Users eye wireless voice/data unification

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: NETWORKING TECHNOLOGY UPDATE
06/22/05

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* A look at voice over wireless LANs, VoWi-Fi
* Links related to Networking Technology Update
* Featured reader resource
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Today's focus:

Users eye wireless voice/data unification

By Phil Hochmuth

As forward-looking companies move off legacy PBXs to VoIP
infrastructures, even bolder groups of users are looking to
literally cut the cord connecting employees to 20th-century
voice technology.

While research from IDC shows that only 22% of companies are
running their voice networks primarily on IP technology, some
users are making the jump from LAN-based VoIP to voice over
wireless LANs (VoWi-Fi). Others are pushing the technology
further into the frontier of cellular/VoWi-Fi convergence.

One organization using campus-based VoWi-Fi is the state of New
York court system. In courthouses in Manhattan and the Bronx,
several dozen Nortel wireless LAN (WLAN) IP phones are deployed
to court officers and other personnel, who use the phones as a
complementary voice communication device, along with standard
shortwave radios.

The court system's radios were experiencing transmission
problems when its signal-band clashed against other radio
frequencies used by police and emergency units, which have a
large presence around the courthouses. On top of that, many of
the courthouse structures are more than a century old, filled
with radio-blocking granite, marble and iron fixtures. Because
of FCC regulations, the courthouses cannot install radio
repeaters, which would boost their signal.

"The [WLAN phones] will complement our radio infrastructure,"
says Michael Jean, a systems engineer with the court system.
"They're not a replacement."

If court personnel find themselves in an area where radio
reception is weak, they can switch to the WLAN phones to
communicate. Because Wi-Fi is unlicensed, the court system's IT
staff was able to place hundreds of WLAN access points
throughout its facilities downtown and in the Bronx, bolstering
weak shortwave spots with WLAN coverage.

The phones are made by Spectralink and tie into Nortel
Communication Server 1000s - the IP PBX servers the court system
uses to support more than 16,000 employees statewide. WLAN gear
from Nortel works with a VoWi-Fi gateway from Spectralink to
prioritize voice over the 802.11a/b network, letting voice
traffic jump ahead of data to avoid delay or packet loss. WLAN
phone users receive a four-digit extension, just like desk phone
users, and can access speed-dial numbers for quick connections.

For the rest of the story behind VoWi-Fi deployments go to:
<http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/062005-vowi-fi.html>

RELATED EDITORIAL LINKS

VoWi-Fi calls to users
05/03/04
http://www.networkworld.com/research/2004/0503vowifiusers.html

Voice on WLANs turns corner
04/05/04
http://www.networkworld.com/nltechupdate2754

Wi-Fi VoIP will take time to mature, say vendors
03/30/04
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2004/0330voipwifi.html

Wi-Fi conference: Voice over Wi-Fi on the way
06/15/05
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/061505-wifi.html
_______________________________________________________________
To contact:

Phil Hochmuth is a Network World Senior Editor and a former
systems integrator. You can reach him at phochmut@nww.com.
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Concord Communications
Network World Executive Guide: The Evolution of Management
Technologies

Network and systems technologies have an important new role -
helping networked systems live up to new business realities.
With growing and shifting demands, network executives are
balancing business goals with prioritizing IT projects. Read
about the 'Future of Management', 'IT Service Management',
'Managing Security', and 'Best Practices'.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=107049
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