The Nokia Local Business Connectivity Solution is a platform that connects end users with Series 60 or Series 80 smartphones to corporate services via Bluetooth. As registered users enter the service coverage area, they are detected and authenticated; following such authentication, authorized services for that particular user are activated.

The platform consists of three components: A client that resides on the smartphones; a hardware service point; and the Nokia Service Manager.

As mentioned above, the Clients operate on Series 60 or Series 80 smartphones and provides bi-directional communications between the phone and the back end resources and the ability to launch applications on the end user system over WLAN and Bluetooth connections. The vendor notes as examples the ability to download a file to the device, or opening a page on the corporate intranet. The vendor also notes that limited use cases are possible for any Bluetooth enabled device even without the client.

A number of ready-to-use applications, including initiating any application in the device, E-mail/calendar/contact synchronization via SyncML, and SMS-like push and browsing are provided; while a core integrator API allows for the "mobilization" of Enterprise applications, such as CRM, SFA, etc.

The second component of the platform is the LBP 10 Service Point, an A5-sized device with Bluetooth and LAN connectivity (and, optionally, WLAN, GPRS, or SMS). Each radio supports up to 7 phones, in a range of up to 30 meters in an open office environment. The service point actually detects the registered end user, communicates with the Service Manager for authentication, and activates the services assigned to that user following successful authentication.

Finally, the Service Manager LBM 10 provides end-user, device, application, and service point management features; including storage of authentication information such as MSISDN, IMSI, device IP address, and security keys. The Service Manager additionally provides interfaces to RADIUS for external authentication; LDAP for connecting to external user database connectivity; SNMP; and the Integration API using secure sockets for contextual control for 3rd party applications.

The Nokia Local Business Connectivity Solution is currently in testing and is expected to be available by 4Q 2005.

Visit the Nokia Web site for further information.