BY RICH TEHRANI
President and Group Publisher

Nothing But (Wireless) Net

I recently purchased an electric toothbrush. During my last teeth cleaning I mentioned to the hygienist that I was considering the purchase of such a device -- within minutes she had demonstrated all the models the dentist carried. Everyone in the office chimed in to convince me that manual brushing is inferior to the plaque removal properties inherent in the latest electronic toothbrushes. So $110 later, I am the proud owner of the latest technological breakthrough in efficient plaque removal.

This may all be more than you want to know. Still, having used my new state-of-the-art hygienic oral accessory for two weeks, I do indeed notice a difference. As promised, I have whiter teeth and fresher breath. But I've also increased my brushing productivity, not just because my brushing is more efficient but because it is now timed as well. Two minutes into my brushing routine (the optimal time recommended by dentists), the brush automatically shuts off. In fact, it even beeps every 30 seconds to remind me to begin brushing the next quadrant of my mouth.

Perhaps I've gone insane. Perhaps saving 30 seconds per day or three hours per year on brushing is not enough of an incentive to drop more than $100 on such a device. When you add all the benefits together, though -- whiter teeth, fresher breath, and less time brushing -- you begin to make a good case for automating your daily brushing chores.

Long Live The Microprocessor!
The electric toothbrush is but a single example of the flood of products being designed to make our lives easier. For example, I can store phone numbers in my watch and appointments on my cell phone, have my car tell me when it needs service, and control telephone calls with my PC's GUI.

Technology is constantly being used to make our lives easier and more productive. One of the best examples is the use of packet networks or LANs to carry our telephone traffic through the use of Internet telephony technology, eliminating the need for deploying and managing two separate networks. Internet telephony gateway products have been around for over three years and are now numerous enough to be categorized. In recent articles in INTERNET TELEPHONY and CTI magazines, we looked at router-based gateways, carrier-class gateways, and voice/data switches (Internet telephony gateway PBX replacements) designed to transport telephony across your corporate LAN and beyond.

Moving To Wireless
You know what's better than transporting two types of traffic over one network? Transporting two types of traffic over no (or a wireless) network.

At a recent trade show, Nokia produced one of the most amazing wireless demos I've seen: A Nokia employee was walking the booth with a notebook-sized portable PC running Microsoft NetMeeting. The notebook was equipped with a video camera, and NetMeeting was running on one of the fixed PCs in the booth as well. The person holding the notebook was video conferencing with the fixed PC. Conceptually, I knew this set up was possible. Yet it was an incredibly powerful demo in its simplicity -- I was just one of a big crowd drawn to the booth. The product that facilitated this demonstration is the C020 Wireless LAN Card.

Other manufacturers are also eyeing this market. One company is Symbol, who manufactures a wireless LAN product known as Spectrum24 and an integrated wireless IP telephony solution called NetVision. The NetVision product line was demonstrated at an impressive keynote by Cisco's Peter Alexander at CTI EXPO Spring '99 in Washington, DC.

Recently, Sligro -- one of Europe's leading wholesalers -- announced that they will be implementing a converged voice and data communications solution based on both of the above products from Symbol.

One of the major reasons Sligro chose this approach is that by deploying a single voice/data wireless LAN infrastructure, they can also combine data applications -- such as inventory tracking, picking, receiving, and shipping -- along with voice communications. As you would expect, phone calls and data are routed across the Spectrum24 network, via the Internet, or through the public phone system through an Internet telephony gateway.

The electric toothbrush story may seem off-topic. In reality, though, it is simply another real-world indicator of technology that enables us to increase our productivity and make our lives easier (albeit at a cost). As technology advances   and the wave of products designed to make our lives easier swells -- whether it be microprocessors for small appliances or wireless networks for voice and data -- those of us working in datacom or telecom should be thrilled to know that there will be many choices ahead of us designed to make managing our communications easier and more efficient.

Rich Tehrani welcomes comments at rtehrani@tmcnet.com.