Wireless information management: wise information managers will begin now to prepare for the day when all records are sent, stored, and retrieved wirelessly. (TechTrends).

At the Core

This article:

* Discusses wireless network and device trends

* Explains how wireless technology impacts information management today and in the future

* Defines challenges to RIM due to the use of wireless technology

The growing use of handheld digital devices to create, store, transmit, and access information has the potential to change the very nature of how an organization's information resources are managed--or possibly mismanaged. More and more organizations are adopting wireless technology, both for staff away from the office and, in some cases, within the fixed space of their buildings, as a means of reducing the typical plethora of wires linking the electronic workplace together. Wireless access services are being offered in hotels, stadiums, coffee shops, and airport lounges. Clearly, more and more corporate information will be exchanged this way. This brings with it several challenges, depending on the

* capabilities of the device

* nature of the transmitted signal to and from network nodes 

* type of information being communicated

Because of the vast potential for the use of wireless technology, an assessment of its impact and the identification of key strategies to ensure that information transmitted wirelessly is managed well are in order.

Wireless Systems

Most wireless business systems consist of handheld devices linked via antenna to a corporate main network that is most often an enclosed or guided network consisting of cables, wires, fiber optics, and narrow-beam signals. Handheld wireless devices communicate by broadcasting signals from their antenna in all directions at the same time (like a continuously growing sphere) because it is not clear where the receiving node might be. To "talk" to the handheld device, the network node radiates spherically as well.

Today's handheld devices store, transmit, and display information in a digital format. While handheld digital devices were initially self-contained (being mainly organizers, calendars, and note-taking devices), the linking of handheld devices to telecommunications systems via wireless services is creating another major shift in how people work with information.

From a wireless communications perspective, handheld devices fall into three main categories:

1. Those lacking--as yet--wireless telecommunications facilities 

2. Those with user-controlled connection to a wireless facility

3. Those always connected

A brief description of devices in each of these categories provides insight into the evolving technology.

No Specific Wireless Facilities

* Personal digital assistants (PDAs): These began as name and address organizers with calculators and calendars and evolved to include notepads and an ability to understand handwritten characters. The Palm series of PDAs is the de facto standard. Often PDAs can be hard connected (by wire) to desktop PCs to share files, thereby allowing the information in the PDA to be synchronized with information in the PC. As a result, businesses have adopted them because of their ease of use in remote locations, their ability to cross-link names and addresses, and their ability to integrate calendar information with corporate files. PDAs have about 1-2 MB of local memory.

* Pocket computers: The limited functionality of PDAs is not enough for users who wish to create reports, work with presentation software, use spreadsheets, and work with other applications remotely but who don't want to carry a laptop. To meet this need, vendors have produced a handheld PC that is smaller than a laptop. These devices provide access to telecommunications either through a built-in modem or through a wireless network with an add-on accessory. The memory of such devices is often in the 100 MB range, and newer types include drives with memory from 2-10 GB.

Connected to Wireless Systems

* Mobile phones: While cellular phones are basically in an "on" mode, they nevertheless require user action to initiate connection--either to receive or place a call. The cell phone is mainly used for voice, but integration of textual and graphics information is emerging. Memory in such phones is about 1-2 MB.

* Text-based phones: This type can transmit text only, entered by the limited keyboard, to another text phone. This technology is based on that of pagers, using the digital mobile phone network. Text messaging is problematic given the phones' small size, restricted range, and limited number of keys. As a result, a "shorthand" message protocol is appearing. People will send CU@HM to mean "see you at home." Memory capacity is about the same as a digital cell phone's. Names and phone numbers may be stored as well as a limited set of previous messages.

* Internet phones: These devices use the phone's screen to display Internet files. The phones have a larger memory (up to 5 MB) and can store Internet pages. Some have the ability to subscribe to a Web site and get automatic downloads of information at specific times (e.g., weather at 8 a.m., stock results at 10:30 a.m.). They also provide access to e-mail. The small screen size is a problem, so some organizations (particularly stockbroker firms) are redesigning Web-information formats for this "Internet-mode (i-mode)" operation. Most phones can access only a handful of Web sites specially formatted for Internet-enabled devices. They are used mainly for accessing information rather than generating information.

"Always-On" Devices

* Pagers: Initially these devices simply "beeped." Today, they vibrate, store short text (and sometimes voice) messages sent to them, and automatically respond to a "call" with a set of optional "implied" messages when in "silent" mode. Newer "two-way" pagers have been introduced, allowing some limited text messages to be sent from the pager. Messages are short and the memory small.

