Manhasset, N.Y. ― Reacting to the explosive growth of Wi-Fi networks and voice-over-Internet Protocol telephony, Meru Networks Inc. is offering an enterprise wireless-LAN solution that emphasizes dynamic, over-the-air quality of service. Meru uses advanced algorithms that sidestep collisions and contention issues as the number of network users rises, and claims it can increase active calls and supported users by a factor of five, while also making call handoffs transparent. "Wireless LANs have had slow growth in the enterprise; voice will change that," said Ujjal Kohli, chief executive officer at Meru Networks, a Sunnyvale, Calif., startup founded in February 2002. "While voice-over-WLAN is a small market to date, we feel there's a huge interest in it now." Extrapolating figures from In-Stat/MDR that showed voice-over-IP growing at 60 percent in 2002, Kohli said he expects the number of IP phones to surpass regular switched lines this year. These forecasts, and the continued growth of WLANs, the convergence of cellular and Wi-Fi phones, and the wireless capabilities of laptops and PDAs all factor into Meru's strategic emphasis on voice-over-WLAN, Kohli said.
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