Fixed Mobile Convergence

Vendors have been progressively making announcements relating to their product offerings in the FMC market but what is the reality? Where are the channel opportunities?

The opportunity for fixed mobile convergence (FMC) seems to be based on two things; the premise that we are all spending too much money on mobile call charges, particularly when the calls are made when we are in the office and the perceived desire that we want to be able to roam around on the phone making calls seamlessly from one network to another. So FMC is a mobility and cost reduction play.

According to a new report by Analysis, FMC, combined with VoIP, will allow corporate customers to reduce their voice spend by over 30%. The report says that ‘mobile network operators in particular will have to work hard to slow the decline in enterprise voice revenues in the face of a technology that can allow companies to bypass their more expensive services.’

“Companies are spending over 80% of their call bill on mobile services, and that is causing them to turn to new technology looking for savings,” says the report’s author, Margaret Hopkins. “Wireless gateways, VoIP and Wi-Fi offer them ways of cutting this bill that are independent of the network operators. Operators need to come up with innovative services to minimise the revenue leakage.”

Bob Emmerson, a frequent writer on the subject of wireless for Comms Business Magazine, agrees that the rationale behind FMC is the ability to move seamlessly between fixed line networks (Wi-Fi now, WiMAX in future) and cellular networks (e.g. 2.5/3G).

“Fine in theory, but problematic in practice,” says Emmerson.

“A dual-mode phone can find Wi-Fi Access Points (AP) in the home. It’s automatic if the network is open: the access code has to be entered if it is secure, but the user will know it. Thus, you can make low-cost VoIP calls on your mobile device.

“APs in hot spots and hotels are secure but they were designed for data. You load Internet Explorer — it has to be this browser — and it finds the AP but access is only enabled by entering a code, for which you pay. Dual-mode phones have a browser but it’s not IE. The only way to make a VoIP call is to use a notebook PC and client software such as Skype.

“When these devices are deployed in volume in enterprises there is a similar problem. They can be configured by IT, but it would have to be done individually and if different APs were used then additional configurations would be needed. This means that the concept only becomes practical when there is an easy way to provision the phones and right now this is work in progress. Alternatively, and it is a good alternative, client software is embedded in the phone which then works in clientserver mode. This allows mobile phones to be managed as if it they were PBX extensions.

“Mobile network operators (MNOs) have witnessed the impact that VoIP has had on the revenues of wireline carriers. Their response is UMA (Unified Mobile Access). UMA services are being implemented but the phones — you need a UM phone — are not available right now.

“In this case the device does find the AP and you can make a VoIP call, but the Internet is only used to transport it back to the cellular network, so seamless handover is easy. However, calls are charged and the subscriber is also paying for Internet access.”

Trefor Davis of service provider Timico also has cautionary tales. “We have been testing FMC solutions for 18 months and have seen considerable improvement in both the devices available and the quality of the applications firmware running on these hardware platforms. A reality check though tells us that whilst FMC is great as a technology demonstrator there are still some major issues that are causing us to hold back from a full scale rollout.

“The most fundamental one of these is the inadequate battery life of the devices when running the WiFi connectivity required for FMC. Second is the fact that the FMC apps are largely not native to the device so the integration with the address book for example is not there.”

One Way

Emmerson however thinks he has found a solution that hits all the convergence spots for a low price point – an open FMC model that works with any IP PBX as well as any fixed, mobile or wireless network to deliver total mobility without any MNO lock-in. And, he says, they are looking for UK channel partners!

“DiVitas Networks is entering the European market with a breakthrough ‘mobile-to-mobile’ convergence (MMC) solution designed for SMBs and enterprises. The baseline functionality is similar to that of regular FMC solutions, but the company went for a new term in order to differentiate their offer.

“FMC solutions normally rely on the service provider to enable seamless handover to and from Wi-Fi and cellular networks. And those that put IT in control are proprietary, i.e. they only work with the vendor’s PBX, and they do not allow access to enterprise applications.

“The DiVitas mobile-to-mobile convergence solution does not have these limitations. It’s open in terms of voice system hardware as well as network and application access. And it supports dual-mode phones, Wi-Fi only phones, cellularonly smartphones and softphones.

