Based on the benefits of reduced asset management, lower costs and product lifecycles, cloud communications continues to gain momentum with customers and providers – and the the market potential expands.

But within this opportunity lies a challenge as well – how do you effectively enable IP telephony with a great user experience when the cloud hits the building?

Recently, a large state government customer wanted to trial Phybridge (News - Alert) partners’ cloud based voice offering. However, one of the biggest challenges was LAN readiness, until the customer was introduced to the Phybridge UniPhyer. But together with their partners,  this government customer with over 50,000 users successfully trialed seven different locations.

“The enhanced feature set of the new cloud-based solution combined with the simplicity and robustness of a UniPhyer backbone made the experience a winning one and a huge win for us and our partners,” according to a recent company statement.

Of the issues that often arise for VoIP enablers include these questions: How are we going to light up the IP Telephony end-points? Is the data local area network ready for zero-tolerance voice applications? Do I have the skill set to manage a converged data and voice network? What about security? Who do I hold accountable when my voice offering is layered on a data LAN managed by a different provider? How much is LAN readiness going to cost and what are my financial risks? How do I take my company to the future of Unified Communications (News - Alert) and IP Telephony while reducing my personal brand risk?

These are all valid concerns, but with the Phybridge UniPhyer, the cloud is not so daunting, company officials said.

The Phybridge UniPhyer is a network switch that delivers Ethernet and Power over Ethernet over a single pair of wire and was designed specifically to allow businesses to transform their existing voice infrastructure.

Some of the benefits include:

1.      Dedicated physical path for voice ensuring quality of service and security.

2.      A pricing model that provides a complete picture without the risk of cost overruns due to unforeseen network requirements.

3.      Lower total cost of ownership simplifying future data LAN requirements eliminating the need for Power over Ethernet switches and gigabit IP phones.

4.      Simple to manage network topology which eliminates stress for IT staff while ensuring a great user experience regardless of data network loads.

5.      Full control with the options to build out completely separate voice and data networks to fully converged networks.

Want to learn more about cloud communications? Then be sure to attend the Cloud Communications Expo, collocated with TMC’s ITEXPO East 2012 taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. The Cloud Communications Expo will address the growing need of businesses to integrate and leverage cloud based communications applications, process enhancement techniques, and network based communications interfaces and architectures. For more information on registering for the Cloud Communications Expo click here.

Stay in touch with everything happening at ITEXPO (News - Alert). Follow us on Twitter.