Today’s businesses are constantly looking for ways to make flexibility and mobility a more natural part of the work environment. As more professionals search for freedom within the workplace, and a greater opportunity to step away from the desk during conversations, it’s important to make sure that you have the right wireless solutions available to maintain connectivity within the office.
The two biggest contenders in the wireless phone battle, are DECT and WiFi. WiFi solutions also allow for the use of apps on smartphones and tablets that allow you to transform your smartphone or tablet into an additional business telephone. Here, we’ll examine the advantages and disadvantages of each system.
Positives and Negatives of DECT
Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications, or DECT phones, are basically the standard for cordless communications in a business environment. The DECT phone is the leading technology available for companies that want to create multi-cellular radio networks for their voice communication strategies. With DECT, you can connect your mobile handsets through base stations in your network, to ensure that you can move around your work environment with complete freedom.
There are many great benefits to DECT including:
- Reliability: DECT was designed for voice. Operating on its own isolated frequency, it can ensure that voice is never competing for resources with another form of communication. DECT is the most reliable source for wireless communication in the market
- Scalability: DECT is generally more scalable than other options like WiFi or “WLAN” voice. DECT can support up to seven handsets per access point in many cases, whereas WiFi is limited to potentially three or four
- Security Features: DECT technology comes with a range of incredible security protocols such as authentication, encryption, identification, and so on. This reduces the overall need for external authentication services, minimising IT efforts, and security maintenance. Because it functions on a closed system, DECT can also avoid problems like impersonation and eavesdropping
Of course, DECT isn’t the right solution for every scenario. Although DECT can be a powerful way to create wireless connections, it isn’t free. You’ll need to pay for a base station and sometimes repeaters too, which can make DECT more expensive than free apps and pre-existing WiFi connections.
Positives and Negatives of WiFi / Apps
WiFi or VoWLAN (Voice over WLAN) solutions for cordless communications is a more “modern” approach to connectivity. As companies search for cost-effective ways to improve collaboration, it makes sense that we might consider using our existing WiFi infrastructure to deliver the best possible communication features. It’s also possible for business users to download WiFi apps onto their smartphones or tablets, which they can then use to turn their devices into extra business phones. There are many advantages to choosing WiFi for your mobile solutions, including:
- Cost: WiFi is incredibly inexpensive for businesses. Most companies will already have a WiFi network in place. This means that purchasing an additional WiFi VoIP phone will be the only other expense to consider. Since you can simply download an app onto another device, you could also avoid purchasing any hardware at all
- Security: You can deploy a strong VoWLAN solution for security into your network based on authorisation codes, authentication and encryption methods. However, this will require a lot of ongoing maintenance
- Simplicity: WiFi can be easier to implement into a business system than DECT in some cases. It’s one of the most convenient ways to connect your wireless devices to your phone network
Unfortunately, at present, WiFi has more problems as a mobility solution than advantages. Although there’s certainly potential there, WiFi was not designed to transmit voice, like DECT or mobile phones. WiFi places data packages as the top priority for transmission, which can lead to interruptions and dropped quality. The only way to manage WiFi connections is to make sure that the phone you invest in has established QoS standards.
Quality of Service standards can help to ensure that your WiFi devices place audio communications at the head of the priority list for transmitting data. However, because WiFi solutions are so new, many don’t have the right QoS solutions. Without QoS, you could end up with gaps in your audio, as well as dropped calls and distortion.
Making Your Decision
Ultimately, when it comes to going mobile, businesses do have two key options in the form of WiFi and DECT. WiFi can work well in some environments, but it generally depends on what you need as to whether this solution will be right for you. In most cases, if you’re searching for familiarity and reliability, it might be best to stick to DECT, at least until the WiFi standards are upgraded.
