Voice Over Wireless

What is Wireless for?

As the technology that delivers data networking has stabilised around a well understood architecture (including Ethernet and TCP/IP) and the technologies themselves have developed to the point where they provide all of the capability that most people need, new developments have focused on the application of data communications in a mobile/wireless context. The evolution of wireless LAN (or WiFi) technology has had two principle drivers:

1. A need to address the requirements for networking where physical cabling is not practical or not desirable, especially where the number of connections is relatively small.
   
2. A need to provide mobile or nomadic access for people working outside of the traditional office environment. This was itself driven by a growing dissatisfaction with the high costs and poor performance of data communications over 2G mobile phones.
   

The former application has become the method of choice for networking in the home, especially in a broadband context. Where the DSL or Cable line comes into the building israrely optimal for PC usage, and so domestic users have deployed Wireless LANs to get Broadband to the best place in the home, especially where a significant amount of homeworking is important to their overall uptake of Broadband. The explosion of Broadband has driven people into retail stores looking for an easy to install technology which is available off the shelf at a cost that is manageable for small numbers of nodes, and WiFi fit the bill.

Similar requirements have driven WiFi in business use. Some homes and offices are not really suitable for re-cabling – the cost and disruption of retro-fitting LAN cabling make it impractical. There is also the case that some landlords will not allow tenants to drill holes in walls or do the other work necessary to deploy LAN cabling. Unless the user is happy to have cables trailing across floors, WiFi is the perfect solution. It is also true that many businesses have a changing population of users and again WiFi’s ability to flex across a dynamic population of users makes it ideal for this application.

This latter attribute, the ability to accommodate a shifting population of users, has driven the WiFi “Hotspot” market, in response to the requirement in the second point above. Airports, business centres and hotels are natural applications for this and speculative business plans have seen hotspots installed in coffee shops and pubs. From a technology perspective the primary driver for WiFi usage has been simple availability. Most new laptops (which are taking an increasing share of the PC market) and many PDAs have WiFi capability built in, either at the chip level (Intel’s Centrino product) or on the mother board. This drives the perception that WiFi is “free” and drives up its utility.

As WiFi and Broadband become pervasive users are looking for new ways to harness this newfound communications power and their attention rapidly transfers to voice traffic, which still accounts for the majority of most peoples spending on communications. In the early stages of VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) deployment at the user level it was mostly invisible to the user and was driven by a strategic choice in larger companies. Latterly VoIP has become reliable and easy enough to use at the user level and the migration of this use from fixed broadband to wireless is inevitable. Where a specific choice is being made it is often driven by an awareness of the high cost of mobile calls.

Market dynamics

This new market is attracting sufficient attention to get on the radar of the analyst and market watching firms, who are starting to measure shipment and deployment volumes at the handset level. Although much VoIP usage is driven by “soft client” usage, this is difficult to measure. Handset shipments are a good proxy for the overall growth in the Voice over Wireless market, even if they account for only a portion of that market. Infonetics estimate that 113,000 units shipped worldwide in 2004 producing revenues of $45m with more than 8,000 handsets supporting both Voice over Wireless and cellular. Although this latter market is clearly in an even earlier stage, it looks likely that Voice over Wireless will create a further dynamic in the convergent telecoms market. Early shipments have featured take up in healthcare and logistics where fixed line phones have real limitations. In the US IDC estimate that the residential market for VoIP will grow from 3 million subscribers in 2005 to 27 million in 2009. Apart from the value of this market on its own, these sorts of volumes flush additional development investment into the technology and service provider markets. In Western Europe IDC estimate that overall IP telephony shipments grew 13% to $77m just in the fourth quarter of 2004. Their prediction for 2005 is that the market will grow 53% overall and revenues will reach $350m. Ovum estimate the VoIP market will reach $1.4bn in 2008.

Outstanding issues

There are still issues that need to be addressed and managed. The ones that have gained most attention so far have been quality of service, the ability to roam between different wireless platforms (or even between different access points on the same network), the relatively short range of unlicensed spectrum systems and their ability to support relatively low densities of users. As most users leave access points on their default settings, security is also a consideration.

