VoWLAN and IP DECT devices, unveiled this week by Avaya, are
targeted at the latest breed of mobile workers: the campus nomads
who don't leave the workplace but are rarely at their desks.
This new type of mobile worker, who is mobile within the
boundaries of a distributed enterprise, has needs different from
those of the typical teleworker, remote worker or road warrior. In
many cases, it doesn't make sense for companies to pay for mobile
devices and cell phones for workers who only need connectivity
while on the enterprise campus.
Recent data from
Juniper Research
suggests that Voice over WLAN (VoWLAN) sales to enterprises will
grow over the next five years, jumping from $2 billion this year to
$15 billion by 2012.
According to Terry Robinson, an Avaya director of product
management, workers who are nomadic while on campus will fuel a lot
of that VoWLAN growth.
Robinson said the Avaya 3641 and 3645 VoWLAN handsets, announced
this week, are rugged IP wireless devices designed for industrial
environments such as warehouses and hospitals. The devices, which
keep workers connected using VoIP over the wireless LAN, support
802.11 a/b/g and enhance voice quality through reduced wireless
interference. The devices allow push-to-talk functionality for
instant communications and can be integrated with third-party
applications such as messaging, nurse call systems and alarm
alerts.
Another VoWLAN handset, the Avaya 3631, features a colour
display and uses 802.11 b and g WLANs. It's designed to be easily
installed on any WLAN network.
Along with the new VoWLAN devices, Avaya this week released a
handset that uses IP Digital Enhanced Cordless Technology (DECT).
The Avaya 3711 uses IP DECT, which was recently ratified by the FCC
for use in North America. IP DECT is a voice-optimised alternative
to Wi-Fi, offering scalable and secure wireless voice
communications using cordless technologies. DECT, according to some
experts, is ideal for organisations that do not want to commingle
voice and data on the same wireless network, ensuring that voice
communications receive top priority. With so much traffic already
traversing the WLAN, IP DECT provides a way to keep voice separate
while also eliminating some of the congestion on the WLAN.
IP DECT, Robinson said, encrypts voice traffic. Where the
wireless LAN mixes data and voice traffic, a DECT network optimises
voice while also allowing for alerts and SMS messaging. Instead of
a wireless access point, which VoWLAN devices use, IP DECT uses a
radio fixed port, which functions as an access point.
These new devices are for all types of internally mobile
workers, including warehouse supervisors, corporate managers and
healthcare workers. The education market is also key, Robinson
said, especially because of its high demand for mobile
communications.
One education user, Kansas State University, needed mobile video
communications so that personnel could be productive while
traversing its large campus, which consists of approximately 100
buildings.
Linda Grubbs, one of the university's end users, has taken on the
Avaya 3631 VoWLAN handset.
"I often leave my desk to handle all different types of errands
across campus," Grubbs said. "With my old wireless phone, there
were too many steps to take to manage communications when I left my
desk."
"[The new device] makes it simpler to conference call,
speed-dial or manage multiple lines while I am roaming on campus,"
she added. "It makes my job so much easier."
Along with its in-building wireless capabilities, Kansas State's
mobility also goes outside campus walls, using the Avaya Extension
to Cellular, which lets mobile workers receive incoming desk calls
on their cell phones. For example, an end user who leaves campus
can receive any call that comes into his desk phone.
Kansas State was guided through its VoWLAN deployment by SKC, an
Avaya Authorised Business Partner. SKC offered support and counsel
during the university's beta testing phase.
"Businesses require their employees to be increasingly mobile –
their success relies on it," said Geoffrey Baird, Avaya's vice
president and general manager of applications, mobile and small
systems division. "This in turn drives the demand for devices that
make individuals more productive even while not at a desk."