|
Voice over Wi-Fi (VoFi) has long been touted as a next generation WLAN application, but just how prevalent will it be?
VoFi presents such a compelling convergence of technologies that I have always just assumed that it would take over at some point. Everyone loves the convenience of wireless telephony and everybody loves the price of VoIP. Combine the two and you get VoFi. What's not to love? Apparently a lot. Arguably the biggest problem is the handsets. Compare the average Spectralink or Ascom VoFi handset to your celly. They’re bulky, they lack cool features and they're short on battery life. There's a reason these handsets fail to measure up. Wireless service providers have traditionally had a prohibition on cell phone handset makers venturing into VoFi. For example, did you know there's a VoFi Blackberry? I did, but most people don't. Why wouldn’t RIM heavily market such an interesting device? It could be that RIM was told in no uncertain terms by the service providers to keep their VoFi Blackberry quiet so as not to cut too severely into the cell minutes used by enterprises. Today, things are changing. RIM now has a widely marketed Blackberry that supports Wi-Fi and there's a VoFi/cell Blackberry on the way that'll use T-Mobile's HotSpot@Home Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) service. For those that are unaware, HotSpot@Home is a service where T-Mobile customers are allowed to make unlimited VoFi calls for a flat monthly fee. That means if you're in Paris trying to pickup my ex-girlfriend, you can call her from your cellphone without paying international roaming charges if you can find a Wi-Fi hotspot near the Champs-Elysees. The potential for better handsets seems like a good development for the future of VoFi, but there still are major questions. For example, how will WiMAX fit in to things? What if the rumors are true and the next Nokia N800 has a WiMAX radio alongside its current 802.11g Wi-Fi radio? Why would anyone need to look for Wi-Fi hotspots when they can pay Sprint $20 or so per month to use their upcoming Xohm service? Even if you're a WiMAX doubter (which I surely am), what about the possibility of Femtocells? A Femtocell is a miniature cell phone basestation that you place in your home or office. You plug it into a broadband Internet connection so that you get perfect cell reception indoors. Think about it. If you're Motorola or Samsung, why hassle with putting a Wi-Fi radio in your cell phones for VoFi calling? Why not just get the service providers to push Femtocells into the enterprise instead. So what does all of this mean to a CWNP? Well, it's probably still a good idea to know your 802.11e QoS protocols in case VoFi does hit the big time, but it's also not a bad idea to stay up to speed with what service providers and handset manufacturers are doing as well. Knowing just how much (or how little) these converged calling devices are going to use the WLAN could be an important part of your job in the future.
 |
RSS Feed
Delicious
Digg
NewsVine
YahooMyWeb
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Recommendation for Wireless Protocol Analyzers....... 
Such things usually arise from marketing/executive departments. That about IPv4Fi, IPv6Fi, TCPFi, QoSFi, IPTVFi/TVFi, POP3Fi, DNSFi, VoMAX, VoGSM, VoUMTS, Vo3G, VoNMT???
So, that is so special about VoFi that people putting it in one row with VoFR, VoATM, VoIP? Is WoFi can survive without VoIP?
When voice will be placed directly in Wifi frame, than - maybe (hope will not happen)
Is Wifi world jus luck of attention?