* E-mail devices: The most recognized device in this category is the Blackberry, which was designed to accept and respond to e-mails. It has a comparatively large screen and a tiny "QWERTY" (computer-style) keyboard. It was the first handheld device to be "always-on" and connected to the Internet. Simply entering a Web site address will access that site without any need to log-on or to be limited to special "i-mode" sites. It uses the basic pager network and some of the newer digital mobile networks. It has an internal memory of 5 MB.

* Bluetooth device: Bluetooth technology, in the form of a chip, is being embedded in many devices, including PDAs and pocket computers. It is always broadcasting and synchronizing itself with other Bluetooth devices within a 50-foot or 20-meter radius. Software is used to transfer information between one or more Bluetooth devices. One application now being promoted can transfer a picture from a digital camera to a nearby printer without any specific action on the part of the user.

Device and Network Trends

Major device manufacturers are equipping cell phones with PDA capabilities and fitting PDAs with antennas to receive voice calls. Both are adding cameras for video capture (or still pictures). Devices are being upgraded with technology that enables a device to be "located" using a version of a geographic position indicator circuit. A number of vendors are adding Java language to the device, allowing third parties to provide applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, animation, and other features that will run on the device. Screen sizes and device memories are increasing, and the capability to generate and manipulate information within the device is being expanded.

Early wireless networks operated at low bandwidths, suitable only for simple and short text messages or voice signals. With digital networks, the bandwidth increased, allowing multiple messages to be handled on the same channel. The devices, however, remained the same--pagers, cell phones, simple text systems. These devices send information at 14.4KB per second (Kbps), roughly half the speed of PC modems sending at 28 Kbps. However, wireless users are demanding more bandwidth that will allow them to rapidly download Internet-type information to their handheld devices. The industry is responding with three main types of high-speed wireless systems that likely will dominate the next few years of wireless information transmission.

The first category is called third-generation (3G) digital networks, targeted to cell-phone users and people who are in a mobile mode. It will allow signals to be sent at about 2 MB per second (Mbps) (50 times faster than the current networks) to a handheld or mobile device (e.g., map displays in cars). It will work over several hundred feet/meters to several thousand feet/meters.

A second technology is IEEE 802.11b (or "WiFi"). This is an extension of the Ethernet cable network that many companies now are beginning to use to wire their office devices together. It is designed to allow people with laptops or pocket PCs to use those devices to access their company files or the Internet while sitting in a lobby, at an airport, in a stadium, or in a coffee shop. It works at 11 Mbps--about five times faster than the 3G networks--and will work over a radius of about 150 feet (45 meters).

The third type of network is Bluetooth. It is a standardized circuit device incorporating a standardized communications protocol that communicates continuously with other nearby Bluetooth-enabled devices. It provides a transmission path that will allow information to be transmitted between two or more devices automatically, provided that there is software included to trigger the appropriate transfer. For example, when a laptop computer is in the vicinity of its user's desktop PC, Bluetooth can transfer calendar data between the two devices automatically, without any action by the user. Its range, however, is limited to about 30-50 feet (10-18 meters), and the speed of transfer is only 720 Kbps.

Critical Challenges

A wireless system will not by itself have an immediate impact on managing information. Instead, the focus will be on the capability and functionality of the device using a wireless connection. If the device capabilities and functionality become significant, as they no doubt will, then the nature of the telecommunications link comes into play and the synergy between both compounds the information management challenges.

Once handheld devices acquire sufficient memory to store business records and the ability to manipulate information in files, the first major information challenge lies in ensuring that corporate information retained in this device is duplicated and transferred to the corporate system. A second issue is to determine whether the information in the handheld device is the "original" and thus be able to ensure that it is not corrupted before being transferred to corporate control. A third challenge is to ensure that the information stored in the device is not transferred (by design or by accident) to an unauthorized user. A final challenge is to successfully devise a retention schedule for timely, approved destruction of information retained in the handheld that is consistent with corporate retention policies.

Issues That Impact Information Managers

1. Ensuring that information from remote devices is transferred to corporate memory

With the short-term, transient information used in today's cell phones and text-enabled devices, creation of information needing management may not be an issue. However, with the newest Blackberry, more powerful PDAs, and pocket computers, there is a strong possibility that business records will be stored. Even though it is likely that these systems will wirelessly move information to the corporate system, policies and procedures will need to be in place to make sure that this transfer does happen--and to set forth when it will happen. The information should be transferred automatically over the wireless network when a file is updated on the remote device, or the transfer should take place when the device is returned to the main office. Policies and procedures should be in place giving responsibility to someone to transfer the files, particularly if they are sensitive. The role of the records and information manager here is critical, as information technology (IT) professionals may be more interested in technical performance than in record content.

