Cisco Systems (News - Alert) is working with Intel (News - Alert), Nokia (News - Alert) and Research In Motion (as well as others) to optimize their respective client platforms to integrate voice-over-IP communications capabilities into wireless local area networks (WLAN) within the enterprise, the networking giant announced on Tuesday.

 

For some time now, the promise of cellular/IP convergence enabling voice conversations that will be seamlessly handed off from WLAN, or WiFi (News - Alert), networks to cellular operators has served as the Holy Grail for the data networking industry. But new specifications like the Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) technology by niche companies like Kineto Wireless and the emergence of the 802.11n standard have accelerated the notion that WiFi telephony represents a viable alternative for IP communications.

 

To be sure, Cisco officials declined to attribute the timing of the news to any particular event but rather to the growing amount of data that indicates the early trends of the convergence of VoIP and WiFi networks.

 

"Wireless LANs are being deployed in greater numbers among enterprise and commercial markets. As well, these same markets/users are seeing the ROI from VoIP deployments. As CIOs and IT administrators begin to realize that Wi-Fi is more than just an access medium, they are beginning to take advantage of mobile services, such as voice, location tracking, etc. as an effective and additional benefit of having a WLAN in place," according to Chris Mckie, Cisco spokesperson.

 

In fact, just yesterday, Cisco’s Linksys (News - Alert) division, the leading consumer vendor of WLAN hardware, announced plans to support 802.11n.

 

“If such products prove successful,” according to Philip Solis, senior analyst of wireless connectivity research at ABI Research, “it will validate the idea and the importance of voice-over-Wi-Fi. Even a system providing a limited service, without operator-supported handoffs, offers rewards in the form of cheaper calls and better indoor coverage.”

 

Still, while Cisco is able to make headway with handset and client manufacturers, ABI’s Solis hits upon a key barrier preventing wide-scale industry adoption – the technology’s acceptance with operators.

 

“ABI Research would urge mobile operators who lag behind in offering converged services to pick up the pace, or risk losing revenue to their nimbler competitors, or because their customers find lower-cost workarounds,” Solis concluded in a research report back in January.

 

For its part, Cisco said in its press release that it is doing its part to enable voice-ready wireless capabilities with Cisco Compatible Extensions and the Cisco Unified Wireless Network. Cisco’s Compatible Extensions program enables interoperability between client devices and Cisco WLAN infrastructure. New updates to the Compatible Extensions program support voice applications in areas such as security, improved roaming across campus environments, and enhanced management features to detect and mitigate radio frequency interference. As well, the developments include improvements to extend client battery life, call prioritization for optimal voice quality of service, and analysis of key voice attributes such as jitter, delay and loss to ensure a high quality user experience.

 

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Robert Liu is Executive Editor at TMCnet. Previously, he was Executive Editor at Jupitermedia and has also written for CNN, A&E, Dow Jones and Bloomberg. For more articles, please visit Robert Liu's columnist page.

Mobile Telephony