WiFi Telephony: Back to the Future

It�s time to take a look at how far we�ve come in the relatively young life of WiFi (News - Alert) telephony and assess the progress made in terms of the technology and market adoption. Much of the development has been influenced by standards (or lack thereof), along with the typical growing pains associated with deploying any new technology. We�ve experienced hot enterprise markets, such as healthcare and retail, and we�re now seeing the emergence of WiFi telephony applications targeted at the consumer. As we look toward the future, it�s clear that both IP telephony and WiFi are here to stay. The synergies between them will have a significant impact on communications both inside and outside the workplace.

Looking back on the history of WiFi can tell us a lot about the future. With the ratification of the initial 802.11 wireless LAN standard in 1997, enterprise wireless data technology went from proprietary implementations serving niche applications, to widespread implementations by leading data network vendors. About the same time standards-based, interoperable wireless LANs hit the market, we began seeing viable and practical implementations of enterprise IP telephony. The initial challenges of running voice applications over wired IP networks � performance, security, and QoS � were amplified when dealing with wireless networks. And while most enterprise IP telephony solutions carried the PBX tradition of keeping telephone sets and protocols proprietary, interoperability and standards compliance were baseline requirements for wireless networks and client devices.

The initial driver for enterprise WiFi telephony was employee mobility. Most of the early deployments were in healthcare, big-box retail, and manufacturing applications. Return on investment was based on providing critical employees, such as nurses, department heads, and technicians, with telephone access while on the move. Although other wireless technologies, like pagers, walkie-talkies, and cellular phones, were viewed as alternatives, none offered the telephone system functionality and network reliability provided by WiFi telephony.

In many situations the business case for deploying a WiFi network was driven primarily by the requirement for mobile telephony, with mobile data support as a secondary benefit. Alternatively, some enterprises made the case for deploying WiFi based on data application requirements, and then leveraged the same infrastructure for voice. For example, in the hospitality market, many hotels deploy WiFi to provide guests with broadband Internet access for WiFi-enabled laptops. With the WiFi network in place, adding WiFi telephones for the hotel management and staff means lower cost, higher functionality wireless communications, enabling greater response times and higher productivity.

Standards to the Rescue
While concerns about WiFi security and voice/data convergence still linger, the clear trend is toward WiFi. WiFi infrastructure has come a long way in the last five years, with much of the innovation focused on providing higher quality voice applications. Security has been addressed with the IEEE 802.11i standard and the WiFi Alliance WPA and WPA2 specifications, which have all undergone extensive industry scrutiny to verify their suitability for enterprise applications. There are still some security improvements in the works, specifically the 802.11r standard for improving roaming without making compromises on security. Other security requirements have been met through implementing virtual private network (VPN) solutions.