TelePacific Monthly

Visited any islands lately? Either of the remote tropical variety or the remote office variety?

Remote office islands? Well, yes. You are probably familiar with the island analogy to explain VPNs...right? Just in case, we will recap it here: Every office location is considered an island. There are many ways to connect those islands to travel or share information — using a ferry (inexpensive but insecure); building a bridge (private but expensive); or using a submarine or other personal watercraft (private, secure and scalable). Each option has its pros and cons, and each has costs associated with it.

Which is best for you? It depends on your business. You may have already wrestled with the decision to go with an IPSec VPN or an MPLS VPN...or you may just be starting to consider your options. Latency - sensitive applications like VoIP are generally better handled with MPLS VPNs, which offer direct connections to all remote locations. And IPSec VPNs are very secure, with encryption and authentication devices built in.

Just like those island connection options, there are pros and cons for each VPN option. In addition to what is noted above, MPLS VPNs offer QoS so you can prioritize your traffic from start to finish, and are generally more reliable than IPSec VPNs because it is less complicated (and faster) to use a dedicated circuit than transfer traffic from network to network. IPSec VPNs come with a risk of network intrusions, which is tempered by the built - in encryption, and are managed by the user, which means any updates or changes happen immediately. Cost for both VPN options are similar when everything is taken into consideration.

If you have not yet made a decision about the VPN that’s right for your business, consider TelePacific’s 1Net, a MPLS-enabled IP VPN that has recently been upgraded. There are the six new Classes of Service (CoS) packages, which give you the ability to define, very precisely, the type of data that is critical to your business. That may be your voice traffic, if you are managing a call center where the quality and latency of phone calls is of utmost importance. If you chose the highest CoS level, you could assign 65% of your bandwidth to voice data, 25% to your business data and the remaining 10% for other data needs. And it is flexible — if you are not using all 65% for voice data, that capacity is made available for other data needs and then reclaimed for voice when the need arises.

SmartVoice capabilities have also been added to 1Net, offering a “triple play” of voice services, private networking and Internet services over the same access circuit. It allows for increased network optimization and cost-effectiveness (which is as important as innovation). And Outbound Internet Failover capabilities are also integrated, essentially backing up your backup Internet service so you will be able to access your Software as a Service (SaaS) and continue doing business even if your primary and backup services are knocked out.

And 1Net is now interoperable with ADTRAN NetVanta routers; allows new access options, such as using Ethernet; and offers access to customers with international locations through an agreement with Global Crossing.

So if you are still trying to figure out how to connect your remote islands and are interested in learning more, give us a call. And if you visit any tropical islands anytime soon, enjoy the sun and sand (and don’t think about work)!