Radio IP develops and delivers innovative mobile virtual private network (MVPN) solutions for mobile workforces. Providing its customer’s employees secure, real-time access to a wide range of applications and networks. Founded in 1998 and based in Longueuil, Quebec, Radio IP is an established leader in Mission Critical solutions software development and supports over 250 different Public Safety agencies and utilities across the globe. Radio IP is ready to take their solution, Armada, to the next level through a CENGN project, where they are performing scale and functionality testing to validate their product for commercial launch.

Providing a User-Friendly Mobile VPN for First Responders

The communication technology required to suit the needs of First Responders and the Public Safety sectors are rapidly advancing. The industry is beginning to move towards Android and Apple products, which requires a unique approach to securing data transactions. This is where Radio IP’s solution, Armada, comes into effect.

Radio IP has made a name for itself by creating MVPNs that provide mobile workforces and remote workers with secure, real-time access to a variety of applications and networks in a user-friendly, cost-effective, software-based form. Radio IP is currently testing Armada, the company’s 4^th generation of MVPNs.

The Armada solution is specifically designed for first responders, keeping the user-friendly platform Radio IP is known for, but adding in a key differentiator in compatibility. Armada is not only compatible with speedy LTE networks, but also cellular, PMR, and Wi-Fi networks, being able to switch between the four without breaking. This versatility will allow for a much more reliable network of communication for first responders, no matter where the emergency.

Armada provides an opportunity for Radio IP to develop a more B2B approach to the commercial market through its capability to support the High Availability standards needed to give an efficient service to its many users. With these new features, the company is confident it can appeal to a wider variety of markets, and fuel long-term market growth.  But there is one more major advantage that is coming with the introduction of Armada.

Building Armada on Open Standards

With Armada, Radio IP is leaving its mobile VPN reliance on Windows and introducing their solution built on open standards.  The VPN platform is still compatible to connect to both Windows and non-Windows mobile devices but has shed its dependence on any one network environment. This new product compatibility feature will open their potential market to new clients and give its customers more flexibility in the networks they choose.  Beyond this, moving to open standards grants the product the added benefits of the open source world.  For example, Armada users will now have access to cloud services, like AWS Marketplace, which provide the High Availability standards that are necessary to give seamless service to a very large number of mobile users.

Before bringing Armada to market, Radio IP wants to validate that Armada and its open standard platform can work to scale.

Scaling-up, Functionality Testing, and the CENGN Advantage

Radio IP has recently started their network application CENGN project. During this project, Radio IP is leveraging CENGN’s cloud tenancy resources to find conclusive lab results that Armada can scale-up and support deployments at an enterprise level, targeting to support at least 6,000 to 10,000 clients.

CENGN will also provide Radio IP with two bare metal servers to install ESXi and KVM hypervisors.  Armada’s compatibility with both will be tested, measuring the performance between the two to deliver VPN services and conclusively identify which hypervisor is more efficient than the other.

The CENGN team is thrilled to offer Radio IP access to our infrastructure, our technical expertise in virtualization, and exposure to our members and partners throughout this project!

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About the Author

CENGN, Canada’s Centre of Excellence in Next Generation Networks, drives technology innovation and industry growth through our testbed, technical expertise, talent development, and partner ecosystem. Through our projects, CENGN enables small and medium Canadian Enterprises to test and validate promising technologies, removing barriers to product commercialization and accelerating market growth.

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