Another issue at play is the shift in revenues between fixed and mobile telephony. In most markets there are multiple mobile operators, even where there is limited competition for the incumbent national carrier in fixed telephone services. This shift has challenged the business models of even the most monopolistic fixed line operators, who are seeing traffic levels falling rapidly in the one area of their business where most of the revenues and margins sit. Despite attempts to counter this with pricing action they have universally found the mobile proposition difficult to counter, to the point where, in some countries, the number of mobile handsets exceeds the adult population and where many people choose to not have a fixed telephone line at all.

Voice over wireless is seen by many operators as a partial answer to this challenge and as a way of defending their revenues against cannibalisation by mobile traffic. The VoIP “free on net” calls model can appear to makes their situation worse and yet many operators realise that they have to find a way of addressing these challenges. Embracing VoIP seems a bitter pill to swallow but the ability to challenge mobile erosion with Voice over Wireless makes this more palatable.

For more information about Voice Over Wireless, visit the Wired Workplace customer zone and download the whitepaper in full.

Beyond Broadband

The Broadband market has taken off faster than even the most optimistic market guru might have been predicted. At a time when the IT and Communications industries have been imploding due to a collapse of confidence and new investment, Broadband is showing growing like no other sector. Yet the first signs of the end of the boom are already in sight; Germany is the first market in Europe to be showing signs of saturation an Korea and Taiwan grew by just 9.3% and 6% respectively in the first half of 2003 (Point Topic, 2003). So where do we go from here? Most observers agree that the days if the fast Internet proposition are numbered and that the rest of the population, whether business or consumer, needs something more compelling that fast downloads and email.

The central hypothesis is that, in order for the Broadband market to keep developing, and for those in it to make money, there is a requirement not only for a review of the services offered over Broadband, but moreover, a fundamental shift in user behaviour. Although widely misused throughout the nineties, the phrase "paradigm shift" is appropriate. When explosive growth is matched with significant change in behaviour, we see the sort of discontinuity, mor market dislocation, where the rules get re-written.

To continue reading this document, visit the Wired Workplace customer zone, where you will be able to download the whitepaper in full.

Presence & Collaboration in IP Communications

Presence

Presence is not merely a technical capability – it actually changes the way things are done. Understanding the impact of changes in behaviour explains why some of these technological developments take time to mature. It’s not the technology that is difficult; it’s the cultural and behavioural change they require or enable that takes time.

In a presence-enabled context communication (whether it is voice or data-centric) is only initiated when the various parties are available. This represents a fundamental change in the way calls are made and is similar to how Instant Messaging (IM) applications are used. Voice systems have traditionally shown the current call state of an extension on the system. What was not provided was information about whether the person was actually at their desk even when the phone was idle. IM applications provide presence information based on keyboard strokes or mouse movement. This information can be linked to the user’s calendar and geographic location to deliver more meaningful information: “In a meeting”, or “Don’t call he’s in Japan where it is currently 3am”. Combining this functionality with the telephone is a natural next step and the SIMPLE protocol (see later section and glossary for more detail) is currently being worked through the IETF to support both instant messaging and presence. This in turn changes the model for how telephony services are charged. The prevailing model is likely to involve personal subscriptions (i.e. a per user charge) rather than a line or extension charge, plus a call charge for calls that go off net. This is similar to how mobile phones are charged which in turn reinforces a “personal handset” model where the users most commonly used numbers are stored as part of the subscription or on the handset itself. With Voice over Wireless handsets the form factor and styling is likely to echo mobile and users will carry them around the office or when they go out and about. Dual function phones with both Voice over Wireless and true 2G/3G capability will be available in identical form factors and styling options to the pure mobile handsets they replace.

Identity

As organisational boundaries change, become transparent or disappear, the ability to assess whether another party is someone one wishes to initiate or even permit communication with becomes even more important. There will always be organisations and individuals who want to restrict their visibility and these tools will enable this as much as they will improve visibility. It is key that the individual has control over these parameters for these tools to become accepted. With identity comes security to protect organisations and individuals from illicit or damaging behaviour.

