3G Roaming Controls with iPass Open Mobile

Monday, April 11th, 2011 Chris Witeck, Director Product Marketing

This is part 2 of 4 in our series profiling the iPass Open Mobile for Windows release, which includes the iPass Open Mobile client v.1.4.1. Part 1 gave you the highlights of the release with the focus on policy tools for controlling costs.

Today, I am going to take a closer look at the 3G/4G roaming controls introduced with the Open Mobile for Windows release.

Previous to this release, you had the ability to control whether or not a user with a Mobile Broadband data card (3G/4G) was allowed to roam. This means that if they travelled internationally, you could control whether they would have the ability to continue to use that Mobile Broadband data card in a situation in which using that card may be much more expensive than their normal usage. You also could pass an alert message to the user warning them that they were about to roam.

However, there was not any way to allow a user to roam, but then put restrictions onto their roaming experience. Why would this be important? In most cases, the data rates for a roaming connection is much higher than when sending/receiving data domestically. However, some users will have legitimate reasons to continue to have access when roaming, but that doesn’t mean that that access should be unlimited.

With the Open Mobile for Windows 1.4.1 client release, iPass has provided customers with quite a few more options for alerting and controlling mobile broadband data usage while the user is roaming. As you can see from the screen shot from the Open Mobile Portal above, you can now:

• Set monthly roaming data usage thresholds for users when roaming
• Customize the start date for the monthly data usage threshold, so you can tie the monthly start date to your the billing cycle start date from your mobile broadband data provider.
• Set in session usage limits, so when a roaming user starts transferring large amounts of data within a single session, you now have the ability to stop the session when the predetermined usage limit is reached. For example, think of the scenario where someone is travelling internationally on a roaming network and is streaming video or downloading a massive file.
• Configure multiple alerts (customizable by you) for users based on the amount of data sent/received. This allows you to not only alert the user that they are roaming, but also pass multiple alerts warning them that they are close to reaching the usage limit you have set for them. You can also configure an alert to pass to the user if they try to connect after they have reached their limit, letting them know why the connection is not going through.

Without these controls, it is very easy to encounter unplanned mobility bills running into the thousands of dollars just for a single user in a single month. These new capabilities provide additional options for your organization to keep your 3G/4G roaming costs under control.

This is part of iPass’ commitment to our customers in helping them gain control of the economics of Enterprise Mobility, but also ensuring that the user experience is as easy as possible. Our customers have new controls, as well as the ability to pass explanatory alerts to their users ensuring that they are not confused by what is happening.

Did you know? Not only did we add in new 3G/4G roaming controls to the Open Mobile for Windows release, but we also made it easier to for our customers to manage their own 3G/4G data cards as part of the Open Mobile for Windows client v.1.4.1 profiles. Check out the ‘Open Device Framework’ option available within the Network Configuration option when creating a client profile. This makes it much easier to select a Mobile Broadband data card for usage within an Open Mobile for Windows client profile.

And now you know!

Tags: cost management, mobile workforce, roaming