Mobile SIP environment.
Submitted by billetkontoret on Fri, 04/11/2008 - 2:47am.
Hi all.
My company has been assigned to implement IP-telephony in a giant store/warehouse (11.000 sqm). They need 25 mobile users, so the question is which phones and technology to use. We first considered the Snom M3 DECT phone, but one base station has got a maximum capacity of 8 phone-connections. So now we are considering using sip-phones which works on WLAN, and then set up a large WLAN with repeaters etc. The phone we have been looking at is the Linksys WIP330 - looks very nice.
Does anyone of you have experience with setting this up, the linksys phone or maybe a better alternative?
I would very much apreciate your replies if you know good WLAN-access-points, repeaters, phones and everything to set up this system.
Thank you all! :)
Why not use SNOM M3's and 4
Mon, 04/14/2008 - 5:51am
Why not use SNOM M3's and 4 base stations? the pro of such a solution is battery life and voice quality. DECT is more stable than WLAN.
The number of base stations is dependant on how many concurrent calls you anticipate. Each base station can handle 3 simultaneous calls even though you have 8 handsets registered...
You mentioned large building. There are DECT repeaters available to extend range too...
/Hasse
Suggestion
Mon, 04/14/2008 - 6:24am
We have a very similar environment here. We have been using Nortel Companion phones for years. These are DECT-based but they are more like a cellular system where you have nodes scattered throughout the building to provide coverage and capacity. We very rarely had issues during calls because of coverage.
If I were you, I'd consider a larger SIP-DECT solution like the offered by Aastra. (http://www.aastra.com/cps/rde/xchg/SID-3D8CCB6A-47AC97BC/04/hs.xs...) It is basically the same as the Companion system where you purchase phones and nodes separately. You buy nodes based on anticipated volume and radio coverage. (On our Companion system we have about 12 nodes and 30 handsets.) In the Aastra system,one of the nodes is designated as the system controller and it handles handset authentication, provisioning, and management plus controlling the other nodes on the network. Handsets work with the nodes to seamlessly handoff from node to node when the user roams the building while on-call. The Aastra system is fully SIP and can handle something like 254 nodes and 255 handsets in one installation. It talks directly to Asterisk and from what I've seen, the handsets have very good battery life and are designed for a warehouse environment. We are in the process of evaluating them to replace our Companion system and it looks like it will be a drop-in replacement. (ignoring the change in backend PBXs)
We tried the WiFi... I've got a linksys WIP330 sitting right next to me. I wasn't impressed. The battery life is still horrid and call hand-offs between WAPs is still a problem. In our evaluation, if we ignored battery life we were still going to need to more than double the number of WAPs in our building to support the WiFi phones. And we also gave the WiFi phones low marks for robustness. They are NOT built for a warehouse environment. A couple of trips down to the concrete floor and the pretty WiFi phone tends to stop working.
While the single-base DECT phones like the M3 might work well for a small office, I think you'll find they would be lacking in a building as large as your. Have a look at the bigger DECT stuff and I think you'll be happier with it.
Jason
The DECT solution is a great
Mon, 04/14/2008 - 7:15am
The DECT solution is a great one from Jason.
Another option is a standards based mesh wireless network. Cisco has a great campus wireless solution on mesh.
With this large a facility I would engage an RF engineer to survey the site and lay out the nodes no matter what format you choose.
The advantage of mesh is you also get a fully functioning wlan!
--
Scott
aka "Skyking"
Polycom has just come out
Mon, 04/14/2008 - 8:20am
Polycom has just come out with some wifi phones as well. I'm trying to get my hands on one asap, we invested in a couple wip330's and to-date they are still sitting around doing nothing because they just simply aren't that great. More of a geek phone than anything. I wouldn't consider selling this phone to a customer. Ever, which is what the intent was.
The aastra solution might be the best solution right now for what you are trying to do.
mesh...
Tue, 04/15/2008 - 9:27am
I agree a mesh network would work wonderful. From everything I've heard they are the cat's meow for coverage and work well to eliminate the hand-off drop-outs common on 'standard' WiFi.
But... a mesh would still use the WiFi handset and that is where I'm just not impressed. I've got a dozen project managers that roam my building and put an hour or more of talk time on their phones each day. I have yet to see a WiFi handset that can handle that kind of talk time over a 10 or 12 hour day without going 'battery-low' and needing a charge. The robustness is also an issue because all the WiFi phones I've played with feel like they would break if you dropped them on the concrete floor.
Believe me... I am totally anxious for someone to solve these two issues with WiFi handsets... and I know the vendors are making progress. Just from my seat it looks like a few more years needed before they measure up in these two areas with the DECT-based stuff. My $.02.
Polycom SIP Dect
Tue, 04/15/2008 - 10:22am
Aastra is a great solution, but i would also look into the Polycom Dect series known as KIRK. The phones are stylish, they have a great battery life, and Polycom is a great manufacturer. The link for the information is here: http://www.spectralink.com/products/dect/index.jsp
You can get a single base station and a few repeaters and then the phones you are looking for and the set up is simple. It took me about an hour or so to hook a base station, phones and have is all configured in about an hour. But i did that with out directions.
Engenius = super nice - they
Mon, 05/05/2008 - 9:01am
Engenius = super nice - they are the original for commercial cordless - been around for 20+ years i think. usually pricy, but never heard anyone complain on their quality.
http://www.engenius.info/range.html
personally never used the phones, but i use engenius radios, and they work great.
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2007-03-24