Mobile services will survive rise of Wi-Fi

Mobile phone services will co-exist with wireless VoIP rather than being wiped out, according to a Wi-Fi management company.

"Voice over Wi-Fi works side by side with the mobile phone companies using today's hybrid phones, and is not going to wipe out mobile operators," Ian Schenkel, EMEA managing director at AirMagnet, told vnunet.com.

"The benefit of voice over Wi-Fi is that the cost saving is hugely significant. It is effectively free if it's in the same building."

Schenkel added that any organisation that covers a large campus is an ideal market for this kind of system.

However, using voice over Wi-Fi presents bigger problems than VoIP on a fixed internet connection.

"With a data connection you do not need a high density of access points," said Schenkel. "With voice over Wi-Fi you need to make sure you have an optimum signal for your phone."

The company claimed that its AirMagnet survey product can assess premises to take into consideration wall density, noise levels from devices such as Dect phones and the ideal location for wireless access points.

AirMagnet has also added 13 new alarms to its AirWise monitoring and troubleshooting software.

"The analysis engine diagnoses more than 60 types of wireless call problems to automatically identify the root cause of voice issues," said Schenkel.

Version 3.5 of the company's VoFi Analyzer software also includes integration with Cisco 7921 phones, collecting call diagnostic information directly from the end-user's phone.