A mobile assisted handoff (MAHO) is a process used in GSM cellular networks where a mobile phone assists/helps the cellular base station to transfer a call to another base station. It is a technique used in mobile telecom to transfer a mobile phone to a new radio channel with stronger signal strength and improved channel quality.
Mobile assisted handoff can also be referred to as mobile assisted handover.
MAHO is based on a mobile phone’s capabilities in detecting and identifying better radio channels to be used within a call. MAHO works when a mobile phone can scan, review and monitor nearby radio channels. The mobile collects the measurements, usually in the form of RF signal quality, received signal strength indication (RSSI), bit error rate and similar results from other available channels. These measurements are then sent to the base station, which evaluates them and transfers the call to the best available channel.