Wifi Revolution

Everyone is talking about fixed/mobile convergence today, about being able to switch seamlessly between cellular and WiFi networks. The key to such solutions are several, but center around two main features: being able to use a single phone number and being able to seamlessly switch from a cellular network to a WLAN during a call, or vice versa.

 

Certainly, not having to hang up a call and dial back from a landline when reaching the office presents obvious benefits in both productivity and cost savings. But, according to Siemens (News - Alert) Communications’ vice president of product planning Luc Roy, the real benefit — and the feature that 4 out of five enterprises truly covet — is single number and single mailbox functionality, which is a key part pf Siemens’ newly announced FMC solution. The idea of being able to have but one number on a business card, and having only one voice mailbox to check, and not having to worry about which phone number to give people, offers benefits above and beyond seamless mobility.

 

“While the ‘sexiest’ part of the solution is the seamless roaming, the most popular feature is the single number/single voicemail capability,” expressed Roy. “That’s actually the meat behind this solution.”

 

Siemens’ solution allows enterprise customers to move seamlessly between cellular and corporate wireless networks, and use a single number and mailbox for their mobile and office calls. A standard cellular call can also be placed with the user’s original cell phone number to personal contacts, making this a truly single device mobile solution. Where most companies refer to this as fixed/mobile convergence — which is what it is ­ — Siemens prefers to take a more user-focused approach and calls it fixed/mobile convenience. After all, being able to use a single device at home, at the office, and on the road is nothing if not convenient.

 

Perhaps the most important piece of the puzzle comes before the FMC solution is even implemented. Most enterprises mistakenly believe all they need to do is purchase the product and they can be up and running with FMC. But there are two key pieces that must be in place first: the business must have a SIP-based IP PBX (News - Alert) (or at least a SIP gateway), since the Siemens solution is based on the Session Initiation Protocol (News - Alert); and it must also ensure its WLAN is voice enabled. In other words, before the convergence aspect can be attached, the enterprise must first ensure its network is ready for the voice load about to be placed on it.

 

“Once you have those two foundation blocks, you can finally implement the product and seamlessly connect between the WLAN and cellular network,” said Roy.

 

The Siemens HiPath MobileConnect solution is a combination of hardware and client software — though the software portion is only required to implement the seamless roaming capability. The MobileConnect solution has been designed with Siemens’ vision of open communications in mind, and is interoperable with nearly any SIP-based IP PBX (News - Alert), WLAN, or dual mode handset (to date, only the Nokia eSeries and Fujitsu-Siemens PocketLoox have actually been certified, but many more certification are expected soon).

 

The hardware appliance is located between the IP PBX and the WLAN, and monitors and manages a mobile user’s device continuously, whether on the corporate or public network, ensuring calls are appropriately connected and bridged when necessary. It is available in three configurations, making it ideal for enterprises of nearly all sizes: up to 50 users, up to 250 users, and up to 1,500 users.

 

Regardless of the number of users, the solution is designed to monitor its registered devices and identify when they are going out of on coming into range of the WLAN, so that SIP-based WLAN calls and cellular calls can be appropriately set up and torn down to achieve true seamless mobility.

 

The client software provides access to the IP PBX features on the dual mode handset. Naturally, MobileConnect has already been certified for use with the Siemens HiPath800 platform and the Siemens HiPath Wireless platform. It is the software that identifies whether a user is registered onto the WLAN, and then rings the deskphone or the cellular device, whichever is appropriate — or the user can configure the system to ring both simultaneously.

 

Roy says the solution, while currently being deployed in 802.11/cellular scenarios, is also designed to work be compatible with WiMAX/cellular solutions as well, when those are deployed.

 

Roy explains that, while cost benefits are difficult to determine, especially in the short term, one MobileConnect customer — a clothing manufacturer and retailer in Europe — has reported additional revenues of several million dollars in the early days of the deployment. The savings, the company — which has chosen to remain anonymous in the interest of protecting its competitive advantage — says the financial gains are a direct result of increased reachability and productivity resulting from the MobileConnect installment. Roy cautions, though, that the exact cost benefit is very largely dependent on the amount of cellular network usage of each individual customer.

 

He adds that while cost savings are a major benefit and the primary reason businesses look into FMC solutions, the true benefit lies in the productivity gains — which, of course, lead to additional financial gains. The improved productivity is realized through Siemens’ combination of three distinct products into one solution.

 

“There have been many different product that have been announced, but I don’t believe there has been a solution that delivers single number, single mailbox, and seamless roaming all at once,” he said. “That’s the big news for us.”

 

Siemens also says that, while this solution has been specifically designed for the enterprise, there are certainly potential benefits for the residential user, and Siemens has been in discussions with carriers, though they are reluctant to embark down the FMC path and give up minutes across their cellular networks.

 

Siemens points out that carriers are likely to lose minutes one way or another anyway, and should take this opportunity to take a proactive approach and offer a complete solution to subscribers in the interest of retaining them as customers.

 

Indeed, the mobile world is such that it is not so much about minutes anymore as it is about the applications and services those minutes are used for. Fixed/mobile convergence — or convenience — has arrived, and there is little carriers can do to prevent it from spreading, which is a fact with which some have apparently come to terms with, as they have recently begun communicating with Siemens regarding its solutions. 

 

 

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