Enterprises wanting to improve indoor wireless coverage and expand the functionality of their unified communications (UC) and private branch exchange (PBX) systems are increasingly looking to femtocells. Once considered a solution only for residential or small office/home office (SOHO) use, femtocells are now being embraced as a technology for all enterprises, regardless of size.

The benefits of the technology have much more to do with how it alters wireless capabilities within a given space, as opposed to the size of an enterprise itself. After all, a Fortune 500 company with numerous warehouses that do not have good wireless coverage will benefit tremendously when femtocells are installed.

Suddenly, all employees become capable of accessing the company’s UC or PBX applications – find me/follow me, single-number reach, and more – across their desktop and wireless phones, in a seamless fashion. The warehouses also have improved voice call quality and mobile data speeds as a result of the change, and it works with existing mobile phones, so there is no need to upgrade handsets. And the enterprise does so in a quick, affordable manner without any major technology overhaul.

Another significant advantage to the enterprise is cost containment, says Vinod Kannan, director of product management with Tatara Systems Inc. . “Most enterprises closely manage their communications networks and services, desiring all in-building communications to go through their UC and PBX systems,” he says. “However, estimates show that 40 percent of calls made by office-based employees are made on mobile phones. Between 50 and 80 percent of corporate telephony spending is now attributed to calls made to or by mobiles. So it is not surprising that businesses are struggling to manage their ever-increasing telecommunications costs.”

These are just some of the findings in this month’s Light Reading’s VoIP Services Insider, “Femtocells at the Enterprise: Expanding Coverage Plus UC.” Companies analyzed in this report include: Airvana Inc. (Nasdaq: AIRV), AirWalk Communications Inc. , Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE:ALU), Continuous Computing Corp. , Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. , ip.access Ltd., Netgear Inc.(Nasdaq: NTGR), Sonus Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: SONS), Tango Networks Inc. , and Tatara Systems.

But enterprises are not the only ones benefiting from the installation of femtocells. Operators have the added benefits of lower customer support costs and increased revenue, as a result of the ability to quickly introduce new services, says Andy Tiller, VP of marketing with ip.access. “Benefits to operators include cost-effective, in-building coverage that adds network capacity,” he says. “It also improves customer satisfaction and retention for important enterprise customers.”

Vendors are also jumping on the enterprise femtocell bandwagon, in large part because it lowers customer support costs, says Ben Geller, senior director of product marketing with Alcatel-Lucent. “Another key differentiator is built-in device management that helps realize lower total cost of ownership” he says. “It also increases revenue via the ability to quickly introduce and turn on new device features and capabilities.”

Though the technology suffers from many challenges – the primary one being that it is “locked in” to whatever provider is offering the service – as it matures, enterprise femtocells will certainly be a technology that addresses many barriers that UC has encountered in the wireless world.

— Denise Culver, Research Analyst, Light Reading’s VoIP Services Insider

This article is reposted from: http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=186393