Columbiatech Adds VoIP Support To Wireless VPN

Columbitech has added support for wireless voice over IP (wVoIP) applications to its all-software wireless virtual private network (WVPN) solution, allowing users to remotely make and receive reliable and secure voice calls over public wireless networks.

The most significant enhancement is support for Session Persistence. It is essential for wireless VoIP devices to maintain the session, even while wireless coverage is temporarily unavailable, so that the call will not be cut-off. Session Persistence ensures that secure calls will not be terminated even in the event of fluctuating signal strength or other network disruptions. The WVPN can resume interrupted calls placed at Wi-Fi hotspots over a public 2G or IP network.

Columbitech's WVPN also ensures that the bandwidth available for VoIP calls is used to transmit real traffic rather than redundant TCP transmissions. The solution's new TCP connection multiplexing feature prevents the wireless connection from being flooded with redundant retransmissions during handover. Moreover, the WVPN supports adaptive compression, which distinguishes between VoIP and data traffic in order to apply the compression algorithms most appropriate to the data type, compressing large file transfers, for example, that are not sensitive to latency and jitter.

"Data and voice convergence are very compelling from an application point of view, but very challenging from a security point of view," Columbitech president Asa Holmstrom said in a statement. "The same security threats that enterprises have been facing regarding data are now also a reality for voice. With the Columbitech Wireless VPN, enterprise users can protect both their voice and data applications and resources with a solution that is optimized for wireless networks."