Colubris Networks, a global provider of intelligent wireless LAN (WLAN) access solutions, today announced an industry-first voice over Wi-Fi (VoWi-Fi) solution which leverages the company’s leadership multi-service Virtual Access Point (AP) capability to allow seamless convergence of high quality voice with highly secure corporate data applications onto a single, more cost-effective and easily managed Wi-Fi network. The solution is being showcased this week at NetWorld+Interop (Booth #2602).
Concurrently, the company announced an interoperability partnership with SpectraLink Corporation (Nasdaq: SLNK), an industry pioneer in enterprise wireless communications. The Colubris Networks VoWi-Fi solution includes support for the SpectraLink Voice Priority (SVP) protocol, providing interoperability with widely deployed SpectraLink NetLink Wireless Telephones. Colubris Networks also provides support for Wireless Multimedia Extensions (WME), a component of the IEEE 802.11e standard, enabling prioritization of multimedia traffic over a wireless network.
Building on Colubris Networks’ industry-first multi-service Virtual AP foundation, the company’s enterprise access point products now provide a simpler and lower cost solution to enterprises that are converging voice and data applications onto a single, fully managed Wi-Fi network. Prior to this solution, enterprises have been required either to operate all Wi-Fi applications at the lowest common level of security or to deploy completely separate Wi-Fi networks for each application. The Virtual AP solution eliminates these restrictions by isolating each service and enforcing independently configurable security and quality of service (QoS) profiles for each service. As a result, a single, shared Wi-Fi network can now support VoWi-Fi applications, which typically implement Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) security enforcement, open guest Internet access with no security, and critical corporate data with robust WPA or VPN security.
“Colubris is an innovator in the Wi-Fi marketplace and SpectraLink is excited to work with the company as they enable enterprise wireless voice applications with a solution that incorporates high quality voice and highly secure data,” said Ben Guderian, director of marketing, SpectraLink Corporation.
“Voice over Wi-Fi offers very real cost and productivity benefits and is representative of the wave of applications fueling growth in WLAN networks,” said Colubris Networks President and CEO Barry Fougere. “As these applications grow, it will be critical to seamlessly converge to a single, shared Wi-Fi infrastructure, without compromising either QoS or security. Our solution leverages our industry-first multi-service Virtual AP functionality to meet this demand, thus positioning the WLAN to become a true extension of an existing enterprise network.”
Pricing and Availability
VoWi-Fi support will be available as a standard feature of the Colubris Networks CN1220 and CN1250 802.11 a/b/g enterprise access devices in July 2004. It will also be available as a firmware upgrade to Colubris Networks maintenance program customers.
About SpectraLink
SpectraLink Corporation is the leading U.S. manufacturer and provider of wireless telephone systems for the workplace. SpectraLink distributes its products through industry-leading service, equipment, and application providers, cultivating a vast customer base among industries including retail, education, healthcare, manufacturing, finance, information systems and telecommunications. For more information, visit http://www.spectralink.com.
About Colubris Networks
Colubris Networks is a global provider of intelligent wireless LAN access equipment and management systems for service providers and enterprises. The company’s award-winning products deliver seamless, secure access to broadband networks while integrating into existing network infrastructure, security and management systems. Colubris Networks’ equipment is deployed by more than 500 organizations worldwide, including Swisscom Eurospot, Telecom Italia, Broadreach Networks, NTT-ME, McGill University, STSN, Connexion by Boeing, the Resort Municipality of Whistler, and three of the world’s largest hotel chains. The company’s partners include ADC, Alcatel, Juniper Networks, RSA Security, Airwave, Funk Software, iPass, and a worldwide network of value-added-resellers.For more information visit the company at www.colubris.com or contact us at info@colubris.com.
All products and services mentioned are trademarks of their respective companies.
