CiscoSecure TM Wireless Solution for K-12 Provides Schools with Easy, Highly Secure Access to Education Content and Resources

Enables network connectivity anywhere, anytime for untethered student, teacher reach

CoSN Washington, D.C. - March 22, 2005 - To help bring rich educational content and resources to students and teachers, while providing greater mobility, convenience and optimized security, Cisco Systems, Inc. today announced the CiscoSecureTM Wireless Solution for K-12.

The CiscoSecure Wireless Solution for K-12 extends the reach of traditional wired Internet Protocol (IP) networks to provide integrated wireless network connectivity for students and teachers. By extending school networks where traditional wired connectivity would be too costly or limited by structural challenges, students and teachers can perform all of the same key tasks on a wireless network with industry-leading Cisco security features. Today’s announcement was made at the K-12 Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) Conference in Washington, D.C. where Cisco is demonstrating its suite of K-12 education solutions at Booth 9.

“Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) have become an essential tool for educators, providing them with anytime/anywhere access to the Internet, email, and key productivity applications -- essentially all of their daily information and communication needs at their fingertips,” said Charles Fadel, global lead for education for Cisco. “The CiscoSecure Wireless Solution for K-12 helps improve efficacy by extending the availability of content and applications alike.”

The CiscoSecure Wireless Solution for K-12 helps bring the technology and the content to the students and the teachers, no matter where they are physically located. This highly secure wireless network connectivity helps create a more tightly connected, collaborative educational community, while helping schools stretch their budgets by extending their primary wired LAN access to older buildings or temporary learning facilities. Specific components of the solution vary, depending on the geographic and architectural needs of each school district, however a typical configuration includes: Cisco Aironet Series Access Points, Cisco-compatible laptops and PDAs, Cisco Routers and Cisco Catalyst Switches, Cisco Clean Access Control Server, Cisco Security Agent, and a CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solutions Engine for centralized management.

Consolidated High School District 230
For Consolidated High School District 230, with three schools located just outside of Chicago, wireless technology has played a key role in improving the accessibility of quality education for all students and increasing the district’s competitive advantage in attracting top-notch faculty. Consolidated has extended network connectivity to laptops, wireless IP phones and PDAs, enabling such tasks as teachers entering and accessing student grades, teachers and administrators accessing phones anywhere without paying cellular fees, and faculty quickly accessing a variety of web-based student information.

According to Darrell Walery, director of technology for Consolidated High School District 230, “District 230 has realized both instructional and business benefits by incorporating wireless technology into our school district. We have been able to significantly elevate the quality and availability of educational resources for all of our students, along with improving inter-school and inter-district communications and security. And from an IT perspective, we have accomplished this while reducing the total cost of our network ownership.”

The CiscoSecure Wireless Solution for K-12 is available worldwide, with immediate shipping in the United States. Pricing is based on configuration. For more information, including the 30-Day Free Test Drive Program, please visit www.cisco.com/go/education.


About Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, celebrating 20 years of commitment to technology innovation, industry leadership and corporate social responsibility. Information on Cisco can be found at www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, go to http://newsroom.cisco.com.

Contact Information

JoAnn Johnston

Press Contact

Cisco Systems, Inc.

Contact via E-mail