Agito offers Enterprise VoIP for BlackBerry
by The PocketBerry Team
Agito Networks has just announced that it will be offering enterprise voice over IP for the BlackBerry device today. The main issue has been adding VoIP capabilities to RIM’s locked, proprietary operating system. But all that turned around recently when Agito Networks announced Agito for BlackBerry, which will essentially provide mobile UC support for four dual-mode BlackBerry models: the 8800, the Bold 9000, and the Curve 8300 and 8900. Sure we’ve seen devices from T-Mobile such as the 8900 which come equipped with UMA allowing them to speak over WiFi networks unlimited, but these other devices weren’t given the capabilities those T-Mobile devices were given, and Agito just takes it to the next level topping it all off.
In addition to the seamless handover between cellular and Wi-Fi networks (which gives users wireless phone coverage pretty much wherever they happen to be and uses cheaper Wi-Fi connectivity when and where it’s available), mobile UC supports/enables presence, instant messaging, plus a lot of PBX functionality, such as extension dialing, single phone number for business and personal calls, a single voice mailbox, corporate directory lookups, and “mid-call” functions, such as hold, transfer, and conference.
Pejman Roshan, Agito’s chief marketing officer stated that the initial release of Agito for BlackBerry will provide all that functionality, except for IM and presence, which will come later in a software update. “We wanted to stay focused on VoIP—and fine-tuning VoIP—since this is the first release of VoIP on the BlackBerry ever,” said Roshan.
Agito for BlackBerry will become a standard feature of the company’s core product, the RoamAnywhere Mobility Router. Agito will also provide the software to existing customers with valid support contracts at no additional cost. “It’s basically a free add-on to the existing Mobility Router,” Roshan said.
After deciding to get these features, no extensive server upgrade is required. Instead it is just a patch that will work with whatever version of the Mobility Router a customer already has.
With the client software, Agito proceeded with a light touch, said Roshan. “We’ve natively integrated with the user interface on the BB. You really don’t see a lot of Agito brand or applications,” he said.
“People dial using the native facilities of the phone—the contacts applications. If you’re dialing from an e-mail, you just click to call. Voice dialing, speed dialing, all those capabilities are there.” In other words, BB users remain BB users, they don’t have to open (or learn) a new application to dial the phone.
Where Agito did integrate new elements to the UI, it was to provide menu items for the mid-call features. “For example there’s no transfer capability on the BB, natively, so we add that,” Roshan explained.
It seems this approach was quite successful with BB users. “Comments from beta users indicate they’re really not aware it’s running. They just dial like they usually dial,” Roshan said.
The Agito for BlackBerry software is free to customers in good standing.
Check out more information on Agito here.
-by Otoniel Bruno
Source: WiFi Planet
