Wireless VoIP (wVoIP) is the term used to describe Voice over IP (VoIP) services that operate over a wireless network. wVoIP applications are targeted at mobile professionals, employees, and students who are physically dispersed across a large physical area such as campus environments that are difficult to access and hardwire.
Voice over Wireless LANs (VoWLANs) extend wired VoIP phone systems by providing mobility and converging voice with data applications. For example, in a healthcare environment, over a VoWLAN, doctors and nurses can be in immediate contact with each other in order to respond quickly to patient needs. In a retail store environment, VoWLANs make employees accessible from anywhere within the store.
Voice over wireless and WLAN sales to the enterprise are poised to grow strongly in the next five years, jumping from $2 billion in 2007 to $15 billion by 2012, according to a recent report from Juniper Research that marks a trend that has been gaining momentum for several years.
According to an In-Stat survey conducted in 2005, 23% of decision-maker respondents of more than 300 mid-size businesses and large-enterprises said that they had already deployed wireless VoIP and another 30% said that they were planning or evaluating the implementation of the technology within the next six to twelve months.
Wireless VoIP presents carriers with a lucrative new opportunity if they market the service smartly. According to In-Stat analyst, Becky Kiercks, “It is important to remember that VoIP is a technology and not a product. The product is telephone service, and customers don’t generally care what the underlying technology is, as long as it works. Carriers should look at wireless VoIP as just one other manner in which to provide seamless access to customers.”
