Femtoprising

Femtocells, a technology initially focused on consumers, has now appeared in an enterprise solution announced by Tango Networks, AirWalk Communications and Tatara Systems.

The solution is being billed as an "Enterprise fixed-mobile convergence" (FMC) solution and combines AirWalk's EdgePoint femtocell, Tango Network's Abrazo (provides enterprise communications services and intelligent routing) and Tatara's Convergence Server to link mobile carrier service to the femtocell.

Mix everything together and you combine a mobile (cellular) network with the features and management capability of an enterprise UC solution or PBX and you don't have to do the whole dual-mode thing with WiFi; no specialized handsets. The joint solution also allows policy management to be handled by the enterprise for on-campus calling. A press release issue today says the solution has been "successfully demonstrated."

Femtocells are small cellular base stations connected to a cellular network through a broadband connection, extending/enhancing in-building service coverage. The concept has been rapidly embraced for the consumer markets in Europe and Asia, less so in North America; Sprint and (arguably) T-Mobile are slowly deploying femtocells.

For more:
- Tango Network's .PDF style Femtocell for the enteprirse [1]

Related articles:
C&W Lands Huge Tesco VoIP/FMC Deal [2]
Sprint goes nationwide [3] with Airave femtocell