Agito Networks looking to quickly handover cellular calls to VoIP

Handover technologies are nothing new, but Agito Networks is hoping to offer up scalable systems that can "hand voice calls over quickly and accurately between company WiFi and cellular networks." More specifically, the startup system utilizes RF to tell when an individual is approaching "predefined points at the limit of the company's WiFi coverage," after which a mobile-based client cooperates with a RoamAnywhere router (which integrates with the company's IP PBXs) in order to hand the call over. Reportedly, the actual transfer "takes less than one second," and administrators can even set up RoutePoints and instruct calls to be sent directly to voicemail when users are off duty. Granted, it seems Agito is aiming its products at medium-to-large businesses looking to save on cellphone bills, and if all goes well, models ranging from $9,995 to $24,995 should hit the US by the year's end.

[Johnny @ Oct 15th 2007 3:03PM]

I will not claim to be an expert on the matter, but it seems to me that a handover shouldn't be that difficult to do completely through software. As long as the device (phone) is capable of using both WiFi and cellular connections simultaneously, why couldn't the phone detect the WiFi network and make the VOIP connection in the background, then switch over when ready. In the other direction, it could detect the WiFi signal and switch to cellular when it begins to weaken.

[Dankoozy @ Oct 15th 2007 3:08PM]

It seems pointless to me, as it will still have to go through mobile phone provider's systems and will therefore be expensive. unless you are just using VoiP over GSM/EDGE or 3G. still $10k could pay for a lot of phone calls.

So you spend 10k so you and other people in the company don't have to go through the trouble of hanging up and calling back when they go into wifi coverage. doesn't really seem worth it

[zabador @ Oct 15th 2007 6:01PM]

who's their target market at those prices?
too cheep to pay cellphone bills but has 9 to 24thousand sitting around to invest in a unproven and bleeding edge technology?

[Pej Roshan @ Oct 15th 2007 11:27PM]

Hello Engadget!

Johnny, Dankoozy, zabador- Fair questions.

1] This product is targeted at enterprises. This is not a solution designed for consumers.

2] WiFi to cellular handover that is carrier agnostic and doesn't have equipment in the carrier network is not easy to do. Don't confuse our solution with UMA (T-Mobile Hotspot@Home, for example). UMA is a consumer solution and the carriers EACH have to buy equipment for their networks to make it work. Our solution is for companies that want to control their own destiny solve mobility for their enterprise workers.

3] We do still use the carrier cellular network, but given that most cellular calls occur in-building (by some estimates, nearly 66%), there is money to be saved. Think about for a moment. How often have you made or received a call on your mobile phone while inside? Probably a lot more than you would have thought. We allow enterprises to use their existing WiFi networks for those in-building calls and route the calls to cellular as needed, providing better in-door coverage and reducing cellular charges.

4] On average, the average enterprise worker has roughly a $1000/year cellular bill. If you can reduce that by 66%, and multiply that out across every mobile user in a company, the $10k/$24k price tag of our solution is inconsequential. In fact, most of our beta customers will be "revenue" positive (i.e. the solution has paid for itself and the savings continue to roll in) in about a year.

I hope that helps, and don't hesitate to give our website a visit if you have more questions.

Thanks,

Pej
www.agitonetworks.com
www.agitonetworks.com/blog