1

Solution Overview

For more information, go to www.cisco.com/go/apple

Upgrading the Cisco® Wireless LAN controller software1 to AireOS 8.3—which incorporates the first innovations from the Apple and Cisco strategic partnership—delivered the following dramatic result:

• 83% decrease in significant quality issues• 100% reduction in disconnected calls

Benefits achieved by doing a 30 minute software upgrade (no hardware changes required).

Businesses in every vertical market are reinventing themselves: becoming digital, software based, and mobile-centric. An increasing number of employees, for example, are using their iPhone to collaborate while in the office. Yet in buildings in which many other wireless devices are connected to the network, heavy congestion on access points can lead to video pixelation, audio loss, and dropped calls, especially as employees roam between access points.

Apple and Cisco have responded to this challenge by partnering to create an optimal mobile experience for iOS devices on corporate networks based on Cisco® technologies. Specifically, using new features in iOS 10 in combination with the latest software and hardware from Cisco, businesses can now more effectively use their network infrastructure to deliver an enhanced user experience across all business applications.

In Cisco offices around the world, wireless LAN connectivity is a critical infrastructure component, because our employees have embraced mobile technologies and rely on Wi-Fi to perform their work. A reliable wireless LAN network is foundational for team collaboration and employee productivity.

Recently, a UK-based Cisco IT team upgraded its Cisco LAN controller software to AireOS 8.3 to use the first networking innovations from the Apple and Cisco strategic partnership. To quantify what it believed would be an enhanced user experience, the team conducted a series of tests in a real-world office environment using the Cisco Spark™ app, a transparent, intuitive collaboration application. The test bed was a video call between an employee roaming the office floor with an iPhone running iOS 10 connected to the local Wi-Fi network, and another employee running the Cisco Spark app on a desktop computer.

Wi-Fi Optimization Enhances the Mobile Experience for Cisco Employees by 83%

Case Study

© 2017 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

1 A software upgrade takes approximately 30 minutes and should be followed by a verification test. The duration of verification testing can vary, depending on the complexity of the network.

2

A Cisco employee walked an identical path 20 times over a period of several days, and the team measured the number of incidents before and after the software upgrade, using the following three-level scale:

• Level 0 (Productivity Crusher): Call completely disconnected• Level 1 (Productivity Inhibitor): Temporary moments of video and audio loss, with the call

remaining connected or automatically reconnected • Level 2 (Minor Annoyance): Occasional video pixilation, but no loss of audio

Table 1 shows the number of each type of incident experienced both before and after the upgrade.

Before the Software Upgrade

Before the software upgrade, as shown in Table 1, tests revealed 180 incidents, including 13 dropped calls (Level 0 incidents). That is, during 20 identical walks, calls were completely disconnected 13 times.

After the Software Upgrade

After the software upgrade, the number of incidents decreased to 104: a reduction of 42 percent. In addition, combined Level 0 and Level 1 incidents showed an 83 percent reduction: from 49 to 8.

Clearly, the complete elimination of dropped calls enhanced the overall user experience on iOS 10 devices—a value that was unlocked with a simple software upgrade to the existing Cisco Wi-Fi network.

“Cisco is taking advantage of the first innovations coming out of our partnership with Apple, which greatly benefits our employee’s experience and productivity.”

— Guillermo Diaz, Cisco Senior Vice President and CIO

Table 1 Incident Comparison

Incident LevelNumber of

Incidents Before Software Upgrade

Number of Incidents After

Software Upgrade

Percentage Decrease in

Quality Issues

Level 0 (Productivity Crusher) 13 0 100%

Level 1 (Productivity Inhibitor) 36 8 78%

Level 2 (Minor Annoyance) 131 96 27%

Total 180 104 42%

The Apple and Cisco Wi-Fi optimization solution that enhanced the productivity of employees using the Cisco Spark app can also improve the experience for other apps critical to the business.

To learn more about how your organization can experience the productivity benefits of Cisco and iOS 10 solutions, go to www.cisco.com/go/apple or contact your Cisco sales representative.

Case Study

© 2017 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. To view a list of Cisco trademarks, go to this URL: www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (1110R)