Wifi Revolution

Sylantro Systems Corp. has long been known for their feature server platform that enables network operators to infuse premium, feature-rich telephony capabilities into their hosted VoIP solutions for business, consumer, and mobile customers, solutions that eliminate the cost and complexity of maintaining in-house PBX and key systems.

On Sept. 12, 2006, Sylantro announced version 4.1 of their Synergy application servers that allow wired and wireless phones to seamlessly interoperate, enabling carriers and network equipment vendors to fully integrate mobile handsets into business VoIP virtual PBX systems, and thus maintain a common, advanced feature set on both IP desk phones and mobile handsets.

Yours Truly spoke with Ron Raffensperger, senior VP of global marketing for Sylantro, about Synergy 4.1.

Says Raffensperger, “Synergy 4.1 is not a standalone capability that we would sell directly to a service provider — you need to have a wireless network equipment provider involved in the process. Sylantro goes to a wireless equipment provider and we work jointly to create a platform offering, and that in turn is sold to a carrier/provider.”

Raffensperger elaborates: “We’ve created some capabilities so that, in your user profile, in addition to listing that you’ve got a certain SIP phone, or MGCP phone, or whatever, there’s also an entry indicating that you have a cell phone. The network equipment provider provides both a connection with the Sylantro system and a client piece of software that runs in the mobile/cell phone enabling the user to do such things as select ‘I’m at work now’ from a presence menu. When that information is then sent to the Sylantro system, all calls to the user’s extension number now get routed through the Gateway (News - Alert) Mobile Switching Center [GMSC] or an MSC to the user’s cell phone. The calls are not routed back out over the public network; they’re routed directly. The extension number that’s calling shows up on the display, and the user can then click another choice that says ‘Transfer’, then key-in a three or four-digit extension number and transfer the call to another party within the user’s business. Additionally, users can now invoke functions such as ‘Do Not Disturb’, ‘Call PickUp’, ‘Call Park’ and other traditional PBX features, only now it’s accessible from a normal cell phone.”

“Remember now, this works with the cellular infrastructure,” says Raffensperger. “This is not a WiFi (News - Alert) or dual-mode phone, or anything like that. It allows a conventional cellular provider to offer full PBX functionality on cell phones. Because of the way we’ve implemented it, you can still maintain a wireline capability if you wish. In the case of a service provider having both wired and wireless capabilities, you could have part of your business be on wired phones and another part working off of wireless phones.”

“Individual users could swap back and forth between environments,” says Raffensperger, “because when they turn off the ‘I’m at Work’ flag, the calls to their extension number will be treated as if they had not answered the phone. Or, the calls could be transferred to another regular hard line, if one has been configured for the user.”

“At the same time, of course, you can receive calls at your personal number on your cell phone, in which case the display will show that the call is coming in for you personally,” says Raffensperger. “A separate display can indicate that you have voicemail at your work number, as opposed to voicemail on your personal cell phone. The platform really enables you to work with a single device that can be both your work phone and your personal phone.”

Wireless providers will likely rejoice over Sylantro’s latest achievement, since they can now compete in the small business segment — or perhaps even the large business segment — with wireline carriers in terms of providing full PBX functionality to their users, wherever they may be.

What’s the number one VoIP conference in terms of attendance? What’s the leading VoIP expo for exhibitors in terms of lead generation? And which VoIP industry event will feature special attractions for service providers, resellers, and the enterprise and SMB market as well as an overview on the Future of IP Telephony? Answer: INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & Expo, WEST, which runs October 10-13, 2006. See you in San Diego!

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Richard Grigonis is an internationally-known technology editor and writer. Prior to joining TMC, he was the Editor-in-Chief of VON Magazine from its founding in 2003 to August 2006. He also served as the Chief Technical Editor of CMP Media’s Computer Telephony magazine (later called Communications Convergence) from its first year of operation in 1994 until 2003. In addition, he has written five books on computers and telecom (including the Computer Telephony Encyclopedia and Dictionary of IP Communications). To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.

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