Voice over Wireless

[rnarayana]

Hello,

I wanted to know whether Cisco Supports voice over wireless.

Thanks.

[blue.modal]

Voice-over-IP across an 802.11b network comes in three and a half forms: [comments welcome on other forms]

1. VoIP across a point-to-point (bridge-to-bridge) link

2. VoIP using a wireless client connecting through an H.323 gateway

3. VoIP using a wireless client without H.323

3.5 Voice over an AP to a proprietary gateway from Symbol or SpectraLink.

We are working on both #2 and #3 right now. Cisco likes a product from IPblue that runs on Windows or PocketPC and works with Cisco CallManager.

There are several reasons why we also like a non-H.323 solution from TeleSym - implementation may be less expensive (depending on your scenario) and it can off-load a lot of traffic from the PBX.

Symbol and SpectraLink are expensive but simple. Their phones are just phones, rather than having the additional PDA features we get in scenarios #2 and #3.

We can walk through this in more detail if you need.

Matthew Wheeler

Blue Modal

[bmcmurdo]

IPblue, Spectralink and Symbol all talk SCCP signalling protocol (AKA Skinny) to Cisco's Call Manager VoIP platform (in addition to H323).

The PPC platform is great for those that want/need PDA functionality, but it does have a couple of drawbacks;

-- Generally fails the "drop test". Its usually very expensive if you drop an IPAQ. The Spectralink/Symbol handsets mentioned have been engineered to withstand a fair amount of abuse :)

-- Voice interface, holding an Ipaq to my face always seems a bit clumsy/foolish. Even if you use a ear-jack to listen, some PPC's still require you to speak into the microphone on the device (and deal with a tangle-prone cord).