Voice Over Wi Fi For Dummies Mitel Special Edition PDF

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Voice Over Wi‐Fi
Mitel Special Edition
by Lawrence C. Miller
These materials are © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Any dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.
Voice Over Wi‐Fi For Dummies®, Mitel Special Edition
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Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
About This Book......................................................................... 2
Foolish Assumptions.................................................................. 2
Icons Used in This Book............................................................. 3
Beyond the Book......................................................................... 3
Where to Go from Here.............................................................. 3
Chapter 1: Recognizing the Mobile Imperative. . . . . . . . 5

Voice Communications Are Increasingly Mobile.................... 5
Mobile Challenges and Opportunities in the Enterprise....... 6
Understanding the Cellular Network Transformation........... 8
Chapter 2: Understanding Mobile Technology

Challenges and Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Limitations of Traditional Cellular Wireless
Voice Services....................................................................... 11
OTT Wi‐Fi Based Voice Services............................................. 12
LTE and IP‐based Voice............................................................ 14
VoLTE improves voice quality...................................... 16
VoLTE is an enablement platform for VoWiFi............. 17
Chapter 3: Addressing VoWiFi Challenges. . . . . . . . . . . 19

Supporting Authentication Methods...................................... 19
Mobility Across Wi‐Fi and LTE................................................ 20
User Data Synchronization...................................................... 21
Looking at Quality of Service Challenges............................... 22
Using Location Services........................................................... 23
Wi‐Fi Signal Quality................................................................... 24
Hand‐off 3G/2G.......................................................................... 24
Chapter 4: Enabling VoWiFi with the

Mitel Wi‐Fi Calling Solution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Enabling a VoWiFi Solution...................................................... 27
The Mitel Wi‐Fi Calling Solution.............................................. 28
Mitel Telephony Application Server (TAS)............................ 29
Deploying the Mitel Wi‐Fi Calling Solution............................ 30
iv Voice over Wi-Fi For Dummies, Mitel Special Edition
Chapter 5: Examining VoWiFi Use Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

In‐Building Coverage................................................................. 33
Roam If You Want to, Roam Around the World.................... 34
Chapter 6: Ten Key VoWiFi Questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

What is VoWiFi?........................................................................ 37
Why Deploy VoWiFi?................................................................ 38
Which Wi‐Fi Networks Matter?................................................ 39
Is QoS Required for VoWiFi?.................................................... 40
Why Deploy VoWiFi if Voice Services Are Declining?.......... 41
Do Operators Lose Control of Their Subscribers
on Wi‐Fi?................................................................................. 41
Can Calls Hand‐off from Wi‐Fi to Cellular?............................. 42
Do Operators Need a Full VoLTE Deployment
for VoWiFi?............................................................................. 42
Will VoWiFi Change Regulatory Requirements?................... 42
How Should Operators Charge for VoWiFi Services?........... 43
Introduction
W i‐Fi is a big part of our “always on” digitally con-
nected lives. Over the past few years Wi‐Fi access has
become pervasive, and its use is growing exponentially. You
can use Wi‐Fi in your home, at work, on the go at hotspots,
airports, and even in airplanes and vehicles. Wi‐Fi has revo-
lutionized the consumer market, and its adoption across the
entire range of consumer electronics is making Wi‐Fi a con-
stant presence in our daily lives.
Consumers are increasingly relying on Wi‐Fi enabled mobile

devices for access to high‐speed data services. According
to market research firm Analysis Mason, as people spend
80 percent of their time indoors, over 50 percent of
smartphone data usage is over Wi‐Fi. Wi‐Fi is significantly
faster than typical 3G networks and is often freely available.
With ready access to Wi‐Fi, consumers have turned to
“free” over‐the‐top (OTT) communication services, such as
FaceTime, Skype, Viber, WhatsApp, and other apps for voice
calling and international calling services. This untethering of
OTT applications led to Skype delivering over 50 percent of all
international minutes in 2015.
Wi‐Fi access is a major trend, and it’s going to be an even

bigger part of the mobile revolution. With the continuous
growth of mobile data traffic and the ubiquity of Wi‐Fi ser-
vices available inside virtually every building, Wi‐Fi is a logi-
cal means for mobile operators to improve their networks,
increase reliability, differentiate, and create revenue generat-
ing services on Wi‐Fi enabled devices. It’s transformational
and integral to operators’ cloud services strategies. Voice
over Wi‐Fi (VoWiFi), or Wi‐Fi Calling, is the first step toward
this transformation and several mobile operators are already
actively expanding to carrier‐grade Wi‐Fi Calling.
2 Voice over Wi-Fi For Dummies, Mitel Special Edition
About This Book

Voice over Wi‐Fi For Dummies, Mitel Special Edition, consists
of six short chapters that explore the following:
✓✓The mobile communications trend (Chapter 1)

✓✓Mobile technology challenges (Chapter 2)
✓✓VoWiFi challenges (Chapter 3)
✓✓Mitel VoWiFi solutions for carriers and enterprises
(Chapter 4)
✓✓Common VoWiFi use cases and customer success stories
(Chapter 5)
✓✓Key questions (and answers) about VoWiFi technologies
and deployments (Chapter 6)
Foolish Assumptions
It’s been said that most assumptions have outlived their use-
lessness, but I assume a few things nonetheless!
Mainly, I assume that you’re an IT infrastructure or network

professional, such as an engineer, manager, or IT decision
maker. I also assume that you’re working for a mobile
carrier — such as a mobile network operator (MNO) or
mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) — or a large
enterprise that’s interested in deploying VoWiFi. As such, this
book is written primarily for technical readers that know a
little something about modern IT networking, infrastructure,
unified communications, mobile technology, Wi‐Fi, and
enterprise systems.
If any of these assumptions describe you, then this book is for

you! If none of these assumptions describe you, keep reading
anyway. It’s a great book and when you finish reading it, you’ll
know enough about VoWiFi to be dangerous!
Introduction 3
Icons Used in This Book

Throughout this book, I occasionally use special icons to call
attention to important information. Here’s what to expect:
This icon points out information that you should commit

to your non‐volatile memory, your gray matter, or your
noggin’ — along with anniversaries and birthdays!
You won’t find a map of the human genome here, but if you
seek to attain the seventh level of NERD‐vana, perk up! This
icon explains the jargon beneath the jargon and is the stuff
legends — well, nerds — are made of!
Thank you for reading, hope you enjoy the book, please take
care of your writers! Seriously, this icon points out helpful
suggestions and useful nuggets of information.
This icon points out the stuff your mother warned you about.
Okay, probably not. But you should take heed nonetheless —
you might just save yourself some time and frustration!
Beyond the Book

There’s only so much I can cover in 48 short pages, so if you
find yourself at the end of this book, thinking “gosh, this was
an amazing book, where can I learn more?” just go to www.
mitel.com.
Where to Go from Here

With my apologies to Lewis Carroll, Alice, and the
Cheshire cat:
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from

here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said
the Cat — err, the Dummies Man.
“I don’t much care where . . . ,” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go!”
That’s certainly true of Voice over Wi‐Fi For Dummies, Mitel