“This means that the solution converges devices and applications as well as networks. It works in conjunction with both TDM and IP PBXs or it can be deployed as a stand alone configuration. All mobile devices are managed as PBX extensions over both Wi-Fi and cellular networks. Moreover, the solution is Wi-Fi agnostic, i.e. it works with all mainstream access points.

“The appliance, see illustration, is a shipping product and a 10-user license starts at just over £3.3K. DiVitas claims ROIs in less than six months.”

Divitas - the mobile convergence appliance (MCA) is deployed inside the enterprise and the mobile convergence client (MCC) software is embedded in mobile handsets.

Moving On…

Roger Jones, Business Development Director, Avaya, says that Enterprise Communications have been going through the IP revolution for the last three or four years.

“Voice has moved from a standalone service to an application converged on a single IP network. This revolution has allowed organisations to centralise and consolidate their communication services and extend them across an IP infrastructure.

“In most organisations this still leaves users with three core communications systems. Fixed voice, mobile voice and desktop productivity solutions, (Email Calendar, IM). Many vendors are talking about FMC and also Unified Communications, which is predominantly looking at integrating telephony and desktop communications. Avaya strongly believes that all three communications technologies need to be integrated into a single solution with multiple user interface options. This is Intelligent Communications.

“The key to communication is reaching people. The first piece of information you need to communicate is an address, or in most cases a telephone number. If you have different addresses or phone numbers for different devices the solution is not unified. The first step to FMC and Unified Communications and on to Intelligent Communications is a one number solution. Each user has a number that can be directed to the endpoint of choice. When every user has a single address communications are simplified, reachability and productivity are improved.

“Enterprises are now aware that convergence has moved beyond the infrastructure out to the user interface, They are also realising that typical users want the triple play solution of Fixed, Mobile and Desktop. Systems Integrators and resellers have the opportunity to move the discussion beyond FMC and Unified Communications with Intelligent Communications.

“Avaya Communication Manager is already delivering the one number solution extending the calls to desk phones, Mobile, (via GSM, 3G and Wi-Fi), and tightly integrating Avaya’s rich telephony into IBM and Microsoft desktop environments.”

What Flavour FMC?

David Perry at Nortel says his company definitely agrees that there are opportunities to merge fixed and wireless networks to create seamless services.

“However, these need not be limited to fixed broadband and local access wireless networks; in fact FMC is not limited to any specific fixed or wireless technology. Depending upon the types of service providers involved, their networks, licences and business models, there are many different flavours of FMC that can be deployed which combine the OPSTN, VoIP, 2G and 3G cellular and Wi-Fi wireless LAN. In the near future, WiMAX and IMS will be added to the technology mix to open up additional options.

“Converged Fixed and Mobile services have been around for many years. For example, cellular service providers have offered large corporate customers the opportunity to integrate their fixed and mobile phones into the same dial plan, with short-code dialling and lower call costs between fixed and mobile phones. From the end-user perspective though, the experience has been variable with, at best, only partial integration at the service level.

“The advent of VoIP opened up a range of possibilities to improve end-user functionality. Service platforms such as Nortel’s Multimedia Communications Server (MCS) enabled voice plus a range of multimedia features such as secure instant messaging, presence, video calling and conferencing to be extended to a PC user wherever a fixed or wireless broadband connection was available. But broadband availability is far from ubiquitous so Nortel’s latest FMC solutions are designed to use multiple networks and technologies to enable the best possible user experience.”

More Devices – More Problems

Kelly Macmillan, market specialist at Mitel, says the appealing thing about FMC is simplification; users will only need a single handset rather than the multiple devices many users carry.

“However, complex hands off technology between networks, varying standards in handset technologies and reluctance by carriers to give up billable mobile phone minutes are significant barriers to making FMC a viable proposition for enterprise level organisations.

“As most vendors are putting forward an FMC proposition that requires the adoption of yet another device, it is no surprise that larger organisations are reluctant to adopt FMC, because it is a costly undertaking and the technology is immature. It is too risky an investment for an organisation to implement a new technology that will have a significant cost associated with it and will require a lengthy implementation phase with questionable results.

