MPLS

SIP Trunking: The Key to Maximizing UC Benefits

VoIP and unified communications each have a lot of promise in and of themselves. They each deliver innovative tools that allow businesses to operate more effectively and efficiently. As the Executive Summary of this presentation states though, deploying UC is not without challenges.

Too often, organizationsgo down the path of deploying new technology with old technology principles in mind and UC is no different. Many of the early adopter deployments of VoIP and UC were designed exactly the same as the old systems, severely limiting the overall value of UC, which is a highly flexible, IP-based solution.

Migrating from traditional trunk lines to SIP trunking is a very simple, cost-effective change to open doors to other advanced services that can enhance a UC deployment. SIP trunking will allow companies to recognize the following benefits:

• Dramatically lower the overall cost of communications
• Extends UC to software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications and other cloud-based options
• Accelerates UC deployments through the simplification of network design
• Easier migration to other advanced services such as mobile integration and MPLS networks

For more about SIP trunking and the impact that SIP trunking has on a successful UC deployment, check out this TechTarget presentation: SIP Trunking Is Key to Accelerating Unified Communications Deployments

Understanding MPLS

MPLS seemed to be one of the big network buzz words of 2007, overshadowed only by VoIP. It seems like everyone is racing to implement MPLS networks. What is the big deal? What does MPLS even stand for? Well- I can answer that last one: MultiProtocol Label Switching. In a nutshell, MPLS is faster and easier to manage than traditional networking protocols or architectures. MPLS provides a cost-effective and flexible solution that is better suited for high-bandwidth usage such as voice and video. You might connect the dots and ascertain that the popularity of VoIP and video technologies is a primary driver behind the push for MPLS. TechTarget’s SearchNetworking site has a great introduction to MPLS. Their MPLS guide covers MPLS basics, Understanding MPLS network components, MPLS architectures, MPLS and quality of service (QoS), and Using MPLS with VoIP. To become better acquainted with this hot technology, I suggest you take a look at the MPLS Technology Overview.