Special Edition, which, like Alice in Wonderland, is also des-
tined to become a timeless classic!
If you don’t know where you’re going, any chapter will get
you there — but Chapter 1 might be a good place to start!
However, if you see a particular topic that piques your inter-
est, feel free to jump ahead to that chapter. Each chapter
is written to stand on its own, so feel free to start reading
anywhere and skip around to your heart’s content! Read this
book in any order that suits you (though I don’t recommend
upside down or backwards).
I promise you won’t get lost falling down the rabbit hole!
Chapter 1
Recognizing the Mobile
Imperative
In This Chapter
▶▶Appreciating the rise of mobile communications
▶▶Looking at mobile challenges and opportunities
▶▶Understanding how cellular networks are evolving
I n this chapter, I review the impact of mobile trends on

voice (and data) communications, as well as the chal-
lenges and opportunities these trends create for enterprises
and service providers.
Voice Communications
Are Increasingly Mobile
Today, voice communications are increasingly mobile. Many
businesses and households are forgoing traditional landline
phones, instead relying solely on their mobile devices for
all of their telephone needs. In fact, according to the United
States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
over 40 percent of U.S. households have only a mobile phone.
Relax, although some might argue that mobile-phone use
has become an epidemic, the CDC isn’t researching a deadly
outbreak involving mobile phones! But the CDC does conduct
many surveys via phone, and the trend of replacing landline
phones with mobile phones was identified in their research
conducted since 2003. In most markets today, mobile minutes
exceed landline minutes, and voice minutes on mobile devices
as a percentage of all voice minutes are increasing rapidly.
These voice trends are hardly surprising given the explosive

growth of mobile subscriptions worldwide. Currently, there
are more than 2.6 billion smartphone subscriptions world-
wide, and the total number of mobile subscriptions (including
smartphones, mobile broadband, tablets, smart devices, and
more) is 7.2 billion!
Of course, voice is only part of the mobile story. Check out

these stats:
✓✓According to Facebook, more than 50 percent of its users

are exclusively mobile — over 700 million users today
only access Facebook on their mobile devices — and
53 percent of all email communication is done on mobile
devices.
✓✓According to the June 2016 Ericsson Mobility Report,
total monthly voice traffic in the first quarter of 2016 was
approximately 250 petabytes, and growth in voice traffic
since 2011 has remained relatively flat.
✓✓Total mobile monthly data traffic in the first quarter of
2016 was approximately 5,900 petabytes, or 60 percent
growth year over year (YoY).
Mobile devices have become the tether point for the future,
driving a large majority of technological innovation today.
Mobile Challenges and

Opportunities in the Enterprise
For the enterprise, mobility creates many new challenges
and opportunities. According to many estimates, productiv-
ity can be negatively impacted by up to 40 percent due to
poor mobile integration. Employees expect to be able to
work as effectively — from anywhere, at any time, and on any
device — as if they were working at their desk in a corporate
office.
Yet another major facet of the mobile challenge for enter-

prises is bring your own device (BYOD) and bring your own
apps (BYOA) trends. Organizations that don’t embrace BYOD
and BYOA policies may suffer a significant loss of productivity
due to the following:
Chapter 1: Recognizing the Mobile Imperative 7
✓✓Employees being unable to use the applications they
need when they’re out of the office
✓✓Employees creating a “shadow” IT culture, in which they
download and use their own apps to perform certain
work functions, without the knowledge or support of cor-
porate IT
✓✓A dangerous “cat and mouse” game between employ-
ees attempting to circumvent security controls and IT
attempting to enforce draconian security policies
These organizations also face serious risks due to a loss of

control over their mobile environment, which can result in
critical processes being performed in unsanctioned or unof-
ficial apps and sensitive customer or corporate data being
processed and stored on personal mobile devices.
A February 2016 Ponemon Institute study estimates that the

average cost of a data breach resulting from a compromised
mobile device is $21,042. According to the study, 67 percent
of respondents from Global 2000 companies say it is “certain
or likely that their organizations had a data breach as a result
of employees using their mobile devices to access the com-
pany’s sensitive and confidential information.”
Numerous opportunities also exist for mobile enterprises to

transform their business and competitive position. For exam-
ple, customers and partners increasingly expect native mobile
integration and an omni‐channel experience with Internet‐
facing applications and services.
An omni‐channel experience enables users to transition seam-

lessly between devices. For example, a business user might
begin a conference call on her smartphone’s cellular network
while traveling to the office, then automatically switch to the
corporate Wi‐Fi network upon entering her office building,
then pick up her desk phone and join a web conference — all
seamlessly, through a single user interface, with the same full
functionality — without interrupting the call.
Understanding the Cellular

Network Transformation
Cellular networks began as a novel means to untether basic
telephone functions, but with the advent of data services —
first text and email, then web browsing, and now apps and
video — the cellular network, and the way it’s used, is evolving.
As new mobile applications are developed, the demand for
more bandwidth increases and, conversely, as more bandwidth
capacity becomes available, the demand for more full‐featured,
content‐rich mobile applications increases. The result is that
technology is fueling the demand for ever more bandwidth,
and vice versa. The transition from simple text messages, to
email, and then to web browsing, increased the demand for
bandwidth, but the proliferation of video is causing demand for
still more bandwidth to explode.
While cellular network architectures and capacity are being

driven by an ever increasing appetite for mobile video and
apps, services like voice telephony are on a very small growth
curve, if at all. CTIA (The Wireless Association, originally
known as the Cellular Telephone Industries Association) esti-
mates an average growth of data usage in mobile networks of
38 percent to 2020, while mobile telephony minutes are only
growing at around 10 percent and slowing. The result is that
telephony traffic now represents a relatively small percentage
of overall mobile traffic.
The shift from a desktop‐oriented to a mobile‐oriented world

has been transformational, not only for users, but also for the
network. According to eMarketer, in 2016 the average user
will spend 3 hours and 8 minutes a day accessing a range of
digital information on their mobile device, while only spend-
ing 2 hours and 11 minutes on a desktop computer. This is a
major change from 2011, when only 17 percent of digital time
was spent on mobile devices.
In addition to the 5 hours and 19 minutes that the average

person spends consuming digital data on his mobile and
desktop devices today, he spends an average of 4 hours and
3 minutes watching television. However, television viewing
is increasingly becoming mobile and moving to the digital
domain, delivered over the cellular network infrastructure.
Chapter 1: Recognizing the Mobile Imperative 9
Changes in television viewing habits — moving from in‐home
to mobile — will also drive the demand for more bandwidth
on cellular networks.
With Long‐Term Evolution (LTE), the mobile industry defined

a new, fully IP‐based communications architecture. The
LTE architecture assumes that the user is on a smartphone
device that uses packetized IP traffic as the primary way to
send and receive data. However, this change in the basic
architecture — from the voice‐oriented mobile networks of
the past to today’s IP networks — is only part of the story.
LTE is penetrating the market rapidly. With the shift from fea-
ture phones to smartphones, the demand for the bandwidth
that LTE offers is increasing rapidly. The GSM Association
(GSMA) forecasts that there will be 4.1 billion LTE subscrib-
ers by 2021. This increase in both user base and individual
demands for video and apps is driving the migration to 5G
technologies and the higher bandwidth it promises.
By moving voice traffic from the circuit‐switched core of

