Clear Voice Over Wi-Fi in the Enterprise

Delivering high-quality VoIP over Smart Enterprise Wireless LANs

Executive Summary

Wireless LANs (WLANs) are becoming pervasive in the enterprise. Businesses are turning to WLANs to give employees immediate access to business applications and communication tools. By adding voice to their to their wireless networks, businesses can improve collaboration and responsiveness, and save money by being more effi cient. The increasing use of Voice over Wi-Fi (VoFi) phones and dual-mode phones offering services like Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA), offer new opportunities to increase productivity in the workplace.

However, Voice over Wi-Fi places some unique requirements on the WLAN that are vastly different from data. The effect of signal degradation due to interference and obstructions in an enterprise can play havoc with voice, whilst not affecting data traffi c quite so much. Transmission paths must be chosen between the access point (AP) and voice client that maximizes the signal, while at the same time attenuating any interference or noise.

Quality of service must be maintained, so that voice packets get priority over data. The system must allow for the voice client to conserve power, so that battery life is high. As voice clients roam from AP to AP, resulting in re-association and reauthentication, the system must ensure a high level of security, while roaming with the least amount of delay so as to not affect voice quality or cause dropped calls. In addition, roaming needs to work in a Layer 2 or Layer 3 environment, allowing the enterprise to choose the right architecture, without impacting voice quality.

The following sections provide further details on the issues and challenges facing Voice over Wi-Fi technology, and how to overcome these challenges.

By maximizing transmit signal strength and receiver sensitivity, voice handsets can send the same information in shorter timeframes, using less power. This can be accomplished by using Smart Wi-Fi antennas to narrowly direct signal towards each voice handset, reducing retransmissions, extending battery life, and improving user satisfaction.

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