Voice over Wi-Fi

With its native support in Apple's iOS 8.0, Voice over Wi-Fi (aka Wi-Fi Calling) has suddenly gotten a lot of attention. With Voice over Wi-Fi, a mobile phone which used to be only limited to placing and receiving calls and texting when "cellular coverage" was present, can now use Wi-Fi to provide the same service!

Voice over Wi-Fi Benefits Everybody

Mobile Network Operator (MNO) can not only "offload" their data traffic to Wi-Fi networks but now can do the same with the voice traffic. Voice over WI-Fi allows them to also extend their services further and at much lower cost thanwith traditional cellular technology that rely on licensed spectrum. With Voice over Wi-Fi, MNO can easily deploy Wi-Fi access point or rely on already existing operational Wi-Fi networks. Businesses can now offer better voice coverage in their buildings by allowing their employees and guests' phones to "roam" on their Wi-Fi network. You no longer have to take an awkward walk to the nearest window because the cellular coverage is spotty in the conference room, or miss a call because you were in the underground garage. With Voice over Wi-Fi, you can get great voice coverage everywhere you have good Wi-Fi-seamlessly and transparently.

That said, in order to provide a great Wi-Fi Calling voice experience you want a Wi-Fi network that has the technology to handle it properly. A single Wi-Fi call does not place a heavy data load on the network, but latency, jitter, and other applications on the network can affect voice quality.  Furthermore, when a Voice over Wi-Fi user moves from outside to inside a building while talking on his or her mobile device, handoff will occur between Access Points and can affect the user experience.

Cisco Has You Covered

Cisco is the networking leader with the most experience in Voice over Wi-Fi. Not only have we been designing call managers and Voice over Wi-Fi handsets for over a decade, but have also been optimizing our Wi-Fi Access Points, Wireless LAN Controllers, Switches and Routers to provide the best Voice over Wi-Fi experience possible, end to end. By using Cisco's Wi-Fi Access Points and Wireless LAN Controllers as the infrastructure to handle your Voice over Wi-Fi calls, you are leveraging technology that is designed to deliver a High Definition Voice Experience (HDVX). These are some of the technologies a Cisco WLAN network with Cisco Aironet 3700 or 2700 Access Point Series has integrated in order to provide HDVX:

• 802.11ac with 4