iPass has extended its enterprise mobility services to support Android smartphones with the introduction of iPass Open Mobile for Android.
Open Mobile is simple to deploy, facilitate and manage, giving smartphone users an alternative to 3G with seamless and secure connectivity to more than 150,000 Wi-Fi venues worldwide, said iPass, which already supports iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows and Symbian smartphones.
iPass Open Mobile runs as a background application on Android OS 2.1 or higher smartphones, as well as notifies and connects the user when the iPass Mobile Network – which includes 20,000 free OpenAccess hotspots – corporate networks, or personal networks are within range.
The new tool enables mobile workers connect to an authorised Wi-Fi hotspot without the need to enter credentials, and allows enterprises to determine the network for an employee based on role within the organisation.
With the new platform, IT managers will be able to track and log user activity with detailed metrics and reports through iPass Mobile Insight, the company said.
Farpoint Group principal Craig Mathias said that Android is well on its way to becoming a top player in the enterprise handset market.
"Enterprise network managers now have a powerful new tool for managing policy and cost, and end-users get the enhanced convenience and simplicity so critical to productivity," Mathias said.
iPass senior vice president of marketing and product management Steven Wastie said, they are seeing growing enterprise demand to provide a client for Android devices.
"They require enterprise mobility services that not only provide seamless and high performing connectivity, but also provide management and reporting capabilities like service quality metrics, 3G data usage offloading and cost controls," Wastie said.
