Motorola, Cisco Team On Cellular Wi-Fi

MANHASSET, N.Y. — Motorola Inc. has teamed with Cisco Systems to deliver a seamless enterprise mobility solution that will include wireless local area networking (WLAN) Internet protocol (IP) telephony and cellular phone technologies.By blending key features and benefits of mobile cellular, 802.11 wireless and enterprise fixed networks, Motorola (Schaumburg, Ill.) and Cisco (San Jose, Calif.) expect to provide a single mobile communications device to enable anytime, anywhere communications.For Motorola, the strategic alliance with Cisco is part of the company’s strategy to help enterprise and business customers solve the challenges associated with an increasingly mobile and virtual workforce.The Motorola and Cisco solution will operate using 802.11technology inside the enterprise and cellular telephony elsewhere, with a seamless handoff of communications between networks. The solution will be available as an extension to the Cisco CallManager IP-based communications system, utilizing a standards-based interface. "The convergence of cellular and WLAN networks on a single device further enhances the value proposition of IP-based applications for the enterprise," said Barry O'Sullivan, vice president and general manager for the Cisco IP Communications Business Unit, in a statement. "A dual-mode solution will add a very important dimension to Cisco's growing voice business."Motorola and Cisco plans to make the dual mode solution available in early 2006.