Meru Networks Named An Intermec Honours Partner

Meru's Zero-handoff, 'Virtual Cell' Wireless LAN Architecture Provides Retailers with Reliable, Secure Network Environment
 

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Jan. 29, 2008 – Wireless LAN provider Meru Networks has joined the Intermec Honours Partner Program, which recognizes companies that deliver highly valued solutions for mutual customers of Intermec and its partners.

Meru's cost-effective wireless LAN solutions let customers run a wide variety of applications wirelessly, including voice over Wi-Fi, security surveillance, inventory tracking, shipping, receiving and point-of-sale applications.

Meru representatives will be available this week at i-comm, the Intermec Customer Conference, in Orlando, Fla., to discuss the company's wireless solutions, interoperability issues and partnerships.

Keyur Shah, Meru product line director, said Meru's status as an Intermec Honours Partner "represents a vote of confidence from one of the industry's largest and most respected hand-held device vendors, and an opportunity for Meru to broaden its reach in retail, a key market for wireless LANs. In addition, Intermec resellers and solution partners gain a means of differentiating themselves in the marketplace with an alternative wireless LAN solution that is highly reliable and stable."

Intermec has also been named a member of the Meru Technology Partners program, under which the two companies' solutions have been validated to work together seamlessly. Meru has successfully tested Intermec RFID readers, bar-code scanners and mobile computers for interoperability with Meru's award-winning Air Traffic Control™ technology.

Shah said the certification will help Intermec customers, resellers and partners build best-of-breed solutions combining Intermec mobile data-collection devices and the wireless LAN technology best suited to address the needs of retail and supply-chain environments.

Longtime Intermec customer Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, based in Doral, Fla., has recently begun deploying Meru WLANs to run its logistics management software and other IT applications at several remote sites, with voice (VoIP) functionality to be added soon.

"We found Meru to be the best wireless technology on the market," said Douglas Mayer, Hellmann's U.S. director of information technology. "Meru's single-channel architecture eliminates the need for a formal site survey and channel planning, which cuts our deployment costs. We can wirelessly connect scanner guns, IP phones, desktop workstations, and it all just works. Our plans call for deploying Meru access points at any new site that goes into production."

Meru's unique "virtual cell" approach to wireless LAN architecture automatically selects a single channel for enterprise-wide use, maximizing network performance and quality of service while accelerating and simplifying deployments. In contrast, the "micro cell" approach used by legacy WLANs assigns different channels to adjacent cells of the network.

With virtual cell technology, because mobile devices need not switch channels when roaming, users and applications have a guaranteed, uninterrupted connection, while with micro cells, connections and sessions are established and torn down with every roam. In addition, because mobile devices on a Meru WLAN do not need to continuously scan for "better" networks or reauthenticate while roaming, their battery life is extended significantly. Meru delivers these benefits with no proprietary client-side software or extensions, ensuring investment protection and lowering total cost of ownership.

About Intermec
Intermec Inc. (NYSE:IN0), develops, manufactures and integrates technologies that identify, track and manage supply chain assets. Core technologies include RFID, mobile computing and data collection systems, bar code printers and label media. The company's products and services are used by customers in many industries worldwide to improve the productivity, quality and responsiveness of business operations. For more information about Intermec, visit www.intermec.com or call 800-347-2636.

About Meru Networks
Meru Networks is the global leader in wireless infrastructure solutions that enable the All-Wireless Enterprise. Its industry-leading innovations deliver pervasive, wireless service fidelity for business-critical applications to major Fortune 500 enterprises, universities, healthcare organizations and local, state and federal government agencies. Meru's award-winning Air Traffic Control technology brings the benefits of the cellular world to the wireless LAN environment, and its WLAN System is the only solution on the market that delivers predictable bandwidth and over-the-air Quality of Service with the reliability, scalability, and security necessary to deliver converged voice and data services over a single WLAN infrastructure. Founded in 2002, Meru is based in Sunnyvale, California. For more information on Meru Networks and its products, visit www.merunetworks.com or call (408) 215-5300.