POE

Is your data network ready for VoIP?

Hi folks! One of the greatest things about today’s network is that it seems to be able to handle anything. It doesn’t seem to matter what you want to do on your network, there is always a technology around the corner that can make it happen for you.

Well one of the most common things happening today is the conversion of data networks to voice and data networks. With the coming of VoIP, network engineers have been put under an increasing burden to support the world of the telephone when historically data and voice have been two separate entities.

There are a lot of people that erroneously think that VoIP is all about the phones and the PBX, but in reality if you don’t have a data network that can handle the traffic, none of that is really going to matter. Some of things network administrators find out in the end is that a switch isn’t always just a switch. What I mean by this is that administrators have been forced to cut and slash budgets and buy cheaper equipment only to find out that their switch is sub-par and cannot support a voice network. They are then faced with redoing their entire data network infrastructure which makes the cost of going to VoIP prohibitively expensive.

If administrators really look at what is offered to them when they buy network equipment such as switches, they can then plan for future VoIP deployments so when the time comes their data network will be ready. Things such as QOS and POE are two items that are not paid heed to when buying switches if VoIP isn’t in the equation, but then you find out you need it when the company starts going in the VoIP direction.

What I’m trying to say here is that in the future, almost all of us will be using VoIP, so you might as well start planning for getting your data networks ready now.

-RP

The Cisco ESW 500 Series Switches for the SMB

Hello again folks! I wanted to talk a little bit about switching again. This time in the SMB! In the SMB space it has been historically hard to find good quality but cheap switching. Especially if you require POE switching for things such as VoIP or POE powered access points in your wireless network.

Well Cisco has a great solution for the SMB with their ESW 500 series line of switches. These switches are also from their Small Business Pro line. There are a variety of models to choose from including POE models. For those clients that just need basic switching with vlans and POE these are great switches to choose from.

Granted, Cisco has the 2960 switches with the Lan Lite images, but they aren’t at the same price point. The ESW 500 series are aggressively priced against competing brands.

-RP

More Cisco gear for the SMB world!

Hello again folks! Cisco is once again bringing great product to the market place. This time hitting the SMB market with a new series of switches called the Cisco ESW 500 series.

These switches are all manageable from GUI utilities without the need for CLI. They are also priced at a great price point for your SMB customers. A lot of times when I go into SMB clients the perception is that Cisco is expensive and they instead vote to go with a different company for their switching gear. Cisco has seen the light and is now offering cheaper product in this marketspace.

The ESW 500 series is available with gigabit capability and even POE! This makes it great for the SMB company that wants to implement VOIP and reap those benefits. Cisco needs to keep releasing SMB product like this, it really will make all the others stand up and take notice! You can read more about it here.

-RP

New offerings in the switch world from Cisco

Hi folks! I have some great news from the Cisco front. Our friends at Cisco have decided to release a new version of their 2960 switches called “LAN Lite”! This is a new version of the Catalyst switch with slightly less features to bring the price point down for people who don’t need everything that the full 2960 normally provides.

This series of switch is aimed at the SMB market that needs POE switching for voice and data for unified communications. More and more we are seeing companies requiring enterprise level equipment to facilitate unified communications in their SMB networks. This isn’t easy for these SMB companies because enterprise level equipment can get quite expensive. Cisco has seen this need and is now offering the necessary equipment to fulfill these needs at a lower price by offering “LAN Lite”.

You can read more about it and compare the different versions here at Cisco’s web site. You can also go here to this other link at Cisco’s web site to read more about their offer.

-RP