London not prepared for Wireless VoIP communication

AirMagnet, a wireless monitoring company, has conducted a survey and found that less than one third of the wireless enabled locations in central London are capable of supporting more than one VoIP call at the same time.

AirMagnet MD Ian Schenkel stated that “Wireless VoIP has so much potential and it is imperative that on-site service providers ensure that they are in a position to truly take advantage of the benefits the technology can offer.”

He further goes on to state that if the basic issues of call quality, dead spots, and failed calls are not addressed then public frustration with the new technology could hinder its acceptance. Along with the service providers, the test done by AirMagnet also raised the issue of the unfamiliarity on part of the coffee shops and pubs with respect to wireless VoIP. In fact, the test team had the incredible experience of being unable to find even a single person in an establishment offering Wi-Fi hotspots who could offer some intelligent advice on how to go about using the Wi-Fi facility.

On a positive note AirMagnet stated that problems associated with the development of Wi-Fi support in London can be managed and rectified without too much expenditure. The sooner the process begins the better it is because the increasing popularity of dual-mode phones means that users are increasingly going to expect Wi-Fi hotspots to deliver. A forecast by ABI Research pegs the number of dual-mode phones sold by 2011 at a staggering 330 million.