2. Maintaining the integrity of the original record

The storage technology of handheld devices is now sufficiently robust so that the information stored in such devices will be accurate and not easily modified. A wireless network used to transfer a record to a corporate site, however, may be susceptible to interference. If other handheld devices are transmitting in the area, it is possible that parts of records may not be transferred accurately. There is evidence, for example, that trying to synchronize files between the corporate network and a handheld device via the IEEE 802.11b wireless system is not always successful. The corruption, if any, is likely to be due to third-party interference.

Systems are in place to check the accuracy of information packets in a digital wireless network and re-transmit them if they fail a special verification check but, even so, errors occur. This could be because digital phones, streetlights, microwave ovens, and the IEEE 802.11b networks all work at a 2.4 GHz antenna frequency. It is then an open frequency, and many vendors are providing products, thus cluttering the bands. Implementing such networks successfully requires technical expertise.

3. Protecting the information in a handheld device from unauthorized use

Handheld devices often have external memory drives and communications ports that can be connected via hard wires. A user might copy a file to an external memory and then lose that memory, or the device itself--like thousands of laptop computers each year--might be stolen and the information on the disks extracted via the communications ports.

When a handheld device is transmitting wirelessly, the signal is being broadcast over a wide area. From a hotel lobby, the signal might be radiated easily out the window to nearby cars. Equipment exists to "listen" to signals being broadcast wirelessly and thus electronically eavesdrop on the messages being transmitted. From an office site, wireless signals can flow through to offices above, beside, and below their point of origin. The information transmitted over that network might be intercepted easily in the next room or, alternatively, may cause interference with a wireless network in the next office.

The matter of file security is one that will demand the information manager's attention. A reasonable, immediate solution is to encrypt the files stored on the handheld device. In the short term, however, this may not be possible because the functionality may not exist for some devices. (Most vendors are starting to offer an option to encrypt files locally.) This capability would provide some protection against loss of information when the device and/or external memory is compromised.

Vendors are offering software that encrypts the signals rather than the information being sent over the air space, both from the network node and from the handheld device. However, this feature has been mainly an add-on that often uses a relatively low level of encryption. More robust systems for encryption of wirelessly transmitted files are being designed. A combination of device file and wireless signal encryption offers extra protection.

As for interfering with an office-site neighbor or being concerned that the neighbor may be listening in, one may have to shield the office by using carpets with a metal thread that can be grounded. This strategy will strongly attenuate the radiated signal. Lining the walls and ceiling with a similar shield to contain the radiated signal may be needed. (An alternate solution is to use an optical wireless system that bounces signals around the room.)

4. Scheduling the remote information

Scheduling information in devices with limited memory is usually not a problem. It is understood that stored messages will be shifted out of memory automatically (and lost) when more information is being stored in the device. However, with more powerful devices, procedures need to be established to ensure that any files in the handheld device are scheduled for destruction, assuming a copy is being stored in a central file. In effect, there may be a need for two schedules, one for the handheld device that purges files after a short time and one for the duplicate corporate copy of the file using a more traditional schedule (i.e., one based on legal requirements).

Another scheduling option may be using Bluetooth technology in a system that will automatically transfer files from the handheld device to the office network and delete the file from the handheld device when the user and the device return to the office.

Managing Wireless Information

While much of the information generated today on handheld devices is transient, e-mail systems and files with a business dimension will need to be managed well. The potential for lost records is high in the short term (two to three years) with this new technology, though wireless networking will likely aid the user in transferring files to the corporate system. Information managers will need to work with IT staff to ensure that handheld files are transferred--undamaged--to corporate servers and to manage awareness sessions with end users to ensure that the need for good information management is recognized and adopted.

In cases where only a few people in an organization use digital handheld devices, the issues may be relatively minor. In small numbers, users can be contacted to ensure that they understand the need for management of business records and to be reminded about it from time to time. However, as newer technologies increasingly appear in the next few years and the storage capacity of the handheld device increases, the potential for these devices to be adopted by the organization as a support tool for a significant number of staff is high.

Understanding the challenges now and planning for ways to mitigate problems will lead to effective information management of the wireless world. The astute information manager will begin now to consider and plan for a future when everything is connected to everything else--all the time.

READ MORE ABOUT IT

IEEE Personal Communications. New York: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 1994.

Smith, Clint and Daniel Collins. 3G Wireless Networks. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002.

"Survey: Wireless Commands Interest." www.andersen.com.

Stallings, William. Wireless Communication and Networking. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall PTR, 2002.

Webb, William. The Future of Wireless Communications. Boston: Artech House, 2001.

Ron Elliot, Ph.D., is president of Strategic Visions IMS Inc., in Ottawa, Ontario. He may be reached at [e-mail].