2G/3G networks to a Voice over LTE (VoLTE) implementation,
carriers can dramatically reduce the bandwidth that voice
traffic uses, by carrying it on 4G — and eventually 5G — data
networks. Additionally, in the future, carriers will be able
to recover and reuse the spectrum that the 2G/3G circuit‐
switched network occupies. The migration of voice minutes
from 2G/3G networks to LTE (and Voice over Wi‐Fi, or VoWiFi)
eliminates the need to expand capacity in 2G/3G networks in
most areas.
Moving voice to LTE will eventually enable carriers to rede-

ploy the spectrum currently used for 2G/3G. 4G and 5G are
built on much more advanced cellular technologies than
2G/3G, enabling up to 100 times more digital traffic as a func-
tion of spectrum use. As spectrum is a very expensive capital
cost for wireless operators, this reuse of spectrum into a
much more bandwidth effective and general use spectrum
will enable new services with better overall economics. Also,
much of the 2G/3G spectrum is at lower frequencies, which
will enable larger coverage areas and better penetration for
4G and 5G networks. As a result, LTE (and VoLTE) will drive
the mobile world for at least the next decade due to its value
to mobile carriers, as well as the advent of enhanced end‐user
services like high‐definition (HD) audio and video conferenc-
ing that LTE enables.
As the mobile world moves to VoLTE, the technologies are

enabling a parallel movement to VoWiFi. VoLTE and VoWiFi
are both IP‐based technologies, so both can be supported and
managed in a similar manner:
✓✓Both use IP packets, so moving calls from one network to

the other can be accomplished in the IP domain and can
be managed end to end, resulting in lower latency and
better manageability.
✓✓Both require a hand‐off or fallback to the 2G/3G circuit‐
switched network for calls that need to migrate to 2G/3G
service (when VoLTE/VoWiFi or LTE/WiFi isn’t available).
✓✓Both can be supported by the IP Multimedia Subsystem
(IMS) core, enhancing security, reducing battery drain,
and delivering better user experiences.
While both technologies are similar, they’re also complemen-

tary in solving key issues that plague the mobile world. For
example, both enable new services like HD audio and video.
However, VoWiFi addresses two key issues that remain in cel-
lular networks, even with VoLTE and 5G:
✓✓VoWiFi addresses in‐building coverage challenges.

✓✓VoWiFi enables off‐network roaming at potentially dra-
matically reduced costs.
Both of these subscriber‐friendly capabilities can be provided

while simultaneously reducing radio traffic and enabling addi-
tional bandwidth for additional revenue generating services.
The key value of LTE for service providers is the ability to

increase bandwidth without the need for a fundamental
architectural change: The coming 5G technology can be imple-
mented in the same LTE framework. This enables the industry
to smoothly incorporate the innovations in technology that
drive a 10x bandwidth increase every 7 to 8 years.
Chapter 2
Understanding Mobile
Technology Challenges
and Opportunities
In This Chapter
▶▶Recognizing coverage and bandwidth challenges in cellular
▶▶Exploring OTT voice options
▶▶Building toward the future with LTE and all IP‐based voice services
I n this chapter, you learn about different mobile technology

challenges, including limitations of cellular wireless, the
rise of over‐the‐top (OTT) services, and Long‐Term Evolution
(LTE) and IP‐based voice challenges and opportunities.
Limitations of Traditional
Cellular Wireless Voice Services
The geographic availability and coverage of cellular wireless
service has improved dramatically over the past 20 years.
However, limited in‐building signal availability continues to
have a significant impact on overall cellular wireless service.
According to a recent survey conducted for SpiderCloud

Wireless, a telecom systems provider, 61 percent of larger
U.S. offices have noticeably poor indoor cellular reception.
Similarly, a recent survey conducted for the Washington,
D.C.–based National Multifamily Housing Council found that
more than one‐third of respondents in large apartment com

plexes felt cellular reception was weak or spotty, particularly
in multi‐tenant buildings where low power services can have a
major impact on wireless renewal rates. The situation is simi
lar in many homes in both suburban and rural areas, where
cellular wireless signals aren’t strong enough to reach into
interior spaces.
Out of area (or “off‐net”) roaming charges are another source

of user dissatisfaction and subscriber churn. Roaming voice
minutes are typically billed at a significantly higher rate than
“on‐net” traffic. Businesses with multiple remote locations
may find premium “off‐net” rate structures in some areas to
be too cost prohibitive.
Finally, the current 2G/3G circuit‐switched voice system uses

relatively little of the available low frequency wireless spec
trum. This is due to the fact that traditional circuit‐switched
voice services are based on 1980s‐era technology.
Poor in‐building cellular coverage, roaming charges, and poor

utilization/outdated technology are major challenges for busi
nesses that want to adopt mobile devices as their primary
medium for voice communications in office buildings, as well
as remote and home offices.
All of these factors are driving businesses and providers to

look at Wi‐Fi as an alternative transport for voice. According
to the Wi‐Fi Alliance, 71 percent of all mobile communications
flowed over Wi‐Fi in 2014, thus Wi‐Fi has become the choice
for data and content services and a viable solution for voice
services.
OTT Wi‐Fi Based Voice Services

While many carrier services are built on legacy technologies
dating back to the 1980s, OTT voice over IP (VoIP) services
leverage more recent innovations to deliver a full range of
IP services and access networks. There are multiple options
for OTT voice services from vendors such as Skype, Vonage,
Facebook Messenger, and others, including free, “freemium,”
and paid services. Key benefits of OTT include free or low
cost services and easy access.
Chapter 2: Understanding Mobile Technology Challenges 13
Freemium service refers to services in which basic services
are provided free of charge, but a premium is charged for
more advanced functionality or features in the application or
service.
However, OTT services also come with some inherent

challenges:
✓✓Poor voice quality due to lack of quality of service

(QoS) on cellular networks: OTT may work well on high‐
speed wired and some Wi‐Fi connections to high‐speed
access networks, but may not be acceptable on cellular
networks, including 3G and 4G LTE. The lack of QoS in the
cellular network for these services can have a significant
impact on overall sound quality, and the lack of guaran
teed delivery can result in the loss of multiple packets
and a subsequent loss of spoken information.
✓✓Limited functionality due to lack of integration: OTT
apps generally operate as software and aren’t integrated
with other communications applications, such as an
optimized phone book and dialer. These OTT apps must
also always be open and running in order to receive calls,
potentially reducing battery life on laptops and mobile
devices. Certain notifications, such as incoming calls,
may also not be readily available within the app. This
can cause a poor user experience and limited access for
users outside the workgroup.
✓✓No seamless transition and service parity: While an OTT
solution can provide reasonable service within the Wi‐Fi
footprint, currently cellular wireless and Wi‐Fi networks
aren’t connected, so there’s no hand‐off and no service
parity between the two networks across OTT. When a
user moves from the Wi‐Fi network to the cellular wire
less network, the OTT call must be re‐established.
In enterprise unified communications, cloud operators report

that less than five percent of voice minutes are consumed in
mobile applications, reflecting a general lack of acceptance
and expected quality in OTT Wi‐Fi based voice services.
LTE and IP‐based Voice

In much the same way that the move to IP networks has
enabled a new era in traditional enterprise communications,
emerging LTE innovations are creating a similar paradigm
shift for mobile operators.
LTE is a standardized, all‐IP mobile network architecture

designed to meet the needs of an ever expanding set of
applications and services, based on the global IP network
infrastructure. The LTE architecture uses logical functions
and interfaces built on Third‐Generation Partnership Project
(3GPP) standards, based on Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF) protocols, including the following (among others):
✓✓Session Initiation Protocol (SIP): A communications pro

tocol commonly used for signaling and control of voice/
video calls and instant messaging (IM) over IP networks
✓✓Diameter: An authentication, authorization, and account
ing (AAA) protocol used in computer networks with sup
port for Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP)
✓✓Real‐Time Transport Protocol (RTP): A network proto
col used for end‐to‐end, real‐time transfer of streaming
media, such as audio and video, over IP networks
✓✓E.164 Number to Uniform Resource Identifier (URI)
Mapping (ENUM): A system (similar to the Domain Name
System, or DNS, in computer networks) for translating
telephone numbers into URIs or IP addresses for use in
an IP network
The all‐IP network defined by LTE is easily extensible to

next‐generation radio and coding technologies, which can dra
matically increase overall system and individual subscriber
bandwidth.
The evolution from 4G to 5G isn’t an architectural change;

