Location-aware fixed-mobile convergence holds promise

The CIO-level business angle on the latest tech

On Oct. 15, start-up Agito Networks entered the exciting enterprise fixed-mobile convergence (eFMC) market. As John Dix pointed out in his article Cell/Wi-Fi convergence based on novel approach, Agito is using a new approach to determine when a mobile phone call should be switched from a cellular network to your enterprise WLAN when moving in building, and vice versa when you leave the enterprise.

Agito claims to be the first and only vendor to offer a mobile convergence solution based on location awareness. While this strategy leads to a unique offering today, even more intriguing is that it leaves the door open for a number of future features and enhancements. More on this later. First, some background information on Agito.

Along with announcing the company’s emergence from stealth mode in mid October, Agito announced its first product, the RoamAnywhere Mobility Router. It is a network appliance that connects to your enterprise IP PBX. It allows your dual-mode mobile handsets and smart phones to become a part of your corporate phone system. Based on a user’s preference, calls can be routed to his desk phone or his mobile phone, even when he leaves the building. And, he only has one enterprise phone number, one voicemail box, and one mobile device.

This, in itself, is nothing new. Mobile extensions from PBX vendors have allowed this capability for some time. Two features that are new with the RoamAnywhere Mobility Router are intelligent handover and location-aware mobile policies. These are the unique location-aware features.

To continue reading, register here to 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.

On Oct. 15, start-up Agito Networks entered the exciting enterprise fixed-mobile convergence (eFMC) market. As John Dix pointed out in his article Cell/Wi-Fi convergence based on novel approach, Agito is using a new approach to determine when a mobile phone call should be switched from a cellular network to your enterprise WLAN when moving in building, and vice versa when you leave the enterprise.

Agito claims to be the first and only vendor to offer a mobile convergence solution based on location awareness. While this strategy leads to a unique offering today, even more intriguing is that it leaves the door open for a number of future features and enhancements. More on this later. First, some background information on Agito.

Along with announcing the company’s emergence from stealth mode in mid October, Agito announced its first product, the RoamAnywhere Mobility Router. It is a network appliance that connects to your enterprise IP PBX. It allows your dual-mode mobile handsets and smart phones to become a part of your corporate phone system. Based on a user’s preference, calls can be routed to his desk phone or his mobile phone, even when he leaves the building. And, he only has one enterprise phone number, one voicemail box, and one mobile device.

This, in itself, is nothing new. Mobile extensions from PBX vendors have allowed this capability for some time. Two features that are new with the RoamAnywhere Mobility Router are intelligent handover and location-aware mobile policies. These are the unique location-aware features.

Intelligent handover refers to the transfer of a call on a mobile unit from a cellular carrier to your internal Wi-Fi network when moving in building, and vice versa. It’s a lot cheaper to use Voice over WLAN rather than cellular minutes when a person is within range of the WLAN. With the Agito solution, an administrator marks the network ingress/egress handoff locations – typically the building entrance points – with a click of a button. These positions, called RoutePoints, are stored in the mobility router.

When an authorized device passes a RoutePoint into the building covered by the WLAN, the call is seamlessly transferred from cellular to Wi-Fi. It continues to be handled by the Wi-Fi network as long as the device is in the building and the wireless signal is strong. Other metrics can play into the calculations for routing, too, such as the device’s battery time and the quality of the session, but the primary determining factor is the physical location of the handset. Agito claims this can save a company up to 60% of the cost of mobile phone service by drastically reducing cellular service minutes.

Location awareness also comes into play for Agito’s mobile policies. An end user can set his own profile on when a call should be sent to his desk phone, his mobile phone and his voice mail. Unlike most eFMC solutions that have static time-specific profiles (i.e., if it’s Monday through Friday between 8 AM and 5 PM, route to my desk; if it’s after 5 PM, route to my mobile phone), Agito allows the routing based on where the handset is. This is helpful for people who work irregular hours or move within the building a lot. A profile could start with the basic time instructions, but also allow for call routing to the mobile phone if it’s mid-afternoon but the person and his device are out of his office. Many of the policies that determine routing can be set on an ad hoc basis by the user to allow maximum flexibility.

Linda Musthaler is a principal analyst with Essential Solutions Corporation.