New breed of vendors embrace thin clients

By John Cox
Network World, 08/31/98

The emergence of thin-client software and hardware has spawned a new industry: companies that broker deals among software makers, hardware vendors and ISPs to deliver high-speed access to Windows applications and the Internet.

Microsoft has been pitching its Windows NT Terminal Server Edition (TSE) software mainly as a replacement for traditional terminals attached to Unix hosts or mainframes.

But companies such as Veicon Technology of Beaverton, Ore., and The Learningstation.com of Charlotte, N.C., are gambling that TSE will enable them to serve up remote applications to an array of client devices: traditional PCs, Windows terminals and eventually information appliances such as handheld computers, digital assistants and Web phones.

Veicon has just delivered its V-Link thin-client system to the Sheraton Park Central Hotel in Dallas, which plans to offer guests access to e-mail and other applications via Windows terminals in public areas and possibly in guest rooms.

The V-Link client consists of a Wyse Technology Windows terminal, a credit card reader and some Veicon code that handles tasks such as credit card authorization and e-mail access.

Veicon or an ISP hosts the TSE server, the companion MetaFrame software from Microsoft partner Citrix Systems and the Veicon server code.

Al Roberts, a systems and telecommunications analyst at the hotel, is getting ready to test the system, and he already likes what he sees. "It's very attractive," Roberts says. "There are no moving parts."

Veicon not only is supplying the hotel with the thin-client package but also will provide remote access servers to which guests can dial in.

The hotel only needs to arrange for a dedicated Internet connection.

Under its agreement with Veicon, the hotel will receive a monthly check for part of the revenue generated from guests using the system.

Under the setup, the hotel will be able to offload Internet data calls from its PBX and collect revenue that otherwise would go to ISPs.

Veicon is marketing its thin-client system to hotels, ISPs and airports.

ISPs are using this server-based computing model to offer their customers access to network-based applications such as e-mail and personal applications such as Microsoft Word or Excel.

Traverse Internet is among the ISPs using Veicon's offering. The ISP hosts applications on a server that hotel and resort guests can access via Windows terminals in their rooms or a lobby, says Victor von Schlegell, president and CEO of the Traverse City, Mich., ISP.

The terminals connect to the server via ISDN or a cable modem link, he says.

Von Schlegell thinks this service could become a major source of revenue for his company.

"The more applications that can be put into the thin-client format, the better," he says. "It's important to continue to look for ways to bring low-cost access to the 'Net and computing."

Learningstation.com gets vertical

Another company delivering a TSE-based service is The Learningstation.com.

The company last week enrolled its first two manufacturing customers, which are using thin-client technology and a subscription program to access an ISP-hosted server farm.

The servers run an array of applications, including research and training software, developed specifically for manufacturing companies.

Later this year, The Learningstation.com will roll out similar packages for members of other vertical industries, such as health care, law and real estate.

The company's initial thin-client offering was aimed at school systems.

The company is focusing on creating a huge library of specialized software to which its customers can subscribe.

The company will also work on providing very high-speed access, according to Jim Pennington, a co-founder of Learningstation. com.

Veicon: (503) 614-5174; The Learningstation.com: (704) 509-6608