PanGo Integrates Active and Passive RFID to Deliver Industry's Most Advanced Location Management Platform.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- Customers, ISVs and Integrators Boost Operational Efficiencies and Lower TCO with a Single View, a Single Point of Integration and Rich Location Services 

PanGo Networks, Inc. (www.pangonetworks.com) today introduces a major enhancement to its PanOS Platform(R), a software product that acquires location information from active and passive RFID sources and provides a rich services-based interface for higher level systems to consume asset location information in an efficient and extensible way. Now, for the first time, applications used by hospitals, manufacturers and third-party solution providers can tap standards-based active and passive RFID technologies from a single platform, thereby dramatically increasing the number of assets that can be tracked and eliminating the need for proprietary choke point or portal solutions that add complexity and cost to corporate networks.

This aggregation and refinement of location from multiple standards-based sources gives users unprecedented flexibility to apply the appropriate mix of RFID-tracking technologies to best match their unique and varying needs. Through presence detection, real-time location and high-resolution choke-point visibility, the PanOS Platform allows customers and application vendors to benefit from the most timely and accurate tracking of assets and inventory possible, while capitalizing on the pervasive adoption of WLAN and RFID technology.

Wi-Fi-based RTLS and RFID sensory networks are transformational technologies that are delivering business benefits and driving change within IT organizations across many markets. Gartner projects that revenue generated by RFID hardware and software sales will grow from $504 million in 2005 to over $3 billion by 2010.(1)

"Now that many businesses have figured out which sensory networks projects will deliver value, the next big hurdle for IT organizations is how to unify, secure and manage all these sensory technology projects," said Jeff Woods, Research Vice President at Gartner. "To meet this challenge, the sensory networks industry will intensely focus on helping users deploy enterprise class software architectures that support the strategic enterprise architecture. This will enable IT to simultaneously support business process innovation and reduce total cost of ownership."

Active and Passive RFID Converge: The Platform Holds the Key to Connecting the Ecosystem

The PanOS Platform provides unmatched flexibility, delivering location information to valuable end user applications through its open, services-oriented architecture. Location services such as space and zone management, tag/device management, ease of access to location information and rule-based notifications deliver significant added value to the platform's broad range of standards-based WLAN and passive RFID location providers.

PanGo created the market for Wi-Fi-based asset tracking solutions by working with industry leader Cisco Systems and continues to drive the market, working with leading standards-based technology vendors including tag technology manufacturer G2 Microsystems, passive RFID pioneer ThingMagic and RFID network management leader Reva Systems. Continued collaboration ensures the availability and integration of standards-based technologies throughout the entire ecosystem, extending the reach of current and future investments.

Cisco shares PanGo's view that real-time location data is yet another essential service provided by the network infrastructure. Asset tracking is one example of an important business application that can benefit from such location-based services.

"PanGo was the first to integrate with the Cisco 2700 Series Wireless Location Appliance and now expands that value by leveraging the Application-Oriented Networking (AON) for RFID product to incorporate RFID passive tag data into their solution," said Stephen Cho, Senior Director of Product Management and Marketing for Cisco's AON Business Unit. "We are enthusiastic about PanGo's initiative to capitalize upon the network's capabilities and further extend them, making it easier for customers to take advantage of both active and passive RFID technologies."

"The market opportunity for a standards-based approach that integrates real-time location and passive RFID solutions is real," said Ashley Stephenson, CEO of Massachusetts-based Reva Systems. "In large distributed environments, customers need integrated infrastructure management capabilities and the ability to transparently access real-time RFID data - The Reva TAP delivers passive RFID data to PanGo's platform to support these customer requirements."

Additional industry leaders, including RFID reader and tag manufacturers, endorse PanGo's platform strategy through integration efforts and joint customer engagements.

"The RFID market is nearing a critical inflection point, as companies deploy facility-wide RFID solutions for supply chain improvements and real-time visibility," said Tom Grant, CEO of Massachusetts-based ThingMagic. "Through our Mercury4 platform's interoperability with the PanGo PanOS Platform, Cisco AON and other RFID solutions, we can help customers better leverage valuable information and assets directly from the manufacturing floor and other areas where RFID solutions are being implemented."

"We are excited to be working with PanGo, a proven leader in the RTLS market, to implement the advanced location technologies available in our new System-on-Chip," said John Gloekler, Chief Executive Officer and President of G2 Microsystems. "By combining Wi-Fi, active and passive RFID technology into a highly integrated solution, PanGo is helping companies build and implement cost-effective asset tracking solutions that enable real-time inventory visibility across their entire supply chain."

Eager Audience for Standards-Based Approach

Several markets, including healthcare, manufacturing and transportation and logistics, have already demonstrated strong adoption of standards-based active and passive RFID. PanGo is currently engaged in several asset-tracking deployments that leverage multiple automatic identification and locating technologies, including at MetroHealth Medical Center, a 731-bed teaching hospital and major regional referral site in Cleveland, Ohio. MetroHealth was already deploying PanGo's Wi-Fi-based active RFID system and wanted a hybrid active-passive solution to provide a single view of their assets and a single point of integration to their existing HIS applications.

By installing standard passive RFID readers at key points of egress, MetroHealth will augment its Wi-Fi-based asset-tracking solution with high-resolution "choke-point" location data, providing nursing staff and biomedical engineers with real-time information about when equipment is being removed from designated locations. This solution will allow MetroHealth staff to act immediately and with great confidence, stemming asset losses from theft and other unauthorized equipment movement.

"We waited until we found the right solution. Other approaches would have forced us to deploy single purpose exciters and redundant network equipment," said Barbara West, Administrator of Emergency Medicine and Ambulatory Support Services at MetroHealth. "Resources are too valuable in healthcare to deploy systems and hardware that can't be used across a multitude of applications."

"Empowering employees and systems with information about what's happening in the real world is critical," said Mike McGuinness, CEO of PanGo Networks. "The missing piece has always been a unified view of the real-time location of critical resources. By leveraging multiple locationing capabilities through a single platform architecture, our customers can develop, deploy and manage cost-effective solutions that enable real-time visibility throughout their entire operations."

PanGo will be demonstrating its PanOS Platform and asset tracking applications at the RFID Journal LIVE annual conference and exhibition in Las Vegas, Nevada May 1-3, 2006. For a demonstration, please visit PanGo in booth 630.

About PanGo Networks

PanGo is the leading provider of a location-aware platform and applications designed for enterprise scale deployment. Its integrated location management solution allows organizations to transform standards-based wireless networks and active and passive RFID infrastructures into a platform for intelligent applications that improve important business processes. With its flagship PanOS Platform(R) and asset tracking applications, PanGo offers the industry's first complete solution for real-time asset visibility and context-aware information delivery. Specializing in a range of markets including healthcare, manufacturing, retail and government, PanGo delivers reliable and accurate information about the location of connected devices, people and assets. For more information, visit www.pangonetworks.com.

(1)Gartner Dataquest, "Market Share and Forecast: Radio Frequency Identification, Worldwide, 2004-2010" by J. Woods, C. Eschinger. October 31, 2005.