Companies of all sizes are turning to VoIP for the number of benefits it can provide. When looking for a provider of these services, businesses typically look for one that can deliver quality, reliability and performance.

Forrester recently noted that AT&T (News - Alert) has one of the strongest all around suites of VoIP services, and for this reason, should be considered by businesses looking to VoIP.

On Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 2:00 PM EDT AT&T and NetComp will host a free TMC (News - Alert) Webinar to help understand the benefits of their solutions and how they are delivering the most sophisticated VoIP Solution in the industry.

The Webinar, “The Complete Managed Hosted VoIP Solution from AT&T How Can You Benefit?,” will also look at AT&T’s suite of top-ranked VoIP networking services and technology solutions including VDNA, a fully hosted VoIP solution that includes advanced features, various calling plans, and a full suite of management services.

Wireless VoIP is becoming all the rage. But using Wi-Fi for voice can get tricky, with calls competing for bandwidth with data applications and other traffic. A number of vendors are bringing out phones based on DECT (digital enhanced cordless telecommunications) technology, an international standard known to be reliable, robust and secured. DECT can be deployed as a multi-cell solution for automatic, seamless and secure handover between access points.

DECT differs from Wi-Fi in that it is designed specifically for voice, where as Wi-Fi is designed for data. Voice over Wi-Fi requires software applications for inter-cell handover and offers minimal power management which can result in lower talk and standby times. DECT has native support for inter-cell handover and power management and also offers a much larger range than a typical Wi-Fi access point. Additionally, Wi-Fi uses the often crowded 2.4 GHz frequency, while DECT uses 1.9 GHz, resulting in less interference.

Here are some hot solutions in the DECT world.

On Monday, German phone-maker Snom released the M3 (pictured), a DECT phone with a range of 164 feet indoors and 328 feet outdoors. The M3 features a 128 pixel by 128 pixel display, a battery that offers 10 hours of calling and 100 hours of standby and 12 numerical, five navigation and two function keys.

Other features include speakerphone, automatic registration, separate charging cradle and polyphonic ringtones. Additional, eight M3 handsets can be used per base station and eight SIP registrations are available with different servers or registrars. The M3 can deliver up to three concurrent calls per base station, three-way conferencing and remote setup with password protection.

Proxim Wireless Corporation (NASDAQ: PRXM), a leader in core-to-client solutions for broadband wireless networks, today announced the Tsunami(TM) MP.11 HS (High Security) line of base station units, subscriber units and bridges. The new products provide governments, utilities and ultra-secure enterprises with FIPS 140-2 level 2 compliant point-to-point and point-to-multipoint products in the 5.1-5.95 GHz, 4.9 GHz, 2.4 GHz, and 1.8 GHz frequency bands.

The Tsunami MP.11 HS product family is Proxim’s ultra-secure broadband wireless solution for wireless video, data connectivity, VoIP and mobility, combining FIPS 140-2 level 2 compliance, advanced AES-256 encryption, and secure management to meet strict U.S. Federal Government standards. Whereas competitors’ approaches to high security wireless broadband require multiple products to be bolted together to achieve FIPS 140-2 compliance and AES-256 encryption, Proxim is a truly integrated solution that offers these security features — as well as secure management — in one box. By combining this high security with the high throughput required for bandwidth-intensive video, the Tsunami MP.11 HS solution is appropriate for use in security video surveillance in ports, cities, and along transportation infrastructures.

“When it comes to deploying wireless solutions, security remains one of the top concerns for many organizations,” said Emmy Johnson, Principal Analyst at Sky Light Research. “The ultra-secure, government-grade Tsunami MP.11 HS provides enterprises and organizations that have highly sensitive networks with a compelling option for securing their data or territories.”

Beyond Mobile Video Security

The Tsunami MP.11 HS was designed to handle the specific challenges of delivering bandwidth-intensive video to mobile law enforcement vehicles, enabling mobile security patrol units to view wireless video surveillance in real-time. The Tsunami MP.11 HS enables this via new support of the governmental 1.8 GHz frequency while also enabling mobile roaming with seamless handoffs at speeds of up to 120 mph (200 km/hour).

Though the Tsunami MP.11 HS supports the 1.8 GHz governmental frequency and combines advanced security features that meet or exceed FIPS standards with the performance needed for real-time wireless video, the Tsunami MP.11 HS is effective for much more than just secure wireless broadband for governments. In fact, the Tsunami MP.11 HS is ideal for any and all government agencies and non-governmental organizations in need of highly secure broadband wireless solutions.

Wireless Security to the Max

Organizations of all kinds — from public safety departments and state and local governments, to financial institutions, to healthcare organizations concerned with HIPAA compliance — are continually faced with the challenge of deploying security and surveillance and other connectivity applications in places where no physical cabling is available. For years, Proxim’s solutions have eliminated these barriers. For example, when it comes to wireless surveillance, Proxim’s solutions allow a virtually unlimited number of wireless video cameras to be deployed quickly, easily and cost-effectively. With the new Tsunami MP.11 HS product family, Proxim combines government-grade wireless security with the performance needed to support high-speed data connectivity and bandwidth-intensive applications, such as real-time wireless video surveillance, VoIP, and more.

“At Proxim we have led the innovation of wireless backhaul solutions for security and surveillance, data connectivity and VoIP for years, and today we continue that trend with the addition of our Tsunami MP.11 HS line of products,” said Pankaj Manglik, President and CEO at Proxim Wireless. “As the security landscape evolves, hyper-secure organizations continue to look to Proxim for their wireless broadband needs. Security applications like wireless video surveillance remain a strong market for us, and we are proud to provide the industry’s most scalable, ultra-secure solution.”

Not Just for Government Use

Though the Tsunami MP.11 HS was designed to meet or exceed the necessary government standards for secure wireless broadband solutions, Proxim is making the new product family available for all customers globally. This means that all enterprises and organizations concerned with deploying ultra-secure point-to-point and point-to-multipoint wireless systems possible now have access to Proxim’s MP.11 HS solution.

The Tsunami MP.11 HS products leverage the dependable architecture of the time-tested Tsunami MP.11 product family, of which over a hundred thousand units have already been deployed. The new Tsunami MP.11 HS product family includes two new subscriber units, two new base station units (one outdoor unit and one rack-mounted indoor unit), the Tsunami® QuickBridge.11 HS bridge, a mobility kit and a 1.8GHz converter amplifier. The subscriber units and base station units each come in both ruggedized POE-enabled and traditional 12-volt DC powered models.

Tsunami(TM) MP.11 HS products are available for order now.

All MP.11 HS platforms are FIPS 140-2 level 2 compliant, and FIPS 140-2 level 2 certification is in process and is expected in the third quarter of 2008.