Full-scale adoption of IP phones at companies

With proliferation of various broadband technologies such as FTTH and ADSL, IP telephony has grown in popularity among end-users as an inexpensive phone service. Increasing numbers of companies are also adopting IP phones for use in their operations.

Cost benefits are a main reason why companies adopt IP phones. Voice calls over the Internet instead of PSTN offer significantly lower outside calling fees. IP telephony also permits users to build low-cost in-house phone networks by taking advantage of existing Ethernet infrastructures, such as LANs, and enables easy reconfiguration of office layouts while reducing the cost of rewiring. Greater flexibility in maintenance and operation is an additional advantage of introducing IP Phones. For these reasons, many companies are now adopting IP telephony for in-house and external voice calls by installing an IP-PBX, an IP telephony-enabled PBX, or through a carrier service called IP Centrex.

Provides the convenience of mobile phones with the cost-effectiveness of IP phones

Wireless IP telephony, in which users build in-house phone networks utilizing wireless LANs, is now drawing significant attention as a new solution for increasing the usability of corporate IP telephony. At present, workers often use their mobile phones for urgent matters, even if contacting a coworker. Using mobile phones in this way is costly, however, as mobile phone rates are relatively high compared to rates for general subscriber phones; such mobile phone use has led overall communications costs to continue rising despite the cost savings realized through the introduction of IP telephony. It should come as no surprise, then, that wireless IP telephony is attracting attention as a communications solution that combines the cost-effectiveness of IP phones with the convenience and mobility of mobile phones.

In anticipation of such needs, Hitachi Cable began offering the WirelessIP5000, a wireless IP phone. The first wireless IP phone in Japan that offers the compact dimensions and light weight of typical mobile phones, WirelessIP5000 rivals fixed phones in speech quality and functionality. The single most important feature of WirelessIP5000 is its compatibility with SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) servers from multiple vendors. While SIP is becoming the de facto standard communications protocol for IP telephony in Japan, due to differences in extended functions among carriers and server vendors, significant constraints apply for various combinations of SIP servers and terminal devices. We have validated compatibility of WirelessIP5000 with IP Centrex services and SIP servers from each carrier and vendors whose specifications were available, making the WirelessIP5000 is the first vendor-independent wireless IP telephone solution. WirelessIP5000 complies with IEEE802.11b, the most popular wireless LAN standard in Japan, allowing users to build wireless IP telephony networks using existing office wireless LAN equipment.