Page 21 - Telecom Reseller October-November 2016

October/November 2016
GUSTAVSEN
About a year ago, the company began beta testing cloud-based SD-WAN technology powered by VeloCloud, and in early 2016, rolled this out
to customers as an alternative to using more expensive MPLS for delivery of its VoiceOne business communications cloud o ering.
WHAT IS SD-WAN IN
SIMPLE TERMS?
In simpli ed terms, SD-WAN is a cloud-
based so ware-de ned networking technique that utilizes the public Internet to connect geographically-dispersed sites within an enterprise network, including branch o ces. Unlike earlier WAN technology that typically involves xed circuits and proprietary hardware, SD-WAN virtualizes the network control and moves it to the “cloud,” with a exible, so ware approach.
SD-WAN enables the intelligent selection of the best path for network data using proprietary so ware algorithms which factor in critical WAN metrics such as available bandwidth, latency, jitter, and packet loss. e WAN is actively monitored in real-time and tra c
ows are “steered” automatically around network problems to ensure optimal application performance.
SD-WAN employs some specialized techniques to ensure successful packet delivery over the Internet such as Forward Error Correction (FEC) that corrects for packet loss on poor performing circuits by retransmitting lost packets. And, unlike MPLS, SD-WAN is decoupled (separated or abstracted) from any
speci c carrier and can leverage multiple Internet circuits from multiple carriers simultaneously
in a bonded manner to select the best circuit
type ( ber, cable, DSL and 4G-LTE, etc.) for a particularly critical application or for failover.
GENERALLY, WHAT ARE
THE KEY BENEFITS?
e SD-WAN approach touts a number
of bene ts over traditional private WAN networking solutions such as MPLS. ese include:
● Network simpli cation (virtualizes network control and moves it to the cloud)
● Automatic adjustment of tra c ows (dynamic steering of tra c toward the optimal Internet link on a per packet basis)
● Maximizes bandwidth resources (customized policies can prioritize real-time applications)
● Better performance (uses specialized techniques such as multi-carrier bonding and forward error correction)
● Real-time monitoring and management tools (for a deep level of visibility into the network)
● Reduces costs (use of the public Internet is more economical than private MPLS)
WHAT ARE THE SPECIFIC ADVANTAGES RELATED TO CLOUD UC?
SD-WAN is relatively new in the market, but the technology is quickly being recognized as critical to the quality of cloud-based telephony
and uni ed communications. Some cloud UC providers are beginning to complement their UC services with SD-WAN to ensure Quality of Service (QoS) over public Internet connections or in combination with MPLS network services. Either way, SD-WAN adds real-time packet optimization, network performance monitoring and failover capabilities that add up to higher quality communications overall.
Businesses are increasingly incorporating video and other bandwidth-intensive cloud- based applications into their operations. SD-WAN provides unprecedented insights into the performance of an organizations WAN and whether or not those applications are performing as expected. e monitoring and management tools which accompany an SD-WAN service can provide businesses with multiple layers of critical performance data including:
● Circuit throughput/bandwidth
● Circuit status (up/down) including real- time alerting
● Application-based tra c demand ● Device-based tra c demand
● Historical performance reporting
ARE THERE UNIQUE ASPECTS TO ACCENT’S CLOUDSDN? Accent’s “Cloud SDN” solution (powered by VeloCloud) brings all the aforementioned bene ts in terms of network simpli cation, performance improvements, failover and cost savings versus traditional VPN or MPLS techniques.
But, Accent goes a step further by fully
Telecom Reseller 21 continued from page 13
implementing, managing and monitoring the solution for the customer.
With Accent’s Cloud SDN managed service, the VeloCloud Edge appliance is installed at each customer location to connect the customer’s communications infrastructure to the SD-WAN via the public Internet.
e Edge device provides a window and deep level of visibility into real-time network and application performance. Using a web browser- based dashboard, Accent engineers are able to monitor real-time performance data, network utilization statistics, and critical circuit details for every location.
With this intelligence, tra c control decisions are made on-the- y to ensure all communications continue to run e ciently.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR SD-WAN AS IT RELATES TO CLOUD TELEPHONY AND UC?
e SD-WAN market is still evolving and will continue to mature for several years. Meanwhile, SD-WAN penetration will grow substantially and become a widely adopted mode of delivering a managed cloud VoIP experience to the customer via the public Internet.
Current and future applications of SD-WAN are vast with respect to cloud VoIP, and service providers like Accent are in a good position
to deliver an all-in-one bundle of managed services, combining cloud VoIP, UC, SD-WAN, and circuit management to provide a so ware- based suite of carrier services over any Internet connection. ■
Security industry must embrace modern PTT technologies for a more profitable, secure and efficient working environment (part 2)
Many companies in the security industry has come to appreciate the exibility in a solution that could be used on di erent
sta ng sizes, without having to make major new investments in communication systems. Being able to link sta in a communications network, gives them an opportunity to share information and resources in a way that they have not
been able to do with their previous traditional communications systems. is is a solution that not only provides the user with a integrated panic alarm in the service, but it also saves them money compared to if they were to purchase separate personal alarms for each and everyone in the sta .
“SUBSTANTIAL SAVINGS”
Big security companies have the resources
to be in the forefront and adopt new communication solutions, most of them
are already rolling out smartphone based communications solutions. Interestingly, with the cloud based PTT services, the barrier to use the new solutions is virtually gone for companies of all sizes and the SMB (Small Medium Business) segment is a fast mover to leverage these solutions to get a competitive edge.
A real life example of this is Norwegian security company, Telemark Sikkerhet, who in 2016 wanted to improve communication between the sta and making it more secure. e result can only be described as fantastic. e solution has improved communication in the working process for Telemark Sikkerhet with results such as:
HEDBERG
by Magnus Hedberg, CEO of GroupTalk (www.grouptalk. com)
and status by both voice and text in order to improve accuracy, traceability and e ciency in communications. Text based communication
ads traceability and clarity to PTT, creating an unbeatable combination. Automated machine-to- machine (M2M) communications is also gaining
popularity as a supplement to PTT, e.g. in the airline industry for status updates like boarding and refueling complete in aircra turn arounds. Security companies can use status messages when they arrive at a destination, enter a speci c area, have completed a task, etc. to keep guards in their team and the dispatch at the security control centre up to date with the latest status.
TIME LIMITED AND DEFINED PROJECT TOOL
Security is perhaps one of the industries that can draw the most obvious bene ts from the new advanced PTT group communications solutions. But PTT has also gained interest from
organizations in other industries where instant group communications are instrumental, such as aviation, construction/infrastructure, energy and retail.
An increasing number of companies appreciate the fact that the new solutions are cost e cient, scalable and exible, that allow sta of various sizes to communicate, without having to make major new investments in communication systems.
Being able to link people working together in what can be described as ‘time limited and clearly de ned short projects’ in a user friendly
continuesonpage 23 ››
● Improved security surveillance
● Improved competitiveness
● Reduced cost
● Dedicated sta and improved work
Don’t Turtle your network
Run
PathSolutions TotalView
Easily Identify and Resolve VoIP Call Quality Problems in Plain-English:
“The call between the CEO and the VP was bad at 9:35am due to a bad cable on the Finance2 switch trunk port that was dropping 6% of its packets.”
TotalView will reduce your troubleshooting time, free up critical resources, and ensure great quality VoIP calls!
8 7 7. 74 8 . 1 7 7 7
| www.pathsolutions.com/tr
environment
Smartphones are used to share information