Software Simplifies Wireless Product Set-up

It's said that more than 30 percent of all wireless products ultimately are returned to the seller, causing huge expenses for manufacturers and retailers, not to mention great consternation for customers.

Now, an embedded software developer says it can solve that problem by making it easier for customers to set up their new products. Building atop a recently ratified standard industry specification created by the Wi-Fi Alliance, Devicescape Software last month rolled out a product that automatically configures a wireless network, so buyers of wireless products don't have to do it themselves. It's aimed at so-called "client devices" — including laptops, digital cameras and printers — as well as "wi-fi" routers and access points.

"We're trying to make it brain-dead easy for a consumer to get a wireless device connected at home, at the office or on the road," notes Glenn Flinchbaugh, vice president of marketing for Devicescape Software. "That's the strategic thrust behind this technology."

Known as Easy Access Technology, the software is integrated into Devicescape's wireless software platform line, and built atop a new specification, called "Simple Config," that was recently ratified by the Wi-Fi Alliance, an industry group. Easy Access is said to be the first commercial implementation of Simple Config, which was specifically developed to harmonize industry products and therefore eliminate the problem of frequent product returns.

"This technology allows customers to skip the set-up steps that they normally struggle with, such as entering pass phrases and web keys, or figuring out what kind of security options they want from a complicated menu" Flinchbaugh says.

Flinchbaugh adds that the use of the Wi-Fi Alliance's Simple Config spec was critical, because it enabled Devicescape to deal with the problem of software incompatibilities from separate vendor products.

"It turns out that a huge fraction of wireless products — upwards of 30 percent — get returned to the store because customers get frustrated," Flinchbaugh says. "This could help prevent that problem."