Speakers on a panel at the Spring VON conference discussed the well-known problems with delivering voice over Wi-Fi networks: Quality of service, latency, and the number of callers that each access point can support are the main issues that still need to be solved. Voice over Wi-Fi should become easier to install and manage at least for enterprises once the vendors targeting that market begin to integrate on the backend. Some, such as Airespace, have already worked on developing their platforms to support voice.
Voice over Wi-Fi is a different ball game for consumers in the open market. Sean O'Mahony, FatPort's president and CEO, notes that VoIP service providers like Vonage that want to extend the offering to hotspots will have to make deals with hotspot operators. Otherwise, users will have to sign in on their handsets once they are in range of a hotspot, which could be cumbersome. FatPort offers voice in its hotspots through its Mobitus VoIP service. When a FatPort customer walks into a FatPort hotspot with the phone, it automatically recognizes the user and opens the connection so users don't have to sign on.