STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Nov. 20, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Vodafone Sweden is now launching a service through its corporate concept, Mobile Office, that will enable companies to use mobile communication to make their business more efficient and give their employees more flexible working lives. The service, Vodafone Remote Access, provides a simple and secure connection to companies' local area networks via current mobile datacoms networks. This allows a company's employees to use laptops to access their e-mail, the Internet, intranet and other business-critical information from any location.
Vodafone Remote Access will be available to Vodafone Sweden's corporate customers as of today, and sales via Vodafone Sweden's retailers and the company's own stores will begin first quarter next year. The service can be used in many parts of Europe through the Vodafone GPRS network(1).
"The service has been developed with simplicity, security and a global approach in mind. Many services used in modern working life involve activities outside the office. Vodafone Remote Access will make it easy to maintain contact with a company's intranet and e-mail system whether you're sitting in a taxi on your way to Arlanda or Heathrow, or with a customer in Dalarna or Tuscany," said Anders Sjoholm, Commercial Director of Corporate & Telematics at Vodafone Sweden.
User surveys conducted by Vodafone Sweden have shown that users want a quick, simple and secure connection to their company's local network when they are outside the office. With Vodafone Remote Access, Vodafone Sweden aims to put an end to the irritation often felt by IT staff and users when they try to connect a PC card for laptops to hardware and IT systems.
Vodafone Remote Access has been designed to enable its installation on a laptop computer in only five minutes. The service comprises a specially adapted, Vodafone-branded PC-card for the GPRS network together with Vodafone Sweden's own easy-to-use user interface that provides added value in the form of information and services. Among other things, users will be able to see the amount of data they are using, as well as the cost. They also have the opportunity to send SMS messages directly from their laptops.
Vodafone Remote Access has been designed to ensure the highest possible level of security and includes functions that can handle safe connection to customers' local area networks (LAN).
Vodafone Remote Access has also been adapted so that it only takes five hours to integrate into the company's IT system, and its interface provides IT staff with a monitoring tool that allows levels of use to be checked. The service also includes a portal that enables customers to obtain technical support.
"Vodafone Remote Access is easy to install and use, and is designed to reduce the difficulty involved in getting hardware and software to work together. The service offers a high level of security and enables our customers to allow their own customers to capitalise on having mobile access to their internal network," said Anders Sjoholm at Vodafone Sweden, who also points out a number of the other advantages of this service:
- Efficiency and greater productivity through flexible and simple
access to business-critical information at any time and from any
location.
- The possibility of permanent connection at all times makes
repetitive, time-consuming reconnections unnecessary.
- Cost savings, since the cost is based on data volumes, not
connection time.
- Access to Vodafone Sweden's corporate communication services
directly from laptops e.g. SMS.
(1) Vodafone has GPRS agreements for roaming services in the following
countries: Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy,
Norway, Portugal, Switzerland, Spain, the U.K., Germany and Hungary.
Pictures are available for publication and can be downloaded at: http://www.vodafone.se/images
For more information, please contact:
Vodafone Sweden Anders Sjoholm, Commercial Director, Corporate & Telematics Tel: +46 708 33 10 22 e-mail: anders.sjoholm@vodafone.se Robert Nilsson, Head of Marketing, Corporate & Telematics Tel: +46 708 33 14 12 e-mail: robert.nilssson@vodafone.se
Europolitan Vodafone AB is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange O-list on Attract 40. The operations are conducted by Europolitan Vodafone AB and its subsidiaries, Vodafone Sverige AB and Vodafone Stores AB. The majority shareholder is Vodafone Group Plc, with 74.7 per cent of the shares, while private shareholders, investment companies and pension funds own the remaining 25.3 per cent. The Vodafone Group is the world's largest mobile network and is represented in 28 countries on five continents. It has over 229 million mobile telecoms users. Our services enhance the efficiency of companies' operations and make it simpler and more fun for people to communicate. For more information, please visit our Website at www.vodfone.se and www.vodafone.com.
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