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Tellumat inks Phybridge distribution agreement

29 Jul 2013

Tellumat Communication Solutions, the business communications solution provider in the Tellumat group, has signed a distribution agreement with Canadian-based Phybridge, a manufacturer of voice over IP (VOIP) Customer Premises Equipment.

Under the deal, Tellumat will offer Phybridge's entire product line to its South African reseller base, including the PoLRE, its VoIP infrastructure switch, says Bennie Langenhoven, managing executive of Tellumat Communication Solutions.

Phybridge's PoLRE (Power over Long Reach Ethernet) is the only networking switch in the world that delivers Ethernet and Power over Ethernet (PoE)over legacy single twisted pair telephone cabling, which drastically lowers the barriers to entry with VOIP installations for traditional Voice Resellers, he says.

Now everyone can do VOIP

Langenhoven explains there is a key architectural difference in the way Phybridge approaches convergence, compared to local area network-based IP telephony.

"Convergence doesn't happen at the desktop but centrally at the PBX . Instead of plugging the IP phone into the network point and from there into the PC, it is plugged into the existing telephone cabling [with the help of a converter] and back-ended by a specialist PoLRE data switch in the PBX room. The PoLRE data switch is connected to the LAN and IP Telephone system. This removes the data-sharing bottleneck at the desktop and creates a separate voice network with single point of convergence, with benefits concerning cost, ease of installation, quality of service and security."

Quality-assured voice

With dedicated bandwidth for voice, the Phybridge solution can guarantee quality of service - a much trickier proposition with LAN-based infrastructures, Langenhoven says.

Non-disruptive installation

The other benefit of using existing cabling infrastructure is the low overall cost, ease and speed of installation.

"Everything happens in the PBX room, so there is no disruption to the business," says Langenhoven, "Having to upgrade or duplicate the company LAN can take weeks, whereas a Phybridge installation can literally happen over the weekend. In addition, the network readiness assessment and corrective actions required for a LAN-based installation can be a costly affair, whereas a network assessment is unnecessary with Phybridge."

Future-proofing assets

Phybridge further extends the life of IP phones - most of which currently run at 10/100 Ethernet speeds. "If a company runs voice on the LAN and decides to upgrade the network to gigabit speed, it will be forced to upgrade to significantly more expensive gigabit phones, whereas a Phybridge installation will allow it to hang on to the existing phones," says Langenhoven.

Lower cost data network

Phybridge supports Power Over Ethernet, which removes the need for the LAN to support it, since almost all PoE applications are telephony-centric, and hence brings down the cost requirement of the network, he adds.

Phybridge is home to the only switches globally to deliver Ethernet and power over a single pair of telephony grade wire with 4 times the reach of traditional data switches. This drastically reduces the number of switches required in large installations. This, in turn, simplifies and more easily centralises installations and reduces additional cooling, and battery backup system requirements.

For everyone

Langenhoven says Phybridge has widespread use in companies of all sizes.

It can be used by all IP Telephony vendors and is not limited to specific iP telephony brands.

It is as applicable in on-site deployments as it is in hosted IP telephony situations.

Companies of all sizes will find value in Phybridge's simplicity and ease of use and will now be able to benefit from the productivity of Unified Communication applications.

Available in 8-port, 24-port and 48-port configurations, Phybridge switches nevertheless scale massively. The company's biggest customer is a UK government entity with 50 000 extensions.

Traditional resellers can now offer a cost-effective and quality-assured VOIP service without specialist VOIP network knowledge. Research shows that up to 70% of VOIP support calls are network-related, which compounds support problems and puts these installations out of reach of voice resellers.

Training and support

"We are pleased to partner with Tellumat. Resellers look for reliable and knowledgeable distribution partners, and Tellumat joins our growing list of such partners," said John Croce, CEO of Phybridge Inc. "Our number one goal is to help our reseller partners be more successful with their clients. Tellumat's experience and relationships with key partners contributes to this goal."

"As an innovative technology company in our own right, Tellumat is proud to be associated with the distribution of Phybridge products and services in South and sub-Saharan Africa", adds Langenhoven