it’s a simple evolution of the radio and wireless coding to
deliver an order of magnitude (or greater) bandwidth growth,
while maintaining core services. The capability to abstract
connection‐dependent core services from the underlying
transport services that evolve with new technologies is a key
element of the LTE architecture. The result is that 5G will
increase five to ten times in available subscriber bandwidth,
as shown in Table 2‐1.
Table 2-1 1G to 5G Features Comparison
Generation 1G 2G 3G 4G 5G
Features
Years 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
Data 2 Kbps 64 Kbps 2 Mbps 200 Mbps 1 Gbps
Bandwidth
Standards Advanced Time Division Wideband LTE — Single unified
Mobile Multiple Code standards
Phone Access Division
System (TDMA), Multiple
(AMPS) Code Division Access
Multiple (WCDMA)
Access
(CDMA), Global
System for
Mobile commu-
nication (GSM),
General Packet
Radio Service
(GPRS)
Technology Analog, Digital cellular; Broadband Unified IP services
Cellular higher capacity with with IP Multimedia
packetized CDMA, IP Subsystem (IMS) control
technology and Home Subscriber
Server (HSS)
Seamless integration
to other IP wireless
environments
Services Analog Digital voice, Voice, High‐ Virtual
mobile short message email definition reality
voice system (SMS), (HD) video
limited email Web Internet of
browsing Dynamic Things (IoT)
information
Audio access Continually
connected
Video Wearable
Location integration Artificial
Intelligence
services (AI)
Switching Circuit Circuit and Packet All IP packet
packet
The next generation of networks is being driven by the migra

tion of content media and televised content from terrestrial
networks to the mobile infrastructure. However, the result
is that traditional cellular wireless services (such as voice)
can now be effectively managed in the packet infrastructure,
which has led to the development of Voice over LTE (VoLTE).
In VoLTE, the total bandwidth available in the 4G and 5G LTE

infrastructures enables voice services to be guaranteed a
relatively small slice of bandwidth, with guaranteed priority
of service, quality of service (QoS), and no discards. Using a
wideband high‐definition codec, all‐IP VoLTE to VoLTE calls
can achieve quality levels that are far superior to landline
voice quality in traditional circuit‐switched networks.
Some key benefits of VoLTE include
✓✓Improved call quality

✓✓Faster call setup
✓✓Extended battery life
A codec (coder and decoder) is a device or program used to

encode and decode a digital stream or media signal.
With the migration to 5G, VoLTE has the capability to extend

beyond voice to include video, which generally requires at
least an order of magnitude more bandwidth per call/session
than voice.
VoLTE improves voice quality

Volte improves the quality of voice service compared to both
traditional public switched telephone network (PSTN) G.711
voice and OTT VoIP services. When compared to traditional
G.711 voice coding, VoLTE uses a higher frequency and higher
dynamic range along with modern encoding techniques in
order to reduce bandwidth. The result is that the conversa
tion is generally more understandable for users. Users report
significantly higher mean opinion scores (MOS) for HD audio
than for the lower frequency/dynamic range of traditional
voice services.
Mean opinion score (MOS) is a numerical indication of the
perceived quality of received media after compression and/or
transmission, from the user’s perspective.
When compared to an OTT application, the value of QoS

and network integration is clearly evident. A study by Nokia
Solutions and Networks (NSN) shows that latency (a major
cause of quality issues in VoIP) is significantly lower in VoLTE
compared to OTT services. In the NSN study, a VoLTE client
exhibited up to 94 percent lower mouth‐to‐ear delay than OTT
VoIP service, while consuming 40 percent less smartphone
battery power.
VoLTE is an enablement platform

for VoWiFi
The IMS network and other VoLTE implementation elements
such as hand‐offs, equipment, and capabilities, can be directly
extended to VoWiFi, as well as messaging and video over
Wi‐Fi. VoLTE securely interconnects networks and enables
VoWiFi, as well as other trends (see Figure 2‐1), including
✓✓Wi‐Fi Calling: Apple support is a catalyst for Evolved

Packet Data Gateway (ePDG).
✓✓Hotspot 2.0: Seamless Wi‐Fi authentication requires
access network discovery and selection function
(ANDSF) policy control (ePDG complement).
✓✓VoLTE/Rich Communication Services (RCS): Interoper
ability requires wireless interconnect session border
controllers (I‐SBCs).
✓✓4G LTE Data: Roaming requires Diameter Routing Agent
(DRA) interconnectivity.
✓✓IMS: VoLTE subscriber/traffic growth requires efficient
signaling network design.
Figure 2-1: The VoLTE architecture creates secure interconnected

networks, enabling VoWiFi and other trends.
Because almost all mobile operators today are deploying or

piloting VoLTE implementations on their LTE networks, inte
grating VoWiFi is a straightforward proposition that increases
value. Note: The VoWiFi solution doesn’t require VoLTE.
Although VoLTE can dramatically improve the spectral effi

ciency of the cellular network, it doesn’t address cellular wire
less in‐building coverage and roaming issues.
Chapter 3
Addressing VoWiFi
Challenges
In This Chapter
▶▶Understanding authentication methods
▶▶Providing mobility and data synchronization between networks
▶▶Ensuring quality of service (QoS) and location services
▶▶Recognizing Wi‐Fi signal quality and 3G/2G hand‐off issues
E xtending the cellular wireless experience seamlessly into

a Wi‐Fi environment requires carriers and enterprises to
address several technical challenges. These include authen-
tication, call migration, coordination of subscriber data, and
quality of service (QoS)/quality of experience (QoE) across
the Wi‐Fi environment.
For users, a seamless experience means no dropped calls

or changes in call quality as the call moves from the cellular
wireless network to the Wi‐Fi network. In this chapter, you
explore these challenges and the various industry solutions
available to help deliver a seamless Voice over Wi‐Fi (VoWiFi)
user experience.
Supporting Authentication
Methods
VoWiFi is designed to support different subscriber authen-
tication methods to access IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)
services and VoWiFi applications. The authentication method
grants user access to the IMS network and depends on the
capabilities of the client and device capabilities.
There are two basic authentication models available:
✓✓IMS Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Digest

Authentication based on user ID and password
✓✓Authentication and Key Agreement (AKA) based
authentication for devices equipped with a Subscriber
Identity Module (SIM) card
A properly implemented VoWiFi solution provides voice (and

Short Message Service, or SMS text messaging) services over
a Wi‐Fi network to end‐users in a seamless manner that’s
indistinguishable from the end‐user experience in the cellular
wireless domain. This gives the user access to the VoWiFi ser-
vice without requiring specific or extra authentication steps
to be performed by the user.
However, given that Wi‐Fi security is generally considered

to be inherently weak, additional security and encryption
requirements may need to be implemented. For example, an
IPSec virtual private network (VPN) tunnel may need to be
established between the mobile device and the access net-
work prior to accessing IMS services.
Mobility Across Wi‐Fi and LTE

While both LTE and Wi‐Fi are essentially IP services, the abil-
ity to hand off a call session between them is dependent on
two core services:
✓✓Fast tunnel creation: IPSec tunnel creation between the

device and access network
✓✓Fast authentication: Happens between the device and
IMS network
The hand‐off from LTE to Wi‐Fi, or back again, can be quite

simple. In an environment where the LTE signal is available
at reasonable levels, the transition to and from Wi‐Fi is rela-
tively easy.
However, in many cases, the hand‐off is much more complex.

