Voice over WLANs: The role of VoWLAN solutions

Jim Geier's book Deploying Voice over Wireless LANs discusses what you need to know about the products and services needed for a wireless LAN voice network in your enterprise, the basic tenets of the 802.11 standard and how they apply to your network and how to plan your design.

Chapter 1, in particular, describes various applications of voice over Wireless LAN (VoWLAN) systems. Real-world examples and case studies provide you with a solid understanding of how VoWLAN can benefit a company. Details are also given about tangible benefits and expected return on investment (ROI). Upon completing this chapter, you will be able to: understand the role of voice over Wireless LANs (VoWLAN); define VoWLAN applications; and determine ROI of a VoWLAN solution.

MAIN TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. The role of VoWLAN solutions
   Voice over wireless LAN (VoWLAN) systems are the wireless version of a wired Voice over IP (VoIP) systems and an alternative to traditional communications systems. As the technology necessary to run a VoWLAN system improves, their viability will encourage more enterprises to consider their cost-saving benefits and ease of use.
2. Markets that benefit from VoWLAN solutions
   VoWLANs have already been implemented into a number of enterprises in a range of markets, each of which benefits from both the general and more specific advantages of wireless Voice.
3. Determining ROI for VoWLAN solutions
   A worthy ROI must indicate enough benefits before a company will put forth the money to fund the hardware and services necessary to install and support the system. This section describes each of the steps necessary for the ROI study and illustrates the main points through a hypothetical case study.

The role of VoWLAN solutions

VoWLAN systems are an extension to wired Voice over Internet Protocol systems and an alternative to traditional analog and digital voice communications. VoWLANs offer significant benefits of providing mobility and wirelessly converging voice with data applications. With VoWLANs, hospitals, enterprises, retail stores, warehouses, and home owners can reduce telephony costs and enable mobile applications.

Examples of the systems that VoWLANs can replace include the following:

• Wired telephones
• Cellular telephones
• Two-way radios

With VoWLANs, people can use VoWLAN phones to communicate by voice wirelessly with others inside and outside a facility. The experience is very similar to using a traditional wired telephone, except the user is free to move about the building. Furthermore, a VoWLAN phone can operate from many of the growing Wi-Fi hotspots, enabling a person to make use of the same mobile phone while within or away from the office or home. Some cellular phones incorporate VoWLAN capability, which enables users to make calls over traditional cellular networks when no wireless local-area network (wireless LAN) is available.

Figure 1-1 shows the basic usage models of a VoWLAN system. The optimum approach depends on user requirements and existing telephone hardware.

The local-only configuration (part A of Figure 1-1), which is similar to two-way radios, consists of a wireless LAN that merely enables a user to talk to other users directly connected to the network. This supports a mix of wireless and wired VoIP telephones. For example, a clerk looking for a part in a warehouse may use a VoWLAN handset to communicate with a manager sitting at a desk and using a wired VoIP phone.

Figure 1-1

VoWLAN Usage Models: (A) Local Only, (B) Telephone via Internet, and (C) Telephone via PSTN

More advanced VoWLAN systems (Parts B and C of Figure 1-1), however, allow users to place actual telephone calls from their VoWLAN handsets. The telephone traffic can travel over the Internet or the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). With these two models, the use of the system is virtually the same as a traditional telephone. For example, a sales agent in her home office in Ohio may dial a phone number on her VoWLAN phone to call a customer in California.

The primary benefit of VoWLAN solutions is cost savings. For instance, according to recent studies, federal, state, and local agencies could achieve savings of $4.5 billion annually by making telephone calls over the Internet. In addition, VoWLAN systems are easier to deploy and allow flexible communications. VoWLAN plays a critical role in realizing these savings by mobilizing the workforce.

History of VoWLANs

The two primary technologies of VoWLANs are wireless LANs and VoIP. Both have been evolving over the past decade and are now stable enough to support wireless voice communications.

VoIP
The earliest indication of VoIP systems was in the mid-1990s, when Vocaltec, Inc. released Internet Phone Software. This software ran on PCs and translated voice signals into digital packets that could be sent over the Internet. Both the sending and receiving callers must use the same software. Sound quality was not as good as traditional telephones, but long distance calls could be made for free.

Throughout the late 1990s, entrepreneurs began establishing gateways and switches to allow people to make free phone calls over the Internet using standard telephones. The users had to utilize a PC to set up the call, but then they were free to talk from standard wired telephones connected to a PC. With these systems, the VoIP market began evolving. Many companies, including Cisco, began selling VoIP equipment about the year 2000 to enterprises to converge voice and data and provide mobility.

Wireless LANs
In the early 1990s, the first wireless LAN products, NCR WaveLAN and Motorola Altair, appeared on the market. At this time, there were no applicable standards and prices were relatively high, at around $1,500 per wireless adapter. As a result, only companies having applications with significant benefits from wireless connectivity, such as inventory management and price marking, could afford to deploy wireless LAN solutions.

Figure 1-2 summarizes the evolution of the 802.11 standard. In 1997, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) ratified the first version of the 802.11 wireless LAN standard. 802.11 at this point provided up to 1Mbps and 2Mbps data rate operation in the 2.4GHz frequency band using direct sequence and frequency hopping, which are both spread spectrum technologies. The capacity of these first 802.11 solutions was not good enough to effectively support voice applications.

Figure 1-2

Evolution of the 802.11 Standard

To enhance the performance of wireless LANs, the IEEE ratified the 802.11a and 802.11b standards in 1999. 802.11a provides up to 54Mbps data rates in the 5GHz band using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). 802.11b extends the maximum data rates of the initial 2.4GHz direct sequence 802.11 standard to 11Mbps. Later, in 2004, IEEE released 802.11g, which further extends data rates in the 2.4GHz band to 54Mbps using OFDM. The higher data rate 802.11 standards, 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g, offer adequate capacity for supporting VoWLAN applications. 802.11a, however, provides the highest capacity, mainly because the Radio Frequency (RF) channels in the 5GHz band do not overlap with each other as they do in the 2.4GHz band. 802.11n, which will offer 100Mbp or more performance, is nearing ratification.

Other recent improvements to the 802.11 standard include security (802.11i), which includes much stronger encryption and authentication mechanisms than the initial standard. The use of Temporal Key Internet Protocol (TKIP) and Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), along with 802.1i protocols, makes wireless LANs very secure. Also, the ratification of the 802.11e standard in 2006 offers quality of service important for VoWLAN applications.

Within the past couple of years, the prices for wireless LAN adapters have decreased to well under $100 each. This dramatic drop in prices has fueled the proliferation of wireless LANs for a variety of applications in all markets. The Wi-Fi Alliance has also been actively promoting wireless LANs through the Wi-Fi brand and mandating interoperability testing.

Because of the proliferation of wireless LANs, VoWLAN solutions are also proliferating. Companies offering VoIP equipment, such as Cisco, have been marketing VoWLAN phones that interface with their digital telephony systems. Even service providers, such as Vonage, now offer Wi-Fi phones that interface with their Internet Protocol (IP) telephony service.

Return to the Table of Contents to read about markets that can benefit from VoWLAN solutions and determining an ROI.

Excerpted from Deploying Voice over Wireless LANs by Jim Geier. ISBN: 1-58705-231-8.
Copyright © Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

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