“For FMC to truly be successful, it requires new business models from Mobile Service Providers. Mobile Service Providers need to move away from generating the bulk of their revenue from billable minutes.”

Macmillan concludes, “Creating new services and working with PBX vendors to create these services will be crucial to their success.”

Already There?

Nigel Jones, marketing and business development manager at Alcatel-Lucent, says for some organisations, fixed/mobile convergence is already a reality, while many others are looking to incorporate mobile networks and devices into a single logical network to improve the way people can be contacted, in the office or on the move, helping streamline existing business processes.

“Alcatel-Lucent systems can support cellular extensions, so mobile phones appear as extensions off the PBX, with the additional benefit of enhanced business-grade telephony services. Unified communications (such as presence-based intelligent routing and access to mail) can now be delivered on mobile devices, meaning we are a step nearer to providing complete converged business telephony, messaging and applications services on multiple devices. Delivery of group collaboration and presence services can now be achieved through mobile/Dual GSM-WiFi devices as well as onto the fixed desk set.”

Lesley Hansen at Teleware believes that right now there is a lot of hype about FMC.

“The business demand is the ability to move seamlessly between fixed line locations using the PSTN or IP networks and cellular networks. The aim is to generate the perception that there is a single network and dissolve the difference between local and wide area networks. The user expectation is that this should result in a consistent end-user experience. The business expectation is that this will deliver cost savings when compared to mobile usage today.

“There are two different interpretations of this new service model. They share the same goal, but they come from very different directions. One focuses on WLANs in home and hot spots. The other is based on a new cellular infrastructure and the deployment of new UMA (Unified Mobile Access) services. In both cases the user requires a new dual-mode (WLAN / Cellular) phone.

“The former approach is data-centric. WLANs were designed to transport data but they have been engineered to carry Voice over IP (VoIP) traffic. The latter is voice-centric. In this case network cores are being engineered to carry VoIP traffic and this allows the mobile operators to compete for your FMC business. But — and this is a very big but — both models represent technologies that have been extrapolated in order to perform additional tasks. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with this concept: it applies to the Internet; however, one can also extrapolate the need of the market.

“That was the basis of TeleWare’s Private Mobile Network alternative and the result is a unique solution and a today deliverable. The functionality is that of a private mobile network and your investment in legacy 2G/2.5G devices is protected, i.e. there is no need to add a WLAN infrastructure and employ new phones having multiple air interfaces.”

Channel Opportunity:

I guess it’s too obvious to say there are no shrinkwrapped FMC channel applications available today, although Divitas seems to come the closest. This will change and there will be off-theshelf solutions for resellers but in the meanwhile there remains opportunity for those willing to invest in the skills and expertise.

Nigel Jones of Alcatel-Lucent, “The channel opportunity is massive, but as with all new technologies, customers need evidence that solutions will bring real benefits before they commit. Resellers should therefore look to try and introduce fixed/mobile solutions first as pilots, so that they can see how the technology can not just reduce mobile call costs but also give staff greater mobility access to centralised applications and improved business efficiencies, before rolling out solutions on a wider scale.”

David Perry at Nortel, “With respect to carrierbased FMC services, channels have a key role in selling the value of these sophisticated services, especially into the SMB segment. There is also a clear need for per-customer systems integration to ensure that existing systems and services will work effectively with the new FMC services.”

Nigel Jones of Alcatel-Lucent, “…customers need evidence that solutions will bring real benefits before they commit.”

Reseller Feedback

Dominic List, Managing Director of Londonbased reseller Comtact, “In relation to FMC demand, most organisations have shown solid interest, primarily due to the benefit that it would reduce mobile call spend which accounts for a large part of their telecoms and IT spend.

Prospective clients are looking with interest as to which is the most suitable solution to go - either Wi-Fi or GSM technology, both of which have their respective merits and pitfalls. Currently, there has been little uptake due to the faults associated with such a bleeding edge technology, however we believe it will become a prime item of interest in 2008.”

Dominic List, Managing Director of Comtact

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