ASA Tire Systems Inc. and Sonicwall Inc., a provider of Internet security solutions, have partnered up to sell Sonicwall's security products to tire dealers.
Available immediately, Sonicwall products allow dealers to connect securely to their locations through the Internet instead of using costly dial-up connections, according to David Duchesne, ASA Tire Systems' director of sales and marketing. Like the name implies, Sonicwall's technology employs firewalls and provides virus protection. ASA Tire Systems' representatives install Sonicwall's equipment on-site for interested dealers, Mr. Duchesne said.
He said dealers could save anywhere from $100-$600 per month per location by switching from leased phone lines to Sonicwall's Internet-based products.
``Most of our stores already had Internet access for other business reasons, so the incremental monthly cost was negligible,'' Dean Porterfield, general manager of Tire King in Durham, N.C., said in a prepared statement. He added that Sonicwall allowed him to eliminate monthly leased line expenses at his locations while at the same time maintain strong network performance.
Users of ASA Tire Systems' TireMax and TirePro products as well as those with other software systems can hook up and use the Virtual Private Networks created by Sonicwall. The technology company's products also are available on the Internet, but Mr. Duchesne cautioned that the equipment is a bit complex to install.
``We initially had a third party doing it, and we ran into some problems,'' he said. ``They weren't able to get the locations up and running.''
Based in Sunnyvale, Calif., Sonicwall is a provider of integrated Internet security appliances offering access security, transaction security and other security services for the enterprise, e-commerce, education, healthcare and government markets. The firm specializes in servicing small- to medium-sized businesses with software and applications limited to that industry, Mr. Duchesne said.