Level 3 Communications Announces Converged Business Network

By Rajani Baburajan, TMCnet Contributor

To meet current market challenges, enterprises must find innovative ways to optimize process and improve overall organizational efficiencies, Eric Paulak, managing VP for Gartner (News - Alert), said in a statement.

Telecommunications services management has become a fundamental element in this endeavor, and providers that offer converged service solutions are well positioned to capitalize on this trend, Paulak said.

Moving in this line of opportunity, Level 3 Communications, a provider of fiber-based communications services,  announced a Converged Business Network service, which provides its enterprise customers with a comprehensive solution to handle all their voice, Internet and data networking needs through “one carrier, one circuit and with one bill.” The Converged Business Network provides multiple individual telecommunications services over a single circuit reducing access costs and the complexity of managing multiple services.

Offered in simplified and economical bundles, the service reduces the time companies spend managing telecommunications services, freeing up resources and improving overall efficiency, company officials said.

Featuring intelligent bandwidth allocation, Level 3’s Converged Business Network also enables enterprise customers to simplify bandwidth needs for critical business objectives by leveraging dynamic bandwidth sharing amongst multiple services. Level 3 now offers its Converged Business Network to enterprises across North America. The service encompasses Level 3 Dedicated Internet Access, Level 3 Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network and Level 3 Session Initiation Protocol (News - Alert) (SIP) Trunking voice services.

Under the standard package, Level 3 offers Ethernet connectivity with speeds as high as 100 Mbps, scalable voice features and more. Under Level 3 Managed Services portfolio, the bundles also include secure remote access, built-in firewall and managed router services.

According to Sara Baack, senior VP of Product Management for Level 3, the new Converged Business Network solution combines each of Level 3’s IP, VPN and SIP networks assets into a series of enterprise-focused bundles and ensures these resources are not wasted.

Baack added, “We are pleased to offer enterprises the chance to optimize their voice, data and Internet services so that they can focus on those core elements that drive their businesses forward.”

Recently Level 3 entered into a partnership agreement with Presidio Networked Solutions (News - Alert), a provider of professional and managed services solutions, to enhance its managed service capabilities. Read the full report here.

(source: http://dark-fiber.tmcnet.com/topics/carrier-services/articles/109720-level-3-communications-announces-converged-business-network.htm)