BOSTON— January 14, 2005— At the ALA Midwinter Meeting today, Sirsi Corporation announced a partnership with Bluesocket, Inc., the leading vendor of open-systems wireless local area network (WLAN) systems, to deliver security and management to library WLANs. Bluesocket's Wireless Gateways integrate seamlessly with Sirsi's patron authentication servers, preventing unauthorized user access while allowing library patrons simple and secure authentication to the library's WLAN network. Library administrators can control user access to its servers and services and manage bandwidth usage on incoming and outgoing traffic. “Bluesocket's Secure Mobility Solutions bring the highest level of security directly to a patron's mobile device without requiring them to install software on their device,” said David Danielson, vice president of marketing at Bluesocket. “This will help libraries address the needs of a significant population of patrons who require mobile and wireless access within a secure and trusted environment.”
“Sirsi has worked with Bluesocket to incorporate SIP2-based patron authentication into the Bluesocket Wireless Gateway,” said Sirsi's Lamar Jackson, director of global alliances. “Other vendors do SIP2-based patron authentication – but none have integrated the ILS to the wireless gateway for a seamless and safe fit for libraries and library patrons.” Patrons can enter the library with a wireless laptop and log on using a library card number and personal identification number (PIN) without modifying the laptop. “When integrated with Sirsi, Bluesocket sits between the wireless world and the wired network, acting as a police unit between the two. This empowers the library to develop a perimeter firewall and deliver a wireless LAN without security and management fears,” said Jackson.
Bluesocket Secure Mobility Solutions include Wireless Security/Policy Gateways, IDS/IPS systems and Enterprise Management Solutions. These products together with Sirsi SIP2 Patron Authentication servers comprise the trust “backbone” of today's library IT solutions.
About Bluesocket
Bluesocket (www.bluesocket.com) builds Secure MobilityTM solutions that address the WLAN security, policy enforcement, and management requirements of over 1000 customers in 45 countries around the world. Bluesocket's solutions deliver standards-based network interoperability with a wide range of mobile devices, allowing its customers to build secure, manageable, global WLAN deployments that support thousands of mobile workers simultaneously and within legacy environments. With offices in Burlington, Mass., Silicon Valley (USA), London (UK) and the Asia/Pacific region, Bluesocket, Inc. is a privately held, global corporation managed by experienced executives from British Telecom, Cisco, Ericsson, GTE Internetworking, Intel, Nortel, and other industry leaders.
About Sirsi
Founded in 1979, Sirsi Corporation develops, sells, and supports a comprehensive integrated suite of software solutions for meeting the information management and sharing needs of libraries and library users around the world. From the open, evolutionary integrated library system technology in the Sirsi Unicorn Library Management System… to leading-edge data analysis and intelligence tools in Sirsi Director's Station… to leading-edge solutions such as Sirsi Rooms 2.0 for library users seeking unparalleled access to the world of knowledge… Sirsi and its partners provide the broadest array of information management products and services for the library community. Sirsi solutions serve more than 10,000 libraries in the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. For more information about Sirsi, please see www.sirsi.com.