Although this may seem to reduce the opportunities for making new contacts, and clearly has a benefit in screening nuisance calls, it does also allow the opportunity for people to broadcast when they are open to contact. As these applications get more sophisticated and the networking interface improves people will put more effort into developing their online identity and further improving communication.

To continue reading, download the whitepaper in full here

The Broadband Imperative

Broadband is one of the most exciting markets imaginable. Service and content providers can touch people's lives in new ways, bringing new forms of entertainment to the consumer and enabling huge new opportunities for small and medium sized businesses who have yet to fully exploit Broadband technologies. Most importantly it can also offer market players a highly profitable business opportunity.

Statistics show that, globally, over 25 million Broadband connections exist, so this is clearly an opportunity worth tracking. Yet because of the recent downturn in the world economy, and the stigma attached to enterprises involving the Internet or Internet technologies, raising capital to exploit some of these opportunities has been tough. Even established companies have found it difficult, if not impossible, to raise money for new ventures.

However, Broadband's greatest advantage is that it enables many of the promises that the Internet appeared to deliver but singularly failed to do. It does so simply by making that technology work at acceptable speeds. And speed is critical. Internet addicts and early adopters have already got Broadband where they can, and are complaining loudly where they cannot - i's a clear indication of demand when people set up consumer web sites and pressure groups.

However, although speed is important it is simply the beginning of the story, the starting point. The rest of the market needs more stimulation than fast, always-on Internet access to convert them into customers, and they are not getting that from the current providers. Without content for consumers, or services and applications for businesses Broadband is just as fast, always-on connection to the Internet and, for most users, that is not enough.

The growth in Broadband markets will be driven not by downloaders of MP3 files and the 'adult' market, but by real Internet based applications and by content. When those offerings become compelling, so will the Broadband proposition. If the telecommunications and IT industries do not exploit Broadband's ability to transform the way we use communications and deliver new compelling applications and services at revolutionary prices to previously poorly served markets, it will be seen as another technology which failed to deliver.

For more information, visit wiredworkplace.net/broadband where you can find more information about the Broadband services currently offered, and how they can benefit you!

"Work is what you do, not where you do it"

Business communications need to change to match the changing requirements of business which has been dubbed “The Virtual Enterprise”.

The core of this vision is that businesses need communications capabilities that reflect their increasing operational flexibility. Put simply, the traditional office-centric view of how businesses work, and how communications services are delivered, no longer fits the increasing drive towards mobility and the need to drive down fixed costs.

This is especially true in the context of globalisation. Improved communications increase visibility of alternatives and this creates both a threat and an opportunity. The opportunity is easier access to new markets but the threat is of access to an organisations own home markets by new competitors with lower cost bases. Speed to market becomes a key metric and new methods of delivering results quicker come to the fore. In this high speed, flexible way of working fixed organisation structures are not always an advantage and organisations start to look at new ways of constructing their value chains to both take advantage of new opportunities and defend against new threats.

These forces are what drive the move towards increased use of contractors and sub contractors who can deliver a specific skill set “just in time” but also drive the sorts of strategic (and tactical) partnerships that were unthinkable only 20 years ago. A transition has occurred where these partnerships are now seen as a sign of strength where previously they were a sign of weakness. Good examples can be found in the most traditional of industries such as the automotive industry where competitors share common components on a large scale. These common platforms (and this includes engines and chassis) significantly reduce development cost and time to market, resulting in differentiation in the end product in terms of packaging and cosmetics rather than through creating a complete new car.

Another concrete example in this trend is outsourcing, where companies seek to define their core competencies and seek out others whose core competencies are to deliver the rest. The original driver for this was cost saving but many companies are now enjoying the benefits of a slimmer management infrastructure which enables faster communication and decision making. In extreme cases this means that the organisation seeks to do only one thing and “virtualises” the rest.

