Voice Over Wireless Broadband

Yeah, you read right... Voice Over Wireless Broadband!  I know what you're thinking; "But Wireless Broadband is the ugly step-child of Internet carriers, why in the world would you try to run voice over it?" OR, maybe you're not thinking that, but I can tell you, this has been a tried and largely failed proposition... Until now.

Fluid Networks has always had a large focus on integrating Voice with any network we put together.  When our ownership invested in building a fixed Wireless Broadband company in 2006 (Turn Wireless) we had one goal in mind... "To build a fixed wireless network that can carry voice and keep it good all the way through!"  We are happy to announce that it has been done and it is working.

To date, Turn Wireless has a number of customers running voice accross it's network, however, one in particular shows off the the amazing diversity in how that can be done.

When Santa Barbara Design Studio purchased a Shoretel Enterprise VOIP system from Fluid Networks, it was replacing an expensive Hosted platform that ran on T1's.  The customer wanted more bandwidth but was under contract with their current Wireless carrier and had a third site which was using Skype over their DSL line to make phone calls.  Not surprisingly, Skype wasn't doing a great job, and the hosted VOIP provider wasn't winning any popularity contests either.

Fluid Networks proposed Turn Wireless be installed to provide a private, Voice network to be extended wirelessly between all three sites.  Since the two largest sites were still under contract with their current Wireless Broadband carrier Turn was only able to provide Voice and Internet at their smaller, third site.  The third site didn't need any phone lines installed, instead, all Voice traffic travelled accross Turn's network and went out in Santa Barbara or the other Oxnard location.  The users at this site are heavy Internet users because they deal with large graphics files, but their voice quality never suffers.

When users began to experience slow speeds on their current wireless network, Fluid Networks troubleshot the problem and found it to be an issue with the current provider.  Since the provider could not adequately troubleshoot nor fix the issue, the decision was made to put the other two sites on Turn Wireless for Internet as well as the VOIP they were already using.  This was a quick process and the customer is now getting up to 4.5mbps up and down in Santa Barbara (a speed not even offered by the incumbant carrier) and 2.0mbps in Oxnard.  During extensive speed tests while running voice, not one phone conversation was interrupted, thus proving that Turn Wireless was successfully protecting the voice traffic while simultaneously maxing out the circuit's capacity on both ends.

Not only voice, but SBDS's faxing has been completely revolutionized with this solution.  SBDS subscribed to Fluid Networks' hosted, virtual fax solution (Fluid | Fax) which allows their users to send and receive faxes right from their desktops from PC OR MAC using a standard web browser.  The main fax numbers for all three sites come into Fluid | Fax and the faxes are sent along to the customer's Microsoft Exchange server where the faxes can be viewed, forwaded, printed or deleted by staff with appropriate access permissions.  Other users have their own, private, fax number where they can have orders and other important documents sent directly to their email.  A special Fax gateway was installed in Santa Barbara and connected to the Shoretel system.  This box communicates accross Turn Wireless to the Fluid | Fax core via T.38 FaxOverIP technology, again taking full advantage of Turn Wireless' advanced QOS features.  Anyone who has ever tried to run faxes over VOIP knows, not just any VOIP will handle faxes.  If it's not perfect, the fax wil fail... Needless to say, we don't have many failed faxes on this solution.

The customer is now flying online with low latency and low hop counts to the Internet and to each location & they are taking full advantage of a convergent technology to keep costs down and provide a foundation to grow the business.

Why Fixed Wireless?
Fixed Wireless has a couple of advantages which puts it in a whole new league from DSL, Cable and other broadband services:

  • Wireless is Synchronous by nature, meaning it's upload speed is the same as it's download speed.  This makes it the perfect solution for business where they are often serving out as much information as they are taking in.
  • Wireless speeds are generally much faster than traditional wireline services.  Turn Wireless offers speeds up to 100Mbps and can have service installed within one to two weeks.  Compared to DS3 or even dedicated Fiber loops which can take months.
  • Wireless is not subject to local loop conditions and companies.  No phone company!  This makes it an ideal backup or primary circuit to a wired telco circuit.
  • Wireless is less expensive per MB.  The typical cost for a 1.5mbps T1 is about $450.00 today.  Turn Wireless sells a 2.0mbps wireless circuit for $399.00. 

Along with these inherent advantages, Turn Wireless has been architected to provide these additional benefits:

  • Same Service Level Agreement as with Wired T1.  Turn Wireless believes so much in the quality of their product that they provide the same 4 hour resolution and high availability guarantees that you get from the phone company for a T1.
  • Voice Quality of Service.  Turn Wireless is the only fixed wireless broadband carrier in Southern California that can reliably deliver Voice accross their network and protect it against bursty data traffic.
  • Licensed wireless link options.  For the absolute most reliable connections for mission critical traffic Turn Wireless provides the option to upgrade your link to include an FCC license to ensure you will recieve no interference in your area.
  • Bandwidth on Demand.  Turn Wireless can turn up your speeds with a simple email or phone call.  The Bandwidth on demand service allows you to buy a 2.0mbps circuit today and upgrade it to 5mbps or higher tomorrow without having to upgrade equipement or wait for new circuits to be installed.

Call (805.856.1807) or email us today to find out more about how Fluid Networks can build innovative, converged networks for even the smallest company and help you save money every month.