Importing the European-developed cordless technology offers more mobility options.
Sometimes success is all in a name. Once upon a time, GSM, the global system for mobile communication, had a French name: Groupe Spécial Mobile. Imagine the trouble U.S. GSM operators like Cingular would have had getting favors from Congress in recent years if the name had stuck. Likewise, DECT used to stand for Digital European Cordless Telecommunication. Unsurprisingly, the technology has made its greatest headway in Europe.
Fortunately, that name too has changed, to Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications. In addition, the FCC in 2005 set aside spectrum for its exclusive use. Thus the technology shouldn't have trouble gaining acceptance in the U.S. In the future, it could in fact play a significant role in extending on-campus mobility to increasing numbers of enterprise workers. And DECT has several advantages that could make it a viable alternative to voice over wireless LAN, or voice over WiFi (VoWiFi), in certain situations.
The combination of factors has inspired Avaya to introduce its first such product in the U.S. market. Its 3711 IP DECT handset, recently ratified by the FCC for North American use, lists for a mere $253, a bargain compared to many current VoWiFi handsets. It works in conjunction with one or more $1,216 base stations, technically known as radio fixed parts, or RFPs, which connect to the enterprise LAN just as WiFi access points do.
DECT's most important difference from WiFi telephony is that only voice travels over its wireless links — calls don't have to share the airwaves with data links to laptops and the like. That means sound quality can be significantly better. It also is more secure than WiFi, and is easier to scale up for large deployments, according to Avaya senior mobility product marketing manager Phil Klotzkin.
These characteristics could make it the mobility method of choice for many enterprises. Some may, for example, have no need for laptop or other wireless data access. For them, a system designed from the start for voice may be ideal. Others may have wireless LANs, but find them so congested with data that adding voice would be bad for both.
A number of hospitals are interested in DECT for that reason, according to Klotzkin. Other enterprises, however, see no sense in adding a separate wireless phone system when they already have a perfectly good WLAN setup they can use for the purpose, he adds.
Still, notes senior product manager Paula Goldstein, Avaya sees the two approaches as complementary rather than competitive. Backing up its belief, it is introducing several new and improved WiFi phones at the same time as the DECT products. Two of them, the 3641 and 3646 handsets, are ruggedized models for use in industrial or other hazardous environments. Among other things, they are liquid proof, so hospital staff, for example, can simply spray them to disinfect them, and thus avoid transferring diseases along with calls.
Both products work with dedicated servers that permit integration with other services and applications such as nurse call systems. A third new WiFi handset, the low-cost 3631, has a color display and works with existing WLAN networks.
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