Thames Water, the UK’s largest water and wastewater services company, has licensed Birdstep’s SafeMove Mobile VPN software to provide reliable and secure communications for 2,000 field-based personnel equipped with laptops and PDAs.

Birdstep says that its solution addresses the connectivity challenges that affect user adoption of mobile solutions to reduce costs, enhance productivity and maximise the return on investment in mobility. Strong security is also provided to authenticate user access and encrypt data with FIPS 140-2 certified technology. 

One of the major barriers to the success of a mobile project, says BirdStep, is the reliability of the underlying network and how applications and devices cope with network outages and roaming between 3G and wi-fi. These issues with wireless networks often cause applications to crash or hang, resulting in lost data, re-boots and, most critically, frustrated users.

Birdstep says that its ‘zero-click connectivity’ automatically connects the best available network, roaming seamlessly between networks and maintaining VPN and application sessions during gaps in coverage. It also allows for the prioritization of wi-fi over 3G, which means that customers can benefit from cheaper, faster connectivity, without having to rely on users or applications to select the most appropriate network.

SafeMove will underpin Thames Water’s deployment of an enterprise mobility solution from ClickSoftware, as part of a strategic initiative to enhance customer service through improved management of the mobile workforce.
“A decade of working with customers in the utilities industry has shown that ensuring user adoption is a critical and often-overlooked factor in the success of a mobile project,” says Tim Carter, VP Sales for Birdstep SafeMove. “Thames Water and ClickSoftware recognise this and we are delighted to work with them to deliver better customer service.”