Vendors mix voice, mobile tools

Avaya and Symbol Technologies last week announced a product partnership aimed at delivering mobile IP telephony and computing to healthcare and retail customers.

Avaya's IP Softphone client has been fine-tuned to work with Symbol's Voice Quality Manager (VQM) software on its MC50 line of Windows CE-based handheld PCs, letting users run IP telephony, messaging and other mobile applications, supported by a Symbol wireless LAN (WLAN ) and Avaya IP PBX and messaging servers.

The key piece of software in the product package is VQM, which provides echo cancellation and WLAN traffic QoS for the device, letting Avaya's IP Softphone client operate without interruptions from WLAN interference, performance problems from traffic congestion or cases where end users move out of 802.11 radio range, the vendors say.

To continue reading, register here and become an Insider. You'll get free access to premium content from CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World. See more Insider content or sign in.

Avaya and Symbol Technologies last week announced a product partnership aimed at delivering mobile IP telephony and computing to healthcare and retail customers.

Avaya's IP Softphone client has been fine-tuned to work with Symbol's Voice Quality Manager (VQM) software on its MC50 line of Windows CE-based handheld PCs, letting users run IP telephony, messaging and other mobile applications, supported by a Symbol wireless LAN (WLAN ) and Avaya IP PBX and messaging servers.

The key piece of software in the product package is VQM, which provides echo cancellation and WLAN traffic QoS for the device, letting Avaya's IP Softphone client operate without interruptions from WLAN interference, performance problems from traffic congestion or cases where end users move out of 802.11 radio range, the vendors say.

The MC50, Symbol's currently available enterprise digital assistant, is aimed at corporate users. Longer battery life, voice support through its VQM software and integrated Wi-Fi are part of this business-focused package.

The Avaya Softphone client for the MC50 lets users have an extension on an Avaya PBX or IP-enabled legacy PBX, just like wired desktop digital or IP phones in an office or cubicle. The Avaya software includes all functions of an Avaya business telephone, with access to features through MC50 keypad shortcuts. A USB headset connected to the device is used to communicate.

The product package is designed to use Symbol's WLAN switching infrastructure, which consists of its WS5100 Wireless Switch and AP300 Access Point products. Similar to offerings from Cisco, Trapeze Networks, Aruba Wireless Networks and others, Symbol's equipment consolidates the management and security of WLAN access points on the WS5100 switch, and uses the AP300s as network-attached radios.

Voice over WLAN (VoWLAN) is a hot topic at industry trade shows and in telephony and infrastructure vendor pitches, says Jeff Snyder, a senior analyst with Gartner.

"There's a great deal of interest but not a lot of deployment outside a few vertical industries, because it takes a great deal of reengineering of the network to support [wireless VoIP] properly," Snyder says.

Technologies such as Symbol's VQM, which take care of WLAN handoffs, QoS and voice packet processing, could spur adoption of Wi-Fi voice by making it simpler to deploy.

Symbol also will join Avaya's DeveloperConnection program, in which Avaya and Symbol engineers will design jointly developed voice and wireless technologies for enterprises.

Symbol is Avaya's third major WLAN partner in mobile IP telephony. The VoIP vendor also has a partnership with Proxim, which Avaya uses in its Wi-Fi VoIP/cellular hand-off product offering - along with handset maker Motorola. Extreme Networks, Avaya's largest network infrastructure partner, also offers a complete WLAN product lineup.

Avaya's broad partnering allows a broader potential customer base, Snyder says. "You won't see any vendors getting locked up with each other in exclusive deals" in the mobility and Wi-Fi voice markets, he adds. "No one has to get rid of [their WLAN infrastructure] to run Avaya IP voice."