Full Nelson: Agito's FMC On TechWeb TV

Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) is anything but fixed these days, although several pieces are coming together. Nokia has several dual mode handsets, for example. Carriers like T-Mobile and BT are rolling out new services. Most of the activity has been aimed at the consumer, and while that isn't an unlikely target, FMC promised to be a key component for the truly mobile enterprise worker. Agito Networks hopes to provide some answers on the infrastructure side.The goal is to make the transition from a mobile network to an in-building wireless one as seamless as possible. So much of the attention is on cost savings, and while this is certainly a driver, enterprise calling plans are so significantly discounted it's not the biggest issue. The bigger issue is making our hectic lives easier: No laptop, fast connection, single number, single voice mail, single point of access, and zero thought about how it's all taking place.

Agito's Roam Anywhere Mobility Router connects to your IP PBX and your wireless network, and provides a shim for your handset. Today, Agito will support Cisco and Avaya IP PBXes, but plans to support more; it has announced support for Nokia E and N series handsets, but hints at upcoming support for Windows Mobile devices as well. So if (that nasty little word) you have one of those devices and one of those PBXes, you can roam in and out of a building, switching between your mobile carrier and your company's wireless LAN. Agito uses location-based functionality to know where you are and put you on the right network.

Fantastic. Seriously. But there's something even more interesting going on here than switching networks. Because it's tied into your PBX, you can make your mobile phone look like your desk phone. If someone calls your desk phone, they reach your mobile phone. If you call from your mobile phone, it looks like it's coming from your desk phone. And all your voice mail is in one place.

As is so often the case these days, Agito has its human roots in Cisco, a likely competitor here, but today's main competition is another startup, Divitas. T-Mobile's Hotspot @ Home service provides similar functionality, but is for consumers. Femtocells, small access points for the home that connect to your broadband network, also have received a fair amount of attention (there's actually a Femto Forum), but again, this is more for carrier deployment to consumers).

Agito's location-aware capabilities will ultimately allow it to detect WiMax or LTE or whatever other network you might have acess to. Its goal is to be ambivalent about networks. And that will be key for enterprise use.