Damovo deploys voice over Bluetooth

IT service provider Damovo is piloting a Bluetooth wireless network to reduce its telephony costs while increasing contact levels.

Damovo's convergence business development manager Feargal O'Farrell said the company looked at how to reduce phone costs. "By sending telephone calls over a wireless Bluetooth network we are driving costs out of the telephony equation," O’Farrell said. "Also, by moving to one device, a Bluetooth-enabled GSM phone, with one number we are not incurring the cost of multiple phones."

With a five-user pilot in place, Damovo plans to begin rolling the solution out across its branch offices this month.

"We have a lot of mobile people who move around both inside and outside the office," O'Farrell said. "If you look at telephony from a holistic perspective, nowadays most people prefer to use a mobile phone. Vodafone estimates about 27 per cent of mobile phone costs are generated by calls from inside the office."

The wireless office technology, known as EnterpriseMobility, was developed by Norwood Systems.

CEO of Norwood Systems Paul Ostergaard said enterprises are faced with the problem of employees using mobile phones in the office and switching from their desk phone to the mobile.

"With EnterpriseMobility users look like they are at their desk as calls from outside are sent to their mobile phones, or a headset, via Bluetooth," Ostergaard said. "For sectors such as financial services, there is an intrinsic benefit to mobility."

Regarding possible voice quality issues, Ostergaard said Bluetooth has advantages over WLANs.

"WLANs struggle to scale in office environments," he said. "The short range of Bluetooth allows for a mobility of cells. Any audio gap is on par with today's GSM networks."

According to Ostergaard, EnterpriseMobility can access a VoIP gateway and scales to 50 users.

"We plan to scale to hundreds of users by year's end," he said.

Both Ostergaard and O'Farrell said the cost of EnterpriseMobility is comparable to normal VoIP systems.

"From a cost perspective the setup is not prohibitive and is likely to suit organisations with at least 20 people," O'Farrell said.