roundup quandary: New networking line targets SMB productivity

Saturday, January 26, 2013

New networking line targets SMB productivity

Cisco Systems has released a new suite of SMB-focused offerings focused on secure mobile productivity.
1/24/2013 12:09:00 PM By: Jeff Jedras

Secure productivity for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) is the focus of a series of new product announcements Wednesday by networking vendor Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO).

According to Lief Koepsel, director of small business for Cisco, mobility was a key consideration in designing these new SMB offerings. Businesses increasingly need to make decisions while workers are on the go, and they need to be able to access information to make those decisions while on the go, and access it securely.

?Since SMBs generally don't have dedicated IT departments, they need technologies that are easy to use and manage, all while fitting within a tight budget. This kind of enablement is what allows small businesses to be agile,? wrote Koepsel in a blog.

The new offerings are:
* The Cisco ISA500 Series Integrated Security Appliance, an all-in-one security solution that features highly secure Internet, wireless, dual wide-area network (WAN), and site-to-site and remote VPN access with unified threat management (UTM) capabilities.
* The Cisco SPA302D Multi-Line DECT Handset and Cisco SPA232D Multi-Line DECT ATA: An on-premise mobility solution that pairs a cordless handset with an ATA voice gateway and an integrated DECT base station for both voice over IP (VoIP) and public switched telephone network (PSTN) calls.
* The Cisco SPA500DS Expansion Module: A digital attendant console that attaches to the SPA500 Series IP Phones.
* The Cisco RV215W Wireless-N VPN Router with 3G/4G: A wireless router with security features that enables mobile connectivity with a wide variety of options including 3G and 4G via a USB data card.
* Software updates to Cisco WAP121 Wireless-N AP and Cisco WAP321 Wireless-N Selectable-Band AP, including new firmware upgrades that enable single-point setup to simplify deployment of office-wide wireless networks.