By Steve Anderson
Making computing power truly portable has been a long-time goal of personal computer manufacturers. Computers continue to get smaller, lighter and more powerful. According to recent statistics, more laptops were sold in 2002 than desktop computers. The move to mobile computing coupled with the need for Internet access anytime, anywhere is driving the development and deployment of wireless connections. We envision a day in the not too distant future when you'll be able to access the Internet from almost anywhere. Network cabling will no longer be necessary to connect computers in your office. Several different methods for connecting to the Internet and other computers without wires are currently available.
Cellular Web access. The first method for accessing the Internet is to use your cell phone. Cell phones are nothing new and most producers would be lost without one. But until now trying to use cell phones to get e-mail and other data has been much too difficult and therefore not practical for most people. This is rapidly changing and if you don't already have Web access, it's likely your next cell phone will have this capability.
Where cellular Web access really becomes interesting is as a wireless modem connected to a laptop or a handheld device like a PocketPC. You use a serial cable to connect the phone to your laptop and use the cellular service to connect to the Internet. The actual data transfer rate is 14.4Kbs. Software provided with the cable, however, compresses the data sent to and from the laptop, so the effective transfer rate approaches 50Kbs (standard dialup modem speed). A producer could be at a client's office and dial directly into the agency system to answer questions about the account in real time. Getting your e-mail on a handheld device would be easy.
Much progress is being made in upgrading the cellular networks so they're able to handle faster speeds and more data. These new digital data networks increase the access speed to between 40k and 100k--not a speed at which you you'd want to spend a lot of time on the Web, but it's doable. These speeds generally require a special PC card that fits into your computer. The cards cost about $350, with the service costing between $30 and $100 per month.
Is this practical for agents to use in their day-to-day work? Yes and no. Determining if this will work for you will be based on how you want to operate. For example, using a wireless Web equipped cell phone (or data service) you'll be able to get youre-mail but not surf the Web for any length of time.
Wireless networks. Wireless networks are the second part of "cutting the cord." Since we first started using the Internet, we dreamed of the day when we could have Internet access without being plugged into an electrical outlet and a telephone jack. Our journey started a few years ago when we severed our ties with an office desktop computer by purchasing a laptop to replace the desktop computer. This has allowed unlimited flexibility for us to be able to work on an airplane, in a hotel room, at a client's office, or at home. The laptop computer has allowed us to cut the electrical cord (at least for a few hours at a time) so that "office" is anywhere we are.
Several years ago, we installed our first wireless network at home for about $450 using the Lucent Technologies ORiNOCO Wireless Network system (this system is still being used). Current wireless network systems are priced somewhere around $150. We already had a simple peer-to-peer network set up sharing a high-speed cable Internet connection. The high-speed networking system provides wireless connectivity to Internet service providers and enables sharing of various computer peripherals, such as a printer, from anywhere within range of the access point. The system operates using the 802.11b standard and has a range of about 150 feet at a full 11Mbit data transfer speed either indoors or outdoors. The more walls you have that could block the signal, the shorter the range and the slower the connection speed will be.
The wireless network requires an "access point" that acts as a central base station for multiple wireless users, each using a PC card that is the antenna. The system we purchased includes a built-in 56K modem that provides Internet access through a regular phone line if you don't have a high-speed connection. It also includes an Ethernet™ port that allows you to connect to a broadband cable, xDSL, or ISDN modem.
In our case, the laptop has a built-in antenna that communicates with the access point by radio waves. The setup was simple and the connection operates just like you were wired to the network with a standard Ethernet cable. You can also purchase a wireless PC card that will provide the connection.
Because the system relies on the 802.11 Wireless Network standard, we are able to access any wireless network that also adheres to the same standard. For example, all of the domestic American Airlines Admirals Clubs now have wireless high-speed Internet access. With our card, we're able to connect to the network simply by walking into the club and starting Internet Explorer.
Bluetooth on the horizon. The third wireless development that is finally starting to gain some traction is called Bluetooth (named for a 10th century Danish king). Bluetooth has been around for several years, but its relative high cost has kept it out of the mainstream up until now.
Bluetooth uses microwave radio to transmit data over short distances--about 33 feet--at up to 721 Kbps. Bluetooth devices are able to recognize one another and create connections with no user intervention or cables. Bluetooth devices can identify themselves to one another, and each device contains one or more profiles that tell the other devices what it is and what it can do. This means that your Bluetooth phone would automatically create a link to your Bluetooth-enabled PC and Bluetooth wireless earphone. You could then use the earphone to talk on the phone or use your PC to connect to the Internet through the digital phone--without wires, setup, or effort. Bluetooth isn't being touted as a replacement for high-speed wired connections or the wireless networks we described above, but rather as a replacement for various types of cables.
Bluetooth defines a specification for a small-form-factor, low-cost radio link between portable PCs, wireless phones, and portable devices such as PDAs, MP3 players, and digital cameras. The card is not computer-centric; it can be implemented in a wide range of devices from cordless phones to notebook computers to wireless headsets. Bluetooth is similar in some ways to the 802.11 wireless Ethernet standard we talked about above. Both operate in the 2.4-GHz unlicensed radio band. There has been some concern that Bluetooth and 802.11 may interfere with each other.
The promise of all of these wireless options is to allow anyone to access network and Internet resources without resorting to plugging in cables. This technology is dramatically changing how and where computing resources will be available. Wireless access is one of the technologies that's making business in real time a reality. *
The author
Steve Anderson has been a licensed insurance agent for almost 25 years. He publishes The Automated Agency Report (TAAR), a newsletter focused on helping agents make the best use of technology. For more information visit www.taarreport.com. He can be reached at steve@taarreport.com or (615) 599-0085.