SLAs drive IP VPN selection

Videoconferencing provider goes with C&W offering.

IP videoconferencing service provider WireOne is looking to improve the reliability of its offering by migrating its network to Cable & Wireless' IP VPN QoS.

WireOne originally outsourced its network to Exodus, but concerns about network performance caused it to pull out of that service provider's data centers after Exodus filed for bankruptcy, says Mike Brandofino, CTO and executive vice president at WireOne.

"We migrated to our own network infrastructure so we could control performance," he says. "But we're not a network company; we're a video services company."

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IP videoconferencing service provider WireOne is looking to improve the reliability of its offering by migrating its network to Cable & Wireless' IP VPN QoS.

WireOne originally outsourced its network to Exodus, but concerns about network performance caused it to pull out of that service provider's data centers after Exodus filed for bankruptcy, says Mike Brandofino, CTO and executive vice president at WireOne.

"We migrated to our own network infrastructure so we could control performance," he says. "But we're not a network company; we're a video services company."

WireOne does not want to manage its own network, but says it didn't have a choice because carriers were not offering quality-of-service guarantees that were up to par. WireOne offers a managed point-to-point videoconference service called Glowpoint to businesses worldwide.

The videoconference service provider has migrated five of its 13 collocation facilities to C&W's managed IP VPN QoS service because the carrier is guaranteeing minimal levels of jitter, packet loss and delay, Brandofino says.

The five sites that are connected to C&W's VPN service are in Tokyo; London; Denver; Segundo, Calif.; and Weehawken, N.J.

While many service providers guarantee minimal levels of packet loss and delay, far fewer include a metric for jitter with a standard service-level agreement. "Jitter directly affects the quality of a video call and there's no fixing it once it happens," Brandofino says. To offer a high-quality service, it is essential to keep jitter low, he says.

C&W's standard SLA guarantees jitter will not exceed 15 millisecond. The carrier's minimal packet loss and latency metrics vary greatly depending on class of service and geographic regions.

WireOne plans to migrate additional sites to the VPN service, but it's currently riding out contracts it has with other service providers for dedicated T-3 lines from when it built its own network.

C&W also plans to resell WireOne's Glowpoint services to its customers.

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