For example, if the voice call was initiated in a building where
there’s poor or no LTE service, the hand‐off becomes very
challenging. As a user on a mobile device walks out of the
Chapter 3: Addressing VoWiFi Challenges 21
Wi‐Fi coverage area and into the LTE coverage area, there’s a
very short period of time available to hand off the call before
it’s dropped. The same challenge exists when walking back
into the building, out of the LTE coverage area, and into the
Wi‐Fi coverage area.
Few people would consider authentication to be a fast

process — think of how long it takes to log into your com-
puter or email account. But for a seamless VoWiFi experience,
mobile devices must authenticate to the Wi-Fi network near
instantaneously. IP mobility is based on building local VPN
tunnels, carrying the voice session in those VPN tunnels,
and handing the voice session off to new VPN tunnels. Thus,
a VPN tunnel must be built on the LTE network before the
call can be migrated from the Wi-Fi network (or vice versa).
Accomplishing these tasks in the few seconds that may be
available as the user moves from one coverage area to the
next — before the call is dropped — is a significant challenge.
User Data Synchronization

All the subscriber services offered in the circuit-switched
2G/3G domain should also be offered in the VoWiFi domain.
Maintaining service parity between these two domains
requires subscriber data to be synchronized between them.
Depending on the subscriber database deployment scenario,
different solutions can achieve this requirement:
✓✓Universal Subscriber Database (USDB): In this case, a

single central database for subscriber data is used. Each
domain will update and read the user data on that same
database. USDB will be available in the near future.
✓✓Split independent subscriber databases in circuit‐
switched and Wi‐Fi domains: In this scenario, an effi-
cient subscriber data update and synchronization is
required across both domains.
The challenge in implementing cross‐domain synchroni-
zation is to do it without negatively impacting the normal
operation of the legacy network and keeping the device
active in the legacy domain.
In deployments where the subscriber data is sorted into sepa-

rate databases where the Home Location Register (HLR) and
Home Subscriber Server (HSS) are based on separate plat-
forms, and no subscriber data management solution exists to
provide unified data convergence, a solution is required to
synchronize the user data changes in both databases.
There are different stages/dimensions that are associated

with user data synchronization:
✓✓VoWiFi client setup and initialization: During initial

VoWiFi service subscription and VoWiFi client setup on
the mobile device, user data synchronization must take
place. This data synchronization must include transfer-
ring all the current user data for the subscriber from the
circuit‐switched domain profile and updating the VoWiFi
subscriber database with that associated user data. This
is crucial for services so they’re properly inherited from
the circuit‐switched domain, for example voicemail, call
forwarding settings, and others.
✓✓User-initiated user data changes and updates: Users
must be able to update their settings on either the Wi-Fi
or cellular network. The network is responsible for syn-
chronizing all user data updates and changes applied by
the end-user across both the Wi-Fi and cellular networks.
This synchronization must be transparent to the end-
user and the end-user device.
✓✓Operator backend‐initiated user data changes: During
operator backend user data updates and life cycle
changes, it’s optimum to have the change applied only in
one domain. However, depending on the operator back-
end architecture and deployment requirement, this may
not be true in all cases. Regardless, the same synchroni-
zation of user data changes must occur transparently to
the end‐user device.
Looking at Quality of Service

Challenges
Quality of Service (QoS) challenges in VoWiFi deployments
include the following:
✓✓LTE offers separate QoS Class Identifiers (QCIs) with low
delay and jitter for voice and video traffic.
✓✓Wi‐Fi and the associated Internet access and IP transmis-
sion paths typically only offer Best Effort (BE) delivery.
Voice quality — and hence user experience — may vary
as a user moves between the Wi‐Fi and LTE domains. This
challenge can be mitigated by turning on prioritization
in local routers and switches because QoS characteris-
tics for Wi‐Fi services are bound to the carrier.
✓✓Independently operated Wi‐Fi hotspots may offer very
poor quality connections.
While quality may be an issue in some VoWiFi deployments,

the resulting voice services will minimally have quality com-
parable to OTT services in higher bandwidth areas. Because
Wi‐Fi hotspots and home access typically have five to ten
times more individual bandwidth available than cellular net-
works, quality is much easier to manage than in OTT services
on the wireless network. Service providers that offer both
wireless and terrestrial services can optimize QoS for Wi‐Fi,
which further enhances quality.
The VoWiFi client can also monitor VoWiFi call quality in

real‐time and fallback to the 3G domain or apply advanced
QoS‐specific voice call manipulation, such as jitter control,
to improve voice quality, if necessary. Finally, if the VoWiFi
client is a native client integrated in the mobile device
(instead of an app downloaded from an OTT provider), the
client will have better hardware accelerator features that
enable better performance.
Using Location Services

Location services are essential for emergency services, roam-
ing status, and subscriber billing. The primary VoWiFi chal-
lenge in providing location services is that there are many
custom solutions available, but none of them are optimal.
These include
✓✓Wireless LAN identifier (WLAN‐ID) in P‐Access‐Network‐

Info (PANI) header
✓✓Database lookup of user IP address
✓✓Global positioning system (GPS) location provided by

user equipment (UE)
✓✓Last known Cell Global Identity/Evolved Cell Global
Identifier (CGI)
However, with the advent of location services in many IP

infrastructures and GPS, this challenge is being resolved. For
example, when a user dials 911, the client can automatically
switch GPS on and include the GPS coordinates in the emer-
gency call.
Wi‐Fi Signal Quality

Ensuring quality voice signals in the Wi‐Fi domain is critical to
the overall VoWiFi service. Depending on codec(s), minimum
bandwidth/latency/loss requirements must be met over the
access radio channel. For example, for a wideband codec,
transmission rates are typically less than 100 Kbps.
On a wireless home connection with uplink speeds of 5 Mbps

(for Digital Subscriber Line, or DSL) or 10‐20 Mbps (for cable),
this transmission rate represents a very small percentage
of the available bandwidth. On downlink connections, voice
services may have to compete with streaming video, but tests
have consistently demonstrated that there’s usually sufficient
bandwidth available in most environments for voice (look at
how many people use Skype on their PCs in coffee shops).
According to Edholm’s Law of Bandwidth, wireless (such

as cellular), nomadic (such as Wi‐Fi), and wired (such as
Ethernet) data rates are converging over time.
Hand‐off 3G/2G
In a traditional network architecture, the legacy circuit‐
switched core and the new LTE radio/Evolved Packet Core
(EPC) essentially operate as two separate networks. Thus,
operators must manage two separate infrastructures to pro-
vide the same end-user functionality in both networks.
The ideal VoLTE and VoWiFi solution enables the 2G/3G
circuit‐switched network to fully integrate with the IMS
network. This integration provides seamless call transitions
from IP‐based LTE and Wi‐Fi environments to c ircuit‐switched
2G/3G domains.
The same authentication and tunneling challenges that exist

in the LTE to Wi‐Fi mobility hand‐off must also be addressed
in 2G/3G to IP hand‐offs.
Chapter 4
Enabling VoWiFi with the
Mitel Wi‐Fi Calling Solution
In This Chapter
▶▶Identifying required elements for VoWiFi enablement
▶▶Learning about the Mitel Wi‐Fi Calling solution
▶▶Implementing VoWiFi with Mitel’s Wi‐Fi Calling solution
▶▶Exploring deployment options
I n this chapter, you discover what elements are necessary

to enable a Voice over Wi‐Fi (VoWiFi) solution, as well
as the Mitel Wi‐Fi Calling solution and various deployment
options.
Enabling a VoWiFi Solution

The basic components of a VoWiFi mobile network consist of
three major elements at the core:
✓✓Home subscriber server (HSS) subscriber database

