Andy Sullivan, product manager of Unified Communications and Collaboration for Quest Software (www.quest.com), says:

Campus-area mobility
Businesses can enhance productivity by providing campus-area mobility solutions to employees. Cordless handsets and headsets enable employees to have approximately 300 feet of mobility from their desk ensuring no more missed calls when they step away to go to the filing cabinet or fax machine or talk to a colleague a few desks away. Broader mobility can be provided by deploying DECT or Wi-Fi handsets allowing employees to make or take calls when away from their fixed work locations. Regardless of where they roam (hallways, corridors, meeting rooms, cafeteria, or the manufacturing floor), employees are always connected to the business – all while avoiding expensive cellular charges.

Expand off-site mobile connectivity to include Wi-Fi
By deploying mobile phones that can operate on both cellular and Wi-Fi networks, businesses could greatly reduce the cost of mobile communications. When traveling abroad, the ability to make and receive calls using a dual-mode mobile phone would greatly reduce international roaming fees. As well, mobile handsets that support dual-mode communications could automatically switch from cellular to Wi-Fi or WiMAX when an 802.11 or 802.16 network is in range. This allows users to continue their conversations without interruption when entering a corporate building and ensures the call is being managed over the most cost-effective network.

Research shows that as many as 50 to 70 percent of mobile phone minutes are used within the halls and walls of the company where fixed line or Wi-Fi communications are possible. This being said, many of the technologies outlined above help reduce the number of inbound and outbound cellular minutes used, and therefore help drive down communications expenses.