For 18 years, Optimum (News - Alert) Lightpath has delivered business communications solutions to their customers in the NY metro area.

In a recent conversation with the Jericho, NY-based firm, David Strauss, VP of Marketing for Optimum Lightpath told TMCnet that two years ago, the company made the most important decision in their recent history, when they decided to shift from traditional TDM-based services to Metro Ethernet. In fact Straus told TMCnet that, "every customer we’ve signed up in the last two years has been a Metro Ethernet customer."

Then Strauss told TMCnet about Optimum Lightpath’s second most important announcement: today’s launch of the company’s Voice over Metro Ethernet service, which is being hailed as the first-ever carrier-class voice service delivered over Metro Ethernet by a cable MSO.

Optimum Lightpath’s Voice over Metro Ethernet is offered as a managed voice service and is the result of a collaborative effort among Optimum Lightpath, NEC (News - Alert) Unified Solutions and Cisco. The service will be delivered over Optimum’s fiber optic network, with Cisco’s Communications Manager and Cisco CallManager Express providing call processing for IP phones and NEC Unified Solutions handling the network and equipment service management.

According to Troy Glick, Optimum Lightpath vice president of product development, "Partnering with Cisco and NEC allows us to offer a true best-in-class scenario."

Strauss and Glick told TMCnet that the new service offering is designed to enhance productivity and streamline operations for mid- and large-sized business.

Among the key takeaways from the conversation, was the flat-rate pricing scheme that Optimum is featuring for the service. Glick underscored that the best part of the pricing is that it offers customers a simple understanding of what the service will cost and how fast they can expect a return on their investment.

As a frame of reference, the price of the Managed Voice over Metro Ethernet (including Optimum Lightpath’s Internet Voice bundle of 10Mb of bandwidth and 50,000 voice minutes per month) is $4,500, and this includes the IP PBX and the phones. The company does caution that prices are of course subject to change, but with flat-rate pricing like this, it makes it easier for customers to plan for their needs.

Another key element is the robust monitoring and service management that NEC brings to the offer. In addition to 24/7 monitoring from NEC’s and Optimum’s NOCs (network operations centers) NEC also provides customers with a LAN assessment, scoping, implementation, management, training, maintenance, and more. And since the two companies have partnered on this solution, there is ongoing proactive management of all customers’ networks as well as full visibility into each others’ NOC, which means that customers no longer need to worry about the health and well being of their networks. Said Glick, "We have taken the guesswork out of IP Telephony for business customers."

Zeus Kerravala, senior vice president, Enterprise Hardware and Software Infrastructure, Yankee Group (News - Alert), concurs. "The offering put forth by Optimum Lightpath, NEC, and Cisco allows enterprises to outsource the entire IP Telephony life cycle using the Ethernet as the underlying transport technology," he said.

The Optimum Lightpath FTTP (fiber-to-the-premise) network extends more than 2,500 route miles—128,000 actual miles—throughout the NY metropolitan area, currently serving over 2,000 commercial buildings across the tri-state area (NY, NJ, CT).