Telecom network vendor Ericsson said its new Wi-Fi calling feature will enable mobile operators to expand voice coverage to Wi-Fi devices such as tablets and personal computers.

Currently, Wi-Fi calling is mainly offered to smartphones.

Wi-Fi calling for multi-device capability is an additional feature to the existing Ericsson Wi-Fi calling solution.

Consumer’s personal devices can be located at different Wi-Fi access points anywhere in the world, while their smartphone can be on cellular access or any Wi-Fi access point, and consumers can select to pick up calls on any of the devices.

Telecoms will benefit because mobile users can make calls in locations with poor cellular coverage, such as inside residential buildings. In addition, consumers need not rely on over-the-top voice services over Wi-Fi access.

Operator benefits

Reduce churn and attract new customers

# Improving user satisfaction with enhanced voice and video calling coverage in users’ homes and in small enterprises over their own Wi-Fi access points
# Extending reach of operator voice services to more types of devices like smartphones, tablets, personal computers etc.
# Providing attractive combined voice+data+roaming bundles and out-perform OTT voice services with ease-of-use and high quality voice and communication services everywhere.

Cost-efficient deployment of extended voice coverage

# Core cost efficient to re-use existing Wi-Fi coverage than deploying costly Femto coverage
# More cost efficient to support natively integrated Wi-Fi calling in devices and network. Reduces operator costs for developing and maintaining separate voice roaming apps
# Network efficiency with one core network for all services – Wi-Fi calling and VoLTE

The Ericsson offering comprises product support in Evolved Packet Core (EPC), IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), User Data Management (UDM) and OSS/BSS, as well as system integration services.

The Ericsson solution supports multiple options for call set-up use cases, such as simultaneous calls on several devices and transfer of ongoing calls between devices.

Telecoms are expected to commercially launch Wi-Fi calling for multi-device services in 2015.

Both VoLTE and Wi-Fi calling rely on an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network to deliver the voice services, video calling, etc. Operators that have launched VoLTE over their LTE network could extend the same voice service into buildings using Wi-Fi when LTE coverage is poor.

Telecom operators that have not yet launched VoLTE can start to offer IMS based Wi-Fi calling to users who have poor cellular 2G/3G coverage indoor in homes and small enterprises. When telecom operators later deploy VoLTE, the voice service will work seamlessly between LTE and Wi-Fi access, said Ericsson.

Baburajan K
[email protected]