✓✓IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) core and access that
manages communications across the system
✓✓Telephony Application and Messaging platform for
voice and short message services over Wi‐Fi.
These components, shown in Figure 4‐1, are configured

together to manage the subscriber and communications ser-
vices of the VoWiFi system.
Figure 4-1: The basic components of a 4th Generation Wireless

infrastructure for voice and messaging.
The Mitel Wi‐Fi Calling Solution

The Mitel Wi‐Fi Calling solution can be implemented as a com-
plete end‐to‐end IMS‐based software solution that includes
IMS core and application servers, all of which are based on a
common software platform.
The key benefits of the Mitel Wi‐Fi Calling Solution include the
following:
✓✓Common, carrier‐grade platform designed for reliability

and scalability
✓✓Hardware agnostic software platform that’s optionally
virtualized and deployed on cloud‐based infrastructure
✓✓Modular architecture with key integrated components,
such as integrated load balancer and configuration
management
✓✓Integration solution and hooks with various CS 2G/3G
Legacy networks technologies that offers unmatched
feature parity across all customer subscribers.
✓✓Flexible deployment models to optionally scale up to
expand capacity, or scale complex solutions down to a
minimal footprint for entry‐level deployments
Mitel’s core network infrastructure that’s used to deliver

VoWiFi is the same infrastructure used to deliver VoLTE and
advanced rich messaging.
Chapter 4: Enabling VoWiFi with the Mitel Wi‐Fi Calling Solution 29
The Mitel Wi‐Fi Calling solution enables service providers to
provide enhanced mobile services, including
✓✓Extending the reach of the cellular network

✓✓Reducing dead spots in many in‐building environments
✓✓Providing the ability to make international calls without
paying hefty roaming and long distance charges
Additional solutions in the Mitel Wi‐Fi Calling solution include

the following:
✓✓Circuit Switched Fallback (CSFB) and CS Breakout:

Mitel’s IMS Core and Border Gateway Function provide
the means of supporting new technologies while remov-
ing the risk, cost, and time‐to‐market disadvantages asso-
ciated with legacy core network integration.
✓✓Voice and video calling: Mitel offers a complete portfolio
of innovative virtualized network video and voice solu-
tions for IP‐based communication services.
✓✓IP messaging and Rich Communications Services (RCS):
Mobile operators deploying an all‐IP services core have
an opportunity to transform their messaging network by
capping legacy investment and introducing intelligent
delivery capability for messaging and multimedia while
managing user generated content across multiple access
domains and devices.
Mitel Telephony Application

Server (TAS)
Mitel’s Telephony Application Server (TAS) integrates all
potential transport mechanisms including 4G, VoLTE, and
VoWiFi into a common interoperable solution, and manages
all of the services to ensure a consistent and superior user
experience. Regardless of the transport, the Mitel TAS deliv-
ers all call features identically, whether the subscriber is on
Wi‐Fi or on an LTE wireless network. Operators can decide to
initially deploy either VoLTE or VoWiFi and still maintain fea-
ture parity with their legacy networks.
VoLTE deployments can have dependencies on the device

and LTE infrastructure ecosystems. Deploying Mitel’s Wi‐Fi
Calling solution ahead of VoLTE gives operators the opportu-
nity to bring new IP services to market and monetize their IMS
investment sooner.
Mitel’s TAS is access agnostic and supports the full range of

features needed to deliver rich multimedia services, such as
high‐definition (HD) voice and video calling to subscribers on
LTE, Wi‐Fi, fixed, or business local and wide area networks,
as well as the integrated mobility features to enable service
continuity as users move from one access network domain to
another.
Mitel’s TAS reduces total cost of ownership (TCO) and

improves time to market by seamlessly integrating into
the operator’s existing infrastructure, including subscriber
databases, intelligent networking systems, billing systems,
and others, using standard legacy interfaces. This approach
ensures that mobile subscribers have a consistent user expe-
rience by using next‐generation voice services over LTE or
Wi‐Fi, because the TAS provides service parity with the legacy
circuit‐switched mobile network.
Mitel’s TAS is a fully virtualized, highly scalable, carrier‐grade

solution that can be deployed as part of the customer network,
or on cloud‐based infrastructure.
Deploying the Mitel Wi‐Fi

Calling Solution
The Mitel Wi‐Fi Calling solution is configurable to meet the
needs of any carrier, regardless of where a carrier is on its
LTE migration journey. Mitel supports a full range of strategic
deployment options from augmenting an existing LTE infra-
structure with key components to a complete greenfield IMS
deployment.
VoWiFi and VoLTE can coexist using the same Mitel IMS infra-
structure and Mitel TAS, using different access technologies —
such as Wi‐Fi radio access and LTE radio access (see Figure 4‐2).
Chapter 4: Enabling VoWiFi with the Mitel Wi‐Fi Calling Solution 31
Figure 4-2: Augmenting an existing LTE infrastructure with Mitel IMS

solution components to enable VoWiFi and VoLTE.
Augmenting an existing LTE infrastructure with the Mitel

Unified Access Gateway (UAG) and TAS enables operators to
offer their subscribers VoWiFi and VoLTE services without
replacing their existing infrastructure investments.
Alternatively, the Mitel Wi‐Fi Calling solution can be deployed

as a complete VoWiFi solution without the need for an exist-
ing LTE infrastructure, as shown in Figure 4‐3.
Figure 4-3: The complete Mitel Wi‐Fi Calling solution.
The Mitel Wi‐Fi Calling solution is designed for the next gen-
eration of mobile networks, leveraging the power of LTE and
the capabilities of WiFi, while enabling new services like RCS.
The Mitel Wi‐Fi Calling solution enables 4G operators to

deliver competitively differentiated services and drive
customer loyalty and additional revenue.
Chapter 5
Examining VoWiFi
Use Cases
In This Chapter
▶▶Eliminating cellular “dead zones” in homes and buildings
▶▶Supporting roaming users without roaming charges
I n this chapter, I describe two common use cases for Voice

over Wi‐Fi (VoWiFi) — in building coverage and roaming.
In‐Building Coverage
One of the many reasons for deploying VoWiFi today is to
address indoor cellular service challenges. Other reasons
include offloading traffic from legacy circuit‐switched net-
works, and preparing the carrier network for the deployment
of Voice over LTE (VoLTE).
Poor cellular coverage in homes and buildings is one of the top

reasons for subscriber churn and is becoming an even bigger
problem as consumers and businesses are increasingly replac-
ing their traditional phones with mobile devices. But having
a mobile phone that only works in certain rooms is a lot like
only having two phones in your home — a pea-green-colored
phone mounted on the kitchen wall and a beige phone on
a nightstand in the bedroom, each “tied” to a 3‐foot coiled
cord! This challenge is exacerbated by coverage challenges in
offices and stores in many communities, especially as “ugly”
cell towers have become increasingly controversial.
Mobile operators, geographically dispersed end‐users on

mobile devices, and large enterprises can leverage VoWiFi to
overcome in‐building cellular coverage challenges.
The benefits of VoWiFi in‐building coverage are different

depending on what user group you’re in:
✓✓For end‐users: Make/receive phone calls and use data

services with your mobile phone at home and in build-
ings with limited or no cell coverage by using existing
Wi‐Fi and broadband connections.
✓✓For mobile operators: Improve customer satisfaction,
reduce churn, and provide “five bars” signal strength by
using Wi‐Fi with no additional equipment while also free-
ing up spectrum.
While the mobile industry, in general, has awaited the deploy-

ment of Long‐Term Evolution/Evolved Packet Core (LTE/EPC)
networks and the availability of Voice over LTE (VoLTE) hand-
sets, several operators have deployed voice and messaging
services over other technologies, specifically VoWiFi.
Roam If You Want to,

