Wireless voice and data specialist Norwood Systems will this week ship its EnterpriseMobility software. The product is designed to let staff make and receive voice calls over a Bluetooth link from anywhere on a company site, and could make it easier to contact essential staff. It could also cut phone bills.

EnterpriseMobility, to be made commercially available at the Bluetooth Congress in Amsterdam this week, links to a firm's telephone private branch exchange (PBX) and can route voice over IP (VoIP) calls to staff equipped with Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones or headsets. Norwood said this will cut mobile phone charges, since staff using mobile phones in the office will be making calls at fixed-line rates.

"Our platform enables voice and data connections anywhere in the office," said Norwood's chief operating officer, Jean-Paul Deschamps. The system uses Bluetooth access points connected to an existing Ethernet LAN infrastructure. EnterpriseMobility software on a Windows 2000 server authorises users and manages the hand-off between one access point and the next as a user roams around a company site.

"As a user, I could be anywhere [in the office] and still place and receive calls through the switchboard," said Deschamps. A voice-recognition server allows users to dial by speaking into a Bluetooth headset instead of using a keypad. Users with a Bluetooth PDA that supports voice functions will be able to access supplementary services on the PBX, such as call forwarding.

Norwood has been running trials with a number of large organisations. Deschamps declined to name them, but said the list included prominent financial and high-tech firms. Several digital PBX vendors are also evaluating the technology, he added.

Norwood has been working with partners to integrate EnterpriseMobility with other information systems. One example is Pumatech's Intellisync synchronisation software, which is being adapted to offer staff roaming access to corporate data. The firm is also working with Commtag to deliver its email service over internal networks via EnterpriseMobility. Other partners are working on applications for vertical markets, such as healthcare.

The cost of EnterpriseMobility will depend on the number of Bluetooth access points required, but starter kits are available for evaluation. A 10-user starter kit consists of the EnterpriseMobility server software, a PBX gateway, voice-recognition software, Bluetooth headsets and three access points for £10,000. The price includes installation and maintenance.

Norwood will also offer software to help firms plan how many Bluetooth access points they need, and where to locate them.

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