supporting a wide range of mobile platforms. Their solutions are standards-based and extensible, making them a great fit for schools that have a complex set of standards to meet in order to comply with federal regulations, and ensure student safety and peace of mind for parents.”
“Smith Micro welcomes the opportunity to work with an industry leader like Manage Mobility that has managed devices for large governmental organizations, private enterprise, and education. Their selection of our mobile connection and device management technology for tablets is a great endorsement of the flexibility and robustness of our solution,” said Daniel Rawlings, Chief Revenue Officer for Smith Micro. “Smith Micro has been the market leader in carrier-grade connectivity solutions for decades, with our software shipped on more than a hundred million mobile devices worldwide. We’re bringing our carrier experience, along with unique customization and over-the-air policy management capabilities, to enhance the Wireless Campus Manager solution for Manage Mobility, helping students gain the advantages of online learning while ensuring their devices are managed and secured appropriately.”
Manage Mobility’s Wireless Campus Manager customers will benefit from the following management features of the K-12 customized software by Smith Micro:
- Seamless data management and network prioritization across cellular (3G/4G) and school Wi-Fi networks, enabling students and teachers to access secure, efficient and high-performing connections anywhere on their campus – or off.
- Wireless budget protection with real time monitoring and alerts of cellular data usage. Parameters can be set for both minimum and maximum usage.
- Single sign-on. Easy to use for students of all ages.
- Device wipe and lock-down capabilities.
- Advanced policy management to enforce data traffic through a school CIPA filter in order to block access to unauthorized websites and software downloads.
- Enforcement of schools’ security protocols to prevent inadvertent data leakage and / or hackers from gaining access to the devices and network.
- GPS tracking of student devices helps to minimize lost/theft concerns. Alerts can be sent when device is outside of geo-fence.
- Excellent tool for BYOD Programs. The Connection Manager enforces wireless and filtering policies set by each school or district, eliminating the need for installing invasive “big brother” applications on student-owned devices.
The Connection Manager will be available to Wireless Campus Manager customers using Android devices in time for the Fall 2013-2014 school year. An iOS solution is being designed for deployment in late 2013.
About Wireless Campus Manager by Manage Mobility
Wireless Campus Manager is a division of Manage Mobility, the award-winning leader in logistics and management for wireless programs. Working with the world’s most demanding organizations helped us to build the Wireless Campus Manager solution to quickly and safely Power On mobile technology that supports mLearning programs in K-12 schools. We offer school districts a scalable bundled solution that simplifies, manages and secures mobile learning technology and stays around to manage devices and control wireless expenses. The Wireless Campus Manager bundle includes partnerships with best-in-class vendors and provides to education CTO’s one contract and one point of contact. Schools or districts may also purchase individual components to suit their particular initiatives.
For more information, please visit http://www.wirelesscampusmanager.com or contact info(at)managemobility(dot)com.
About Smith Micro Software, Inc.:
Smith Micro Software provides solutions that simplify, secure and enhance the mobile experience. Our portfolio includes a wide range of applications that manage broadband connectivity, data traffic, devices, voice and video communications over wireless networks. With 30 years of experience developing world-class client and server software, Smith Micro helps the leading mobile network operators, device manufacturers and enterprises increase efficiency and capitalize on the growth of mobile-connected consumers and workforces. For more information, visit smithmicro.com. (NASDAQ: SMSI)
Safe Harbor Statement from Smith Micro Software, Inc.:
This release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, forward-looking statements relating to the company’s financial prospects and other projections of its performance, the existence of new market opportunities and interest in the company’s products and solutions, and the company's ability to increase its revenue and regain profitability by capitalizing on these new market opportunities and interest and introducing new products and solutions. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements are changes in demand for the company’s products from its customers and their end-users, customer concentration given that the majority of our sales depend on a few large client relationships, including Sprint, new and changing technologies, customer acceptance and timing of deployment of those technologies, new and continuing adverse economic conditions, and the company's ability to compete effectively with other software companies. These and other factors discussed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its filings on Forms 10-K and 10-Q, could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are made on the basis of the views and assumptions of management regarding future events and business performance as of the date of this release, and the company does not undertake any obligation to update these statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this release.