A lot of IP infrastructure has been laid by businesses the past decade as they migrated to voice-over-IP (VoIP). Much of that infrastructure will need to be redone.

That’s because many enterprises fail to adequately prepare for the bandwidth and quality of service needs that accompany VoIP and its cousin, unified communications (UC).

The right topology design decisions need to be made in order for IP communications to work as advertised, and to future-proof as technologies advance.

The complexity, disruption and unknown issues that crop up from the wrong design can lead to higher LAN readiness costs and delays in project implementation.

The numbers highlight the issue. Roughly 65 percent of the more than 1,400 companies surveyed by Nemertes said they underestimated their LAN readiness. This cost an average of $420 per drop.

Gartner (News - Alert) also has predicted that at least half of all hyperconverged solutions will suffer from poor network designs by 2015. These design failures will degrade application performance, cause high levels of end-user satisfaction and fail to lead to the promised employee efficiency.

IP communications holds lots of promise, but only if thoughtful design topology is put into practice.

One of the most important considerations is whether to go with a desktop converged design or a central converged design.

A desktop converged design is a daisy chain. It is a single switch fabric with the IP phone acting as a switch for the data device connected to it. A central convergence is a parallel voice LAN. It is a separate switch fabric supporting voice and IP phone requirements.

Many businesses have gone with a desktop converged design, but this can be a mistake.

The problem is that voice is the most sensitive application, and a daisy chain topology requires close management to ensure that new users, applications and devices don’t disrupt voice communications.

The Phybridge (News - Alert) switch innovations allows you leverage the infrastructure you have and the longer reach eliminates the IDF closets so the summary is that you can achieve the Ideal topology at a lower cost.  

The central convergence topology can be achieved either with a separate CAT5 drop at every end point with a traditional PoE switch in the IDF closets. Or, it can be done by leveraging technology such as the Phybridge (News - Alert) switches that deliver Ethernet and power over Eithernet over a single pair of telephony grade wire.

Of course, there are other considerations as well, which is why PhyBridge and TMCnet are hosting a webinar on the topic Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 2 p.m. ET, entitled “Game-Changing Switch Innovation, Eliminating IP Telephony LAN Barriers!” Those interested in the free webinar can register here.