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WiFi Alliance Now Certifying Devices for Voice Over WiFi Applications

First products Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ for Voice-Personal announced - AUSTIN, Texas, June 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Driven by the growing popularity of Wi-Fi(R) technology and voice over IP (VoIP), the Wi-Fi industry has developed a new certification program for voice-capable Wi-Fi devices in home and small office environments.

Today, the Wi-Fi Alliance announced the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Voice-Personal program as well as some of the first products that have achieved this certification. This groundbreaking new certification program extends beyond interoperability testing to test the performance of products and help ensure that they deliver good voice quality over the Wi-Fi link.

"Wi-Fi enabled devices are increasingly used for data and also multimedia applications," said Edgar Figueroa, executive director of the Wi-Fi Alliance. "Our certification programs deliver interoperability and quality of service between Wi-Fi CERTIFIED devices. Now, the Voice-Personal program goes to the next level, helping to ensure good voice quality for calls made over a Wi-Fi network."

Estimates from analyst firms forecast shipments of Wi-Fi/cellular converged phones to number between 250 and 350 million units in 2011. In a converged Wi-Fi/cellular phone, Wi-Fi connectivity can offer significant throughput to support bandwidth-intensive applications. By allowing subscribers to utilize Wi-Fi for voice as well as data on converged phones, carriers can manage licensed spectrum resources better, as subscribers make and receive calls using a combination of licensed and unlicensed Wi-Fi spectrum. Additionally, voice over the Wi-Fi network can mean improved indoor coverage

"We are seeing increasing expectations from wireless subscribers that handsets include Wi-Fi technology to handle both voice and data, and carriers are responding in kind with an interesting array of offerings combining Wi-Fi and cellular service," said Victoria Fodale, manager, Market Data/Intelligence for In-Stat. "Delivering a high-quality user experience with voice over Wi-Fi will be critical to the success of converged service offerings, so the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Voice-Personal testing program is an important step for the industry."

Voice over Wi-Fi is typically used within mixed voice and data environments, in which multiple data streams compete for the available network resources. Products that successfully achieve Voice-Personal certification prioritize voice communication over data, audio, or video traffic, and also have met strict performance levels for key metrics that ensure a quality experience in voice applications: packet loss, latency and jitter.

The following are among some of the first devices to become Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Voice-Personal:

Products Wi-Fi CERTIFIED

Voice-Personal have also passed tests for core interoperability (802.11a/b/g or 802.11n draft 2.0) and Wi-Fi Protected Access(TM) 2 (WPA2(TM)) for the strong security protections, as well as Wi-Fi Multimedia(TM) (WMM(R)) for quality of service and WMM Power Save (access points only). Users should look for both access points and client devices that are Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Voice-Personal to ensure optimal voice quality when making calls over a Wi-Fi network.

A list of all products Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Voice-Personal, as well as a free white paper which describes the program in detail, is available at http://www.wi-fi.org

About the Wi-Fi Alliance

The Wi-Fi Alliance is a global, non-profit industry association of more than 300 member companies devoted to promoting the growth of wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). With the aim of enhancing the user experience for wireless portable, mobile, and home entertainment devices, the Wi-Fi Alliance's testing and certification programs help ensure the interoperability of WLAN products based on the IEEE 802.11 specification. Since the introduction of the Wi-Fi Alliance's certification program in March 2000, more than 4,500 products have been designated as Wi-Fi CERTIFIED(TM), encouraging the expanded use of Wi-Fi products and services across the consumer and enterprise markets.