Roam Around the World
VoWiFi is a game changer in many market segments. Cable
providers and mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs)
recognize the opportunity to leverage the ubiquity of Wi‐Fi
access in order to provide cost‐effective wireless service.
The benefits of VoWiFi roaming are different depending on

what user group you’re in:
✓✓For end‐users: Make/receive phone calls and send/

receive text messages with your mobile phone any-
where in the world, just like at home — with no roaming
charges.
✓✓For mobile operators: Improve customer satisfaction,
provide better service than over‐the‐top (OTT), and
retain voice revenue.
Chapter 5: Examining VoWiFi Use Cases 35
MVNOs can leverage VoWiFi services, which can be accessed
over the public Internet from anywhere in the world, thereby
effectively eliminating excessive international roaming fees for
their subscribers that use voice and messaging services with
others in the same country. Since the user is connected to
carrier network in their home country, all voice and messag-
ing usage is considered local and is charged according to the
subscriber’s standard rate plan.
Consumers have become accustomed to using OTT service

providers, such as Skype, Apple, Viber, and others, to avoid
international roaming fees. However, by making VoWiFi
services available from anywhere in the world, carriers can
essentially become a global provider of mobile communi-
cation services, offering an attractive alternative to OTT
services.
Chapter 6
Ten Key VoWiFi Questions
In This Chapter
▶▶Answering the what, why, and where of VoWiFi
▶▶Comparing voice quality on cellular and Wi‐Fi networks
▶▶Recognizing the need for VoWiFi
▶▶Addressing control, hand‐off, infrastructure, and regulatory concerns
▶▶Exploring charging options for VoWiFi
I n this chapter, I answer some frequently asked questions

about Voice over Wi‐Fi (VoWiFi) technologies.
What is VoWiFi?
Over‐the‐top (OTT) voice and messaging services, such as
Skype, Viber, and WhatsApp, are all capable of working over
any IP‐based network, including Wi‐Fi. However, VoWiFi is
actually very specific. As defined by the Third Generation
Partnership Project (3GPP) and Global System for Mobile
Communications Association (GSMA), specifically in GSMA
IR.51 and IR.92, VoWiFi enables mobile service providers to
deliver the same mobile voice and messaging services they
currently offer over their cellular networks, over any Wi‐Fi
network, globally.
With VoWiFi, cellular subscribers can transparently transition

between a mobile operator’s cellular network and any home,
office or public Wi‐Fi network. Several key features of VoWiFi
include
✓✓Same mobile number: As a subscriber moves between

the cellular network and any Wi‐Fi network, he continues
to use his regular mobile telephone number. He doesn’t

have a separate identity when on Wi‐Fi versus the cel-
lular network. When connected to Wi‐Fi, the subscriber
will receive all calls and messages to his regular mobile
number over the Wi‐Fi network. And all calls and mes-
sages he sends will also be delivered over the Wi‐Fi
network using his regular mobile number.
✓✓Same mobile services: As a subscriber moves between
the cellular network and any Wi‐Fi network, he contin-
ues to receive the same set of mobile services. This not
only includes standard mobile calling and short message
service/multimedia messaging service (SMS/MMS) mes-
saging but also the myriad of supplementary services
(for example, call waiting, multi‐party calling, caller ID,
and others), Intelligent Network (IN)-based services (for
example, prepaid, VPN, toll free, and others), as well as
emergency calling.
✓✓Same user experience: Subscribers have the same user
experience whether they’re connected to the cellular net-
work or Wi‐Fi. Subscribers continue to make and receive
calls using the regular native dialer on their phones.
Subscribers send and receive messages using the same
app whether they’re connected to Wi‐Fi or the cellular
network. No change in end‐user behavior is required.
✓✓Seamless transitions: A key distinction of VoWiFi from
other technologies, such as OTT, is the seamless transi-
tion from VoWiFi to a 2G/3G circuit‐switched service
or to Voice over LTE (VoLTE). This enables a call to be
started on a Wi‐Fi network and moved to VoLTE coverage
(or transitioned to the legacy circuit‐switched network
if VoLTE isn’t available). Any call can transition from one
transport to another, maintaining the call and a seamless,
transparent user experience.
VoWiFi services and seamless transitions are increasingly

supported as a native feature in a number of smartphones,
including popular Apple and Samsung devices.
Why Deploy VoWiFi?

While the reasons to deploy VoWiFi vary by region, country,
and operator, the primary reason is to address indoor service
coverage challenges. Since the dawn of the mobile industry,
Chapter 6: Ten Key VoWiFi Questions 39
providing subscribers with reliable, quality coverage for voice
services while indoors has been a challenge for mobile opera-
tors. This is especially true in the locations subscribers spend
most of their time and seek to use most of their mobile ser-
vices at home and in the office.
Whether you’re a tier‐1 mobile network operator (MNO) or a

new mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), one of the top
reasons for subscriber churn is poor indoor coverage, espe-
cially at home. Poor indoor coverage is one of the top reasons
for new subscriber 15/30 day returns (for example, service
cancellations), which are typically not reported in an opera-
tor’s monthly subscriber churn numbers.
A very powerful and compelling business case for offering

VoWiFi service is that it can provide a significant reduction in
subscriber churn, as well as returns and service cancellations.
A secondary reason for VoWiFi deployment typically includes

one or more of the following:
✓✓Cellular network offload

✓✓Subscriber acquisition
✓✓Response to OTT services
✓✓Fixed‐to‐mobile substitution
✓✓Reducing coverage complaints
For example, an MVNO will look at VoWiFi as a means to

reduce the amount of voice traffic delivered over its partner’s
cellular network, thereby lowering operational costs. Or, an
MNO who is the first to deploy to a VoWiFi in a market will
be able to provide a differentiated service offering that can
increase overall subscriber acquisition.
Which Wi‐Fi Networks Matter?

The simple answer is that all Wi‐Fi networks matter. Generally,
enabling private home Wi‐Fi networks has the largest impact,
followed by private office Wi‐Fi networks and public Wi‐Fi
networks.
One reason VoWiFi is such an elegant solution is that it’s able

to leverage the fact that the vast majority of existing Wi‐Fi
network deployments are in the exact same locations that
operators have difficulty reaching with high‐quality service
coverage using their network.
In addition, the vast majority of smartphone subscribers have

already configured their smartphones to connect to Wi‐Fi
networks at their home and in the office. Those operators
who simply choose to begin making their voice and messag-
ing services available over Wi‐Fi can quickly make significant
progress toward addressing their indoor service challenge.
The growing base of “carrier Wi‐Fi”’ somewhat overlays these
three categories of networks and makes connectivity for users
even easier.
Is QoS Required for VoWiFi?

