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12
Cover Story
For the average business customer it
can be bewildering knowing where
to start to get the best advice on
converged voice and data connectivity
and how to use this to implement
solutions that will really benefit
an enterprise in terms of increased
productivity and reduced costs.
As an independent supplier of
network services and solutions, Spitfire
has extensive experience in helping
small to medium sized enterprises
(SMEs) gain the best results from the
new connectivity and UC technology,
as Tom Fellowes, Sales Director for
Spitfire, explains. “We have worked
with hundreds of SME businesses to
improve their efficiency while reducing
costs. The important thing is not to
get hung-up about the technology,
but to simply describe your needs
and we will propose a solution. All the
solutions we implement are based on
mature technologies that have proved
themselves in ‘real-world’ business
applications, so customers can trust our
recommendations.”
Spitfire offers a range of voice,
Internet and UC solutions for business
customers covering broadband, Ethernet,
SIP Trunking and on-site phone systems
with UC functionality. Here we look at
some of the latest developments.
Ethernet is the gold standard for cloud
connectivity
An important driver for change is the
move to ‘cloud’ computing applications
says Tom. “Many customers are
switching from on-premises provision
of applications to off-site applications
hosted ‘in the cloud’, termed ‘software as
a service’ (SAAS). Cloud computing has
a lot of benefits because it requires no
expensive hardware on the customer’s
premises, applications can be accessed
from any location and the software is
always the most up to date version.
Hosted telephone services are the voice
equivalent of cloud computing and can
use the same cloud, with the phone
system being located off-site in a remote
secure data centre.”
To make the cloud work, whether
for voice, data or both, faster and more
reliable Internet connections are required,
either new fibre broadband (VDSL) or
the new generation of Ethernet circuits
(lower cost and faster leased line
replacement connections). “Ethernet
is definitely the gold standard of high
quality Internet connectivity and is a
service any business that relies on its
Internet connection should consider.”
Tom continues: “Ethernet is excellent
for providing secure and stable Internet
connections making it an outstanding
solution where a business is accessing
applications and data in the ‘cloud’. For
The market for voice and Internet services is evolving rapidly, from the
introduction of business Voice over IP services via SIP Trunks; to fast,
guaranteed quality and speed Internet connections; and the new generation
of office phone systems delivering the latest developments in unified
communication (UC) technology – all driving a seemingly inexhaustible
stream of new products and services.
Spitfire the independent
telecommunications experts
linking multi-site operations Ethernet
is also ideal because it uses the same
network technology as a local area
network. Consequently extending a
customer network to the wide area
over Ethernet requires no additional
routers or IP addressing – it’s a ‘plug and
play’ solution. This also makes Ethernet
comparatively cheap compared to other
solutions for dedicated Internet access
or WANs. One of the key benefits of
Ethernet over old leased lines is that
Ethernet offers significantly faster speeds,
at a far cheaper price. The same SLAs
are in place for Ethernet over fibre, EFM
over copper or GEA Ethernet over FTTC.
Ethernet is now available from £200 to
£250 for 10Mb, making it affordable for
almost all businesses that want to use
the cloud and the Internet to lower costs
and improve service and resilience. ”
SIP Trunks – less than half the cost
of ISDN
With cost-savings a critical factor for
all businesses in a difficult economic
climate, Spitfire can offer SIP Trunks
as a cost-effective alternative to using
conventional analogue or digital (ISDN)
lines to connect a private phone system
to the public telephone network for voice
communications. Instead an IP phone
system can use a ‘SIP Trunk’ enabled data
circuit, either Ethernet or voice approved
SDSLM or voice approved ADSL.
Graham Lewis, Director IP
Engineering for Spitfire, says: “As an
ISDN replacement, Spitfire’s SIP trunks
typically offer business quality, secure
telephony at less than one third the cost
of the monthly rental of an equivalent
ISDN service. If you include the cost of a
dedicated SDSLM voice approved circuit,
or additional Ethernet bandwidth the
saving is still around 50 per cent. This
One of the
key benefits
of Ethernet
over old
leased lines is
that Ethernet
offers
significantly
faster speeds
at a cheaper
price.