BlackBerry Mobile Voice System (MVS): Benefits of Using T-Mobile UMA for VoWi-Fi v. New MVS 5

BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) this morning unveiled a new version of its BlackBerry Mobile Voice System (MVS) with new VoWi-Fi calling features.

MVS lets corporate users employ their BlackBerrys to answer calls placed to their corporate desk-phones and smartphones, as well as make calls via BlackBerry that appear to originate from their desk-phones, among other things. And the new version, MVS 5, supports VoWi-Fi calling.

T-Mobile has offered VoWiFi calling functionality via MVS to its corporate customers since the fall of 2009 as part of its “Wi-Fi Calling with MobileOffice” service. But MVS 5 uses a different VoIP protocol to route voice calls over Wi-Fi, so VoWi-Fi features are available through MVS 5 for users on wireless carriers other than T-Mobile.

Last week, I had a quick chat with RIM’s VP of Product Management Tom Goguen to determine the differences between the MVS VoWi-Fi calling that has been available via T-Mobile and the upcoming MVS 5 VoWi-Fi features.

Goguen says that since T-Mobile’s Wi-Fi Calling with MobileOffice uses Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) technology and the new MVS 5 does not, T-Mobile’s offering actually has an advantage over the newer version in that T-Mobile users can fall back on UMA if a direct VoIP connection via MVS 5 fails, before dropping to cellular service, if available.

However, from an IT perspective, MVS 5 can be easier to get up and running, since BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) administrators typically have to open up a specific port in their organizations’ infrastructure to permit and secure UMA traffic, according to Goguen. Since MVS 5 doesn’t use UMA, that separate process is unnecessary.

On the other hand, corporate BlackBerry users could need to make a separate VPN connection to secure VoWi-Fi calls made via MVS 5, depending on the specific implementation, Goguen says. With T-Mobile’s UMA service, corporate users don’t need to connect through a VPN for secure Wi-Fi calls.

For more on RIM’s BlackBerry MVS 5 read, “RIM’s BlackBerry Mobile Voice System (MVS) 5 Gets New VoWi-Fi Features.”

AS