Cisco Cisco 4402 Wireless LAN Controller Folheto

Customer Case Study

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both viewed Wi-Fi as an important part of our economic development strategy for the city’s

downtown.”

Network Solution

The City of Gilroy needed a flexible and secure wireless infrastructure that could support all of

these applications, as well as other technology initiatives planned for the coming years.

Manageability was also essential, as the city would own and operate the solution itself. After

considering several options, city leaders chose the Cisco

Outdoor Wireless Network Solution.

The city already used Cisco network and IP voice solutions, and Gilroy IT officials had a great deal

of confidence in Cisco technologies. In addition, the ability to manage the new wireless

infrastructure as simply an extension of the Cisco network that was already in place was extremely

attractive.

“Our network team is basically two people,” says Chulick. “The flexibility that Cisco gives us and

the ability to not have to learn an entirely new system to support our wireless applications was a

major factor.”

“I also love the monitoring tools and features of the Cisco Wireless LAN Controller,” says Dwane

Camp, network engineer, City of Gilroy. “It allows me to manage and configure the entire network

from one central location.”

In September 2006, the City of Gilroy deployed Cisco Aironet

1500 Series Wireless Mesh Access

Points at three key intersections to support the traffic monitoring system, allowing city officials to

track and respond to changing traffic patterns in real time. In November 2006, the city outfitted

three fire stations with mesh backhaul segments to support public safety applications. Now, when

MDC-equipped vehicles are within range of a mesh backhaul segment, they can transmit and

receive video over a higher bandwidth 802.11g wireless broadband connection, instead of relying

on the cellular network.

After the success of the earlier deployments, Gilroy further expanded its wireless coverage in

March 2007 by covering several blocks in the heart of the city’s downtown with wireless Internet

access, available free of charge to local business owners, residents, shoppers, and tourists.

Business Results

Today, the City of Gilroy has outdoor wireless coverage at key points throughout the city, and the

solution has been a major success. From a public safety standpoint alone, the outdoor wireless

solution is helping improve the effectiveness of city officers and the safety of Gilroy citizens.

Although the solution today is limited only to those vehicles traveling in range of one of the

system’s access points, the added bandwidth and capabilities are already making a difference.

Mobile officers using the system can offload video from their cars and have it analyzed much more

quickly, improving their productivity. The system also allows them to stay in the field longer,

instead of having to return to the station every time they need to offload video or information.

Officers in the field also have faster, more comprehensive access to a broad range of essential

state and local resources.

“Our officers can take advantage of state databases and pull down photos while they are in the

field,” says Chulick. “You try doing that on a shared 128-kbps line, and it is going to be difficult. Our

fire department also benefits. If we have a three-alarm fire, they can pull down GIS aerial images