A new plan to enable users of Lotus Development Corp’s Notes groupware software to communicate over wireless links has been announced in the UK. Known as CLIC, after the initials of four of the five companies involved (Communicate Ltd, Lotus, IBM Corp and Cellnet Mobile Communications Ltd – the fifth, Motorola Inc, is obviously a silent partner), the plan combines Communicate’s cellular-enabled Connexion 1440c V.32bis PCMCIA data and facsimile modem – said to be capable of automatically switching between cellular or wired networks – with Lotus Notes, IBM’s ThinkPad 486 notebook computers and Motorola’s Micro TAC handheld cellular telephones. Cellnet provides the data services over its network; for corporate users, a CallAccess link enables the fixed public switched telephone network to be bypassed and calls to be routed from CLIC systems through a company switchboard. According to the companies, likely applications will include client tracking and on-line sales order processing; Notes can be configured to encrypt data automatically, facilitating high-security communications, says Lotus. Users will pay from 600for the modem, 1,600 upwards for a ThinkPad, 300 for Micro TAC handset, and 375 for a Notes user licence; the average monthly Cellnet charge would be 25, says Cellnet. The CLIC partners said they had gone with a cellular system because of demand for a wireless data service that was deliverable now; they estimated that Groupe Speciale Mobile and Personal Communications Network digital equivalents would not be available before the end of 1994. Similarly, they ruled out waiting for the Cellular Digital Packet Data standard to become established in the UK, although it was mooted as a future option.
