Nortel talks up Voice over Wireless Lans

Nortel Networks has expanded its wireless IP telephony offerings with the addition of secure Voice over Wireless Local area network (Lan) functionality to its WLAN 2200 product range.

The enhancements support voice provision over wireless protocols 802.11a, b and g, and provide security comparable to that of a wired environment, according to the company.

Simon Wilson, wireless Lan expert at Nortel, told vnunet.com: "Wireless has had a really bad reputation for security. Wired Equivalent Privacy was seen as being easy to crack and so IT managers have been unwilling to run their voice calls over wireless Lan."

Novell's 'Adaptive Solution', which works with the company's 2210 and 2211 WLAN handsets, provides IP telephony over wireless Lan using radio frequency monitoring and control. Its WLAN IP Telephony Manager 2245 optimises the connection between handsets and the call server to support real-time requirements of voice traffic.

The products are due to ship commercially in April.

"Setting up a wireless system is seen as a 'black art'. But the adaptive solution offers plug-and-play simplicity. It automatically detects other wireless devices and determines whether they are a threat," said Wilson.

However, the technology has been slow to take off. Lars Godell, senior analyst at Forrester Research, said: "I don't have high expectations for Voice over Wireless Lan."

He added: "The handsets are very expensive compared to traditional mobile phone technology and they are restricted to working within the enterprise. Adoption of general wireless technology has also been slow at enterprise level. The technology is still dogged by security concerns."

But Wilson said that many hospitals are using the voice over wireless Lan because, unlike traditional mobile technology, it does not interfere with other equipment. It is also proving popular in retail environments and in large company depots.