Traditional models for how offices worked changed for ever when the “job for life” contract was broken in the 80’s and 90’s. The speed of change in business put a premium on knowledge and the growth of IT as a means to reduce cost became embedded in the standard business operating system. More recently the traditional “command and control” method of management has been increasingly eschewed in favour of structures and mechanisms that put the emphasis on control by output rather than control by input. In other words, it’s what you produce (rather than what you do) that matters. This in turn favours knowledge management and supports personal empowerment.

To continue reading about the virtual enterprise, visit the Wired Workplace customer zone to download the whitepaper in full.

Routes To market For Voice Over Wireless

To discuss how a product comes to market it is necessary to understand how technology markets evolve. This process has become well understood over the past 15 years, based largely on the work of Geoffrey A. Moore, especially “Crossing the Chasm” published in 1991. In it he posits that technology markets follow an adoption “bell curve” with the critical phase being where levels of take up “cross the chasm” from early adopters to the mainstream. VoIP and Wireless technology are each in the “crossing the chasm” stage and VoW is still much earlier in the cycle. It can be argued as to where each element sits but the model has as much importance from an illustrative perspective as it does from a precision one. The important questions are whether these technologies can and will cross the chasm.

A critical piece of understanding in developing strategies for these technologies is of the routes to market: how the products get distributed, marketed, bought and sold. The first important realisation is that these routes and channels can (and probably will) change through the product life cycle.

At the earliest stages when the technology is unproven and possibly non-standard the users identify themselves and are happy having a direct relationship with the developer or vendor. In the middle life of a product it is likely that they will reach market through a channel that either adds value to or can provide expertise around the product. In its mature stages the product is bought rather than sold and vendors maintain an arms length relationships with their customers, communicating via marketing communications and customer services. Products become treated as commodities and are bought in volume, often with price as the key decision making factor.

For more information about voice over wireless, download the whitepaper in full from www.wiredworkplace.net/customer-zone.php

Security For VoIP & Voice Over Wireless

The rapid growth in popularity of VoIP, and the emerging nature of Voice over Wireless, has meant that attention has been turned to security. Some of this attention has been caused by concerns fanned by the security software industry itself and some is justified, particularly in the light of the imperfect history of security in the Wireless LAN market.

Security is security is security

At one level the criticisms levelled at VoIP and wireless technologies are nothing new. There is an argument that the problem is not that these technologies are inherently insecure (or at least any more insecure than other IP networks) but that they have been poorly implemented. Like many other technologies early in their cycle they have often been set up as trials and as such have not come under the realm of normal, operational deployment. For wireless in particular, the technology has been so easy to install that many users have been installing networks in direct contravention of corporate policies designed to protect corporate network assets. As a result they have created a back door to main systems and increased their vulnerability to attack. Adding voice to a wireless network does not automatically make it insecure, it is the network itself and how it is implemented that defines the overall security envelope.

In the home and small business sector the problem has been compounded because many users without a network specialist to call on are incapable of configuring advanced levels of security functionality. They often have weak password implementations and leave the equipment with its “out of the box” naming conventions. Many Linksys wireless hubs can be found with the name still set to “linksys” or Cisco set to “tsunami”. When combined with a password that complies with merely the minimum required to get the thing working, and access set to open it is not surprising that many of these networks are so easy to get on to.

To continue reading about how to secure voice over wireless, visit the Wired Workplace customer zone to download the white paper.

Do small to medium sized enterprises really have the necessary knowledge and skills to exploit the power of technology?

The world around us is changing and the way we do business continues to evolve. Connectivity has altered the landscape we operate in and smaller businesses can now compete with their larger counterparts on a level playing field, reaching new customers and markets through increasingly critical IT systems (IT).

Empowering Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME’s) with the access to the skills that are essential for them to adapt and thrive is key to the success of the UK economy. For those that develop and knowledge and understanding of the real strategic potential and value of IT investment and skills in delivering business objectives, staying competitive and driving growth, this will inevitably lead to positive action in how they think and plan for this element of their business.

E-business, online trading, the power of broadband, convergence and flexible working are just some if the dynamic possibilities in business communications today, highlighting our movement towards a connected economy, where technology and communications are key to business success.