Press Releases

PanGo First to Integrate Wi-Fi-based Active RFID Product with Cisco’s New Wireless Location Appliance
Worldwide leader in networking collaborates with PanGo to extend the power of the wireless network

Framingham, MA– May 4, 2005 – PanGo Networks, Inc., (www.pangonetworks.com), today announced the availability of a joint asset tracking solution that integrates Cisco’s 2700 Series Wireless Location Appliance with PanGo Locator® 2.0. PanGo is the first company to successfully integrate and commercialize a location-aware application on Cisco’s Location Appliance. PanGo Locator is an active RFID system that includes true Wi-Fi asset tags and all the software necessary to easily track assets over a wireless LAN.

Cisco announced the general availability of its 2700 Series Wireless Location Appliance product today which makes location an actual feature of the network and provides the means for third party applications to access the location of devices connected to the wireless LAN. The new 2.0 release of the PanGo Locator active RFID system transforms location coordinates, adds a number of valuable services and ultimately provides a complete application solution. The joint solution allows customers to track mobile assets over their Cisco network without requiring a separate overlay of readers or other hardware. The two companies are showcasing the joint solution for thousands of industry executives at Networld+Interop 2005 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  

Lee Memorial, in Ft. Myers, Florida and a leading healthcare system serving eight hospitals are among the first customers to deploy the integrated solution. The integration of the Cisco Location Server and PanGo Locator will allow these hospitals to focus on patient care by automating workflow redundancies and minimizing costs associated with equipment searches and over procurement.  

PanGo Locator was launched in the fall of last year and is deployed at a number of leading hospitals in the Unites States.  The application provides the means to easily configure and manage RFID tags, map-based and tabular interfaces that allow users to quickly find individual assets or groups of assets by location, type, owner, name, etc.  The application also includes powerful reporting features that provide historical data about asset location and utilization.  There is no development required to deploy the product, it is a full-featured system that includes seamless integration with the Wireless Location Appliance.   Locator offers an interface that can operate with multiple location providers (e.g., tags, laptops and PDAs) and third party applications without modifying its existing applications. No other solution incorporates this level of interoperability. In addition to the Locator application, PanGo’s software platform utilizes a service-oriented architecture to provide a host of application services that allow other third party software and systems providers to add location-awareness to enterprise asset management, workflow and other business process automation solutions. 

 “Cisco reinforced its leadership in the market by introducing location awareness as a feature of the network,” said Alan Cohen, Senior Director of Product Management for Cisco’s Wireless Networking Business Unit.” PanGo has extended the reach and value of this technology by integrating its industry leading active RFID product with and creating a valuable solution for the market. The joint solution allows customers to leverage the same network for data, voice and now asset tracking while continuing to capitalize on the powerful security and network management capabilities our networks offer.”

The Cisco-PanGo integrated solution allows enterprises to:

• Increase the availability and utilization of mission critical equipment and systems
• Reduce or eliminate the time to find equipment
• Decrease annual equipment leasing or purchasing
• Prevent equipment loss and theft
• Optimize workflow by matching users with the most appropriate equipment
• Integrate asset location information with workflow, scheduling and maintenance systems
• Dramatically increase the ROI that customers derive from their wireless infrastructure investments

“This is a historic moment in the wireless industry,” said Mike McGuinness, President and CEO of PanGo Networks.  “The network now extends support for a highly strategic application in a way that’s never been done before.  It allows customers to deploy RFID without requiring expensive and unnecessary readers, or even a separate network overlay.  The market has been emphatic about using the wireless LAN for a variety of services.  We’re excited about being an important part of this solution with Cisco.”

“Allowing organizations to take advantage of location information available from Wi-Fi networks opens a host of asset intelligence applications that can transform business processes - location-based applications are the logical next step for enterprise WLAN deployments,” said, Gene Signorini, Director, Wireless Mobile Enterprise Solutions, Yankee Group. “The combination of technology from these two industry leaders will form compelling enterprise-class wireless solution standards that will govern future developments for asset tracking.”

About PanGo Networks
PanGo Networks™ is a leading provider of location-aware wireless services and applications for the enterprise market. PanGo’s 802.11-based software transforms off-the-shelf WLAN infrastructure into a platform for intelligent applications that improve and expedite important business processes. Through its flagship PanOS™ platform and mobile applications, PanGo offers the industry’s first comprehensive solution for real-time asset visibility and context-aware information delivery. 

Contact for Media and Analysts:

Leila Modarres
PanGo Networks, Inc.
+1.508.626.8900, ext. 238
leila.modarres@pangonetworks.com

Carrie Riley
Weber Shandwick
+1.617.520.7056
criley@webershandwick.com