Nextel, Inciscent Collaborate to Provide Wireless Solution for Network Management

January 8, 2002

Companies Enable Mobile IT Professionals to Manage, Troubleshoot and Remedy Network Infrastructure from Wireless Phones

Nextel Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTL) and Inciscent Inc., today announced an alliance to enable information technology (IT) professionals to wirelessly manage, troubleshoot and remedy network issues when away from their desks.

Companies can now leverage Inciscent IC(2) (Inciscent Command & Control) network management software across the Nextel National Network to improve business system uptime by providing remote administration of dispersed IT resources and quickly addressing time-sensitive network problems.

By leveraging Nextel's nationwide packet data network, IT staff can use IC(2) software to remotely bring equipment online, take it offline, check the status of servers, identify network problems and perform other administrative network functions anytime.

The software also includes logging and tracking capabilities that allow network managers to review diagnostic procedures and view an individual administrator's history for training and administrative improvements. Inciscent software delivers business solutions to Fortune 500 commercial enterprises as well as SoHo, small and mid-sized organizations.

IT professionals can also use the full range of Nextel 4-in-1 wireless services that deliver a unique mix of business communications options in one wireless phone, including digital cellular, Nextel Direct Connect(R), Two-Way Messaging and Wireless Web services.

Nextel Direct Connect is a digital two-way radio feature that provides instant contact with co-workers, friends, family and other Nextel customers in a calling area with the push of a button.

"Nextel provides a standards-based, packet data network that is tightly integrated with Nextel's voice network and enables wireless phones to become powerful extensions to business computing," said Ernie Cormier, vice president, enterprise solutions at Nextel. "We are committed to working with innovative software partners, like Inciscent, to deliver applications that take advantage of the reliability, high performance, security and coverage of Nextel's National Network, and address specific, high-value business needs."

According to Tom Matthews, CEO and president of Inciscent, the company's partnership with Nextel brings a powerful wireless productivity tool to IT departments that must keep mission-critical networks up and running with fewer resources in today's challenging economic environment.

"In a highly competitive business arena where operations have grown to 24/7, workers often are away from their offices and dial-up connections. This can considerably delay response times to urgent network problems. The combination of IC(2) and the Nextel National Network provides a value-added service that quickly pays for itself with increased efficiency, productivity and system uptime," stated Matthews.

Analysts including the Gartner Group, an IT research firm, estimate that one hour of network downtime can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $100,000 per hour, or even up to $100,000 per minute for companies dependent on networks to conduct real-time transactions. Depending on the size of a company's network, IC(2) can typically pay for itself in one month.

IC(2) extends the utility of popular network management software -including Hewlett-Packard OpenView, IBM Tivoli and Computer Associates Unicenter. The application provides an increasingly mobile IT workforce with the flexibility and freedom to interact with routers, servers, switches and other network equipment through secure telnet sessions and simple network messaging protocol (SNMP) commands from remote locations.

The software is supported by Nextel Internet-ready phones with the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) browser 4.x. To enable secure wireless data transmission, Nextel phones use standard wireless transport layer security (WTLS) and standard secure socket layer (SSL) encryption technology.

Additionally, Nextel offers a full-size, portable keyboard for its Internet-ready phones that makes it easy to input information into the IC(2) application.

This new service is available now. For more information, contact Andrea Staertow at Inciscent (703-205-5919) and contact your Nextel sales representative.


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