No. VoWiFi quality will typically be as good as, if not better
than, voice quality on cellular networks — even without qual-
ity of service (QoS) on the Wi‐Fi network. VoWiFi quality of
experience (QoE), measured as mean opinion score (MOS),
will generally be as good as, or better than voice over cellular
quality.
I discuss in the section “Which Wi‐Fi Networks Matter?” that

the vast majority of VoWiFi usage is on private Wi‐Fi networks
at home and in the office. As Wi‐Fi network performance (for
example, coverage, congestion, throughput, and others) in
these locations is usually very good, voice services operating
over them provide a quality of experience (QoE) that’s typi-
cally better than that received on the cellular network.
Some VoWiFi usage will be on public Wi‐Fi networks, espe-

cially when subscribers travel internationally and seek to
bypass international roaming fees. When using such public
Wi‐Fi networks, network performance will be more variable
and can have an effect on VoWiFi quality. However, as VoWiFi
usage on such networks is such a small percentage, overall
VoWiFi quality will generally be better than that received on
the cellular network.
Why Deploy VoWiFi if Voice

Services Are Declining?
In some countries, while traditional mobile telephony
minutes‐of‐use may be declining, overall voice/audio usage
on mobile phones — driven by the availability of many
alternative mobile voice services such as OTT — is actually
growing.
Even in those situations where mobile telephony minutes

may be in decline, no one is predicting that voice service will
disappear any time soon. OTT voice service may be a better
fit than mobile telephony for a specific real‐time voice require-
ment in certain use cases, but the ability to “call” and speak to
practically anyone in the world will continue to make mobile
telephony an indispensable service for the foreseeable future.
Therefore, VoWiFi enables operators to develop new pric-
ing models to encourage more use of their services instead
of OTT.
The coverage and performance of mobile telephony service,

especially in the places subscribers spent most of their
time — at home and in the office — is a key decision criterion
for subscribers when they compare mobile service providers.
Do Operators Lose Control of

Their Subscribers on Wi‐Fi?
No. The operator retains complete control of subscribers and
the voice and messaging services they deliver to them. When
VoWiFi‐enabled subscribers connect to Wi‐Fi, their handsets
automatically attempt to connect to the operators’ core net-
work over the Internet and register to receive voice and mes-
saging services over that Wi‐Fi connection.
Once authenticated and authorized, all inbound and outbound

voice and messaging traffic will be routed over the Wi‐Fi/
Internet connection rather than over the cellular network. The
operators continue to handle all routing, billing, and other
services for all mobile originated and terminated voice and
messaging traffic over Wi‐Fi. In effect, VoWiFi simply enables
the Internet and existing Wi‐Fi networks to function as an

alternative radio access network.
This control gives operators a rich set of enhanced services,

call logging, recording, and more, regardless of where the
call is delivered. This integration of all interactions can be a
significant value‐add, encouraging VoWiFi use versus separate
OTT services.
Can Calls Hand‐off from Wi‐Fi

to Cellular?
Yes. VoWiFi standards and products allow for the hand‐off
of active voice calls between Wi‐Fi and cellular networks. In
fact, standards support two different approaches for hand‐off:
one for handing off between Wi‐Fi and VoLTE, and another for
handing off between Wi‐Fi and 2G/3G voice services.
Not all vendor solutions support both hand‐off

methods.
Do Operators Need a Full VoLTE

Deployment for VoWiFi?
No. While the same IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) core net-
work used to support VoWiFi can also support Voice over
Long‐Term Evolution (VoLTE) services, operators aren’t
required to deploy VoLTE prior to offering VoWiFi services. In
fact, a growing number of mobile operators are now deploying
VoWiFi in advance of VoLTE, as VoWiFi addresses a pressing
indoor coverage problem.
Will VoWiFi Change Regulatory

Requirements?
No. VoWiFi standards and products were developed to ensure
operators can meet all existing regulatory obligations, includ-
ing emergency call handling. As I mention in the section
“Do Operators Lose Control of Their Subscribers on Wi‐Fi?”,
because all inbound and outbound subscriber traffic is routed
through the operator’s core network, the necessary systems
are in place to ensure ongoing regulatory compliance.
How Should Operators Charge

for VoWiFi Services?
While VoWiFi technology enables operators to charge differ-
ent rates for voice and messaging service usage by country,
access point type, or even by specific access points, using
their existing billing systems, they must be careful not to con-
fuse their subscribers.
For an MNO whose primary objective with a VoWiFi service is

to address indoor coverage challenges, the simplest approach
is to not charge different rates for voice and messaging ser-
vices consumed over Wi‐Fi versus the cellular network. In this
situation, subscribers simply choose to use VoWiFi in certain
locations to receive a better service experience.
However, an MVNO trying to offload the cellular network with

VoWiFi may choose to charge a lower rate for calling over
Wi‐Fi, in order to encourage subscribers to connect more
frequently to Wi‐Fi networks. A simple mechanism, like charg-
ing a portion of a minute for each VoWiFi minute, has two
impacts: It encourages users to use the carrier services rather
than an OTT, and it naturally moves traffic from the wireless
infrastructure to the Wi‐Fi/Internet backhaul, thereby reduc-
ing OpEx costs and future CapEx investments.
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Mitel Special Edition

LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE

Project Editor: Carrie A. Burchfield Business Development Representative:

Chapter 1: Recognizing the Mobile Imperative. . . . . . . . 5

Chapter 2: Understanding Mobile Technology

Chapter 3: Addressing VoWiFi Challenges. . . . . . . . . . . 19

Chapter 4: Enabling VoWiFi with the

Chapter 5: Examining VoWiFi Use Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Chapter 6: Ten Key VoWiFi Questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Consumers are increasingly relying on Wi‐Fi enabled mobile

Wi‐Fi access is a major trend, and it’s going to be an even

About This Book

✓✓The mobile communications trend (Chapter 1)

Mainly, I assume that you’re an IT infrastructure or network

If any of these assumptions describe you, then this book is for

Icons Used in This Book

This icon points out information that you should commit

Beyond the Book

Where to Go from Here

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from

“I don’t much care where . . . ,” said Alice.

“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go!”

That’s certainly true of Voice over Wi‐Fi For Dummies, Mitel

I n this chapter, I review the impact of mobile trends on

These voice trends are hardly surprising given the explosive

Of course, voice is only part of the mobile story. Check out

✓✓According to Facebook, more than 50 percent of its users

Mobile Challenges and

Yet another major facet of the mobile challenge for enter-

These organizations also face serious risks due to a loss of

A February 2016 Ponemon Institute study estimates that the

Numerous opportunities also exist for mobile enterprises to

An omni‐channel experience enables users to transition seam-

Understanding the Cellular

While cellular network architectures and capacity are being

The shift from a desktop‐oriented to a mobile‐oriented world

In addition to the 5 hours and 19 minutes that the average

With Long‐Term Evolution (LTE), the mobile industry defined

By moving voice traffic from the circuit‐switched core of

Moving voice to LTE will eventually enable carriers to rede-

As the mobile world moves to VoLTE, the technologies are

✓✓Both use IP packets, so moving calls from one network to

While both technologies are similar, they’re also complemen-

✓✓VoWiFi addresses in‐building coverage challenges.

Both of these subscriber‐friendly capabilities can be provided

The key value of LTE for service providers is the ability to

I n this chapter, you learn about different mobile technology

According to a recent survey conducted for SpiderCloud

more than one‐third of respondents in large apartment com­

Out of area (or “off‐net”) roaming charges are another source

Finally, the current 2G/3G circuit‐switched voice system uses

Poor in‐building cellular coverage, roaming charges, and poor

All of these factors are driving businesses and providers to

OTT Wi‐Fi Based Voice Services

However, OTT services also come with some inherent

✓✓Poor voice quality due to lack of quality of service

In enterprise unified communications, cloud operators report

LTE and IP‐based Voice

LTE is a standardized, all‐IP mobile network architecture

✓✓Session Initiation Protocol (SIP): A communications pro­

The all‐IP network defined by LTE is easily extensible to

more than one‐third of respondents in large apartment com

✓✓Session Initiation Protocol (SIP): A communications pro

The next generation of networks is being driven by the migra

Figure 2-1: The VoLTE architecture creates secure interconnected

Although VoLTE can dramatically improve the spectral effi

Figure 4-1: The basic components of a 4th Generation Wireless

Figure 4-2: Augmenting an existing LTE infrastructure with Mitel IMS

Figure 4-3: The complete Mitel Wi‐Fi Calling solution.