HITACHI

As a new technology to make enterprise IP telephony more attractive, "wireless IP telephony" is now getting a great deal of attention. "" In the past few years, use of wireless LAN technology has been rapidly spreading among not only general but also corporate users, and, accordingly, the price of wireless LAN devices has declined. Wireless IP telephony allows for the creation of an internal IP telephony network using wireless LAN equipment for PCs. This makes it easier to change the layout of offices because phone lines and Ethernet cables can be eliminated from the desk area. These days, mobile phones are common, and are more reliable than fixed phones for contacting someone immediately. In fact, people often place calls to the mobile phones of coworkers within the same office in times of urgency. However, it is costly to utilize mobile phones in this way even if IP telephony is introduced, because mobile phone rates are still high compared to those of general subscriber phones. "" Understandably, therefore, demand has been rising for a "portable wireless" IP phone-not merely a cordless fixed IP phone-that will match a mobile phone's convenience with an IP phone's cost-effectiveness. With the advent of wireless IP telephony, base stations will be able to support more terminals than the PHS systems that have conventionally been used to build wireless internal networks at companies. Moreover, wireless IP telephony will allow the use of features such as "presence awareness" for checking the status of the person you are calling and instant messaging for sending text messages. "" In anticipation of these needs, Hitachi Cable has started selling a wireless IP phone, the "WirelessIP5000." Developed for use in Japanese offices, the WirelessIP5000 is the first compact, multifunction, high-performance wireless IP phone in Japan that is as compact and light as a mobile phone and rivals fixed phones in speech quality. Due to its enhanced usability as compared to competing foreign products, the WirelessIP5000 has been evaluated highly by IP phone providers, vendors and end users alike since its release in April 2004.