It might not be the most exciting thing in your workplace, but your business phone system is an essential part of your company. In B2B it’s the interface between your sales team and all the key accounts they have to stay in touch with. In B2C it’s vital for the brand – a reputation for great customer service goes a long way to building brand affinity.
But it could be working much harder for you. One of the benefits of VoIP vs cellular is the ability to integrate your business phone system with the rest of your company’s digital tools. And in many cases, the gateway to that is network functions virtualization.
Let’s go over what network functions virtualization is, and how it benefits companies already using VoIP systems.
What are Virtualized Network Functions
Every organization relies on networks to function. Without them, business operations will stall. Employees can connect to servers over the network, and consumers can access software, the internet, and connect with other companies.
However, as more gadgets become internet-connected, the amount of internet traffic climbs quickly. From voice over internet protocol (VoIP) calls to streaming films and real-time cloud backup services, businesses have outsourced the majority of their services to the cloud.
Everything from network architecture, to data center design and hardware, is impacted by this migration to the cloud. Businesses need to understand what it means for them to take advantage of this trend: how it affects their deployment lifecycle, operational costs, time to market, automated network orchestration, load balancer processes, and more.
Businesses can operate more effectively and cost-effectively without sacrificing performance thanks to this decoupling of hardware appliances. A virtual network function is less expensive than the high up-front expenditures of network resources. Especially in a setting where capital expenditure (CapEx) is closely limited. Network equipment’s reliance on hardware is broken by network functions virtualization.
It’s a method for constructing, installing, administering, and testing communications networks, where the majority of the work is done on typical x86 servers, running widely accessible server software. The majority of software-defined networking operations are carried out by software on general-purpose hardware under the NFV alternative network architecture.
Instead of spending money on expensive hardware, service providers and businesses can run virtual machines (VMs) on servers, storage, and switches that are all relatively inexpensive. Consolidating many virtualized resources into a single server lowers costs and infrastructure rollouts. And for a customer contact center, the cloud enables powerful new features like AI sentiment analysis or QoS analytics solutions.
How is network functions virtualization used?
Telecom companies globally use NFV solutions for network virtualization (NV). On top of the physical network, NFV creates a virtual network that enables service providers to scale their services more efficiently. When they move their operations from physical to digital, more of the deployment work can be done from a cloud server anywhere in the world.
Companies are turning to network virtualization to improve their VoIP services by removing network functions like DNS, caching, routing, and firewalling from the clunky hardware that used to dominate the market. They can also operate on updateable, easy-to-use software, rather than hardware which might not change for a decade. Here are some examples of how NFV is used to overcome challenges and deliver results in order to enhance services and lower costs.
Security
One of the key benefits of virtualized security is centrally-controlled processes and uniformly-distributed enforcement. By making things much more predictable, and making many sites visible to network administrators on one single server, a business can greatly increase their cybersecurity. On top of that, it’s much easier to fix a bug in the software than a security flaw in the physical device.
Mobile edge computing
Another benefit of virtualization is mobile edge computing. By creating and deploying one or more virtual machines, complex network operations can run on many kinds of devices. For an ecommerce company using its own alternatives to Acumatica to manage inventory, edge computing enables wireless IoT sensors that detect issues in the warehouse, and provide insight into how the whole operation could be streamlined.
For a contact center business using VoIP, the most obvious version of this is virtual phone numbers, allowing teams to run their business phones on any device they’re logged into.
Benefits of Network Functions Virtualization for VoIP
Network functions virtualization makes it easier to run network services at scale. They cut costs by eliminating the friction of deploying and maintaining physical infrastructures like on-site servers or business phone systems.
Like any cloud computing offering, network functions virtualization infrastructure makes services more automatic, scaleable, and repeatable. Companies don’t have to spend money maintaining on-site infrastructure, while cloud services, like AI transcripts, can be bundled into their mobile business plans. That’s good for the business, and it’s good for customers who benefit from faster, more reliable service. Here are a few important benefits of virtualizing network functions.
Rapid deployment of solutions
Because the software functionality has been decoupled from hardware, companies can quickly deploy new updates and features regardless of what technology is used on-site.
Operators may quickly implement new solutions and features without the need for time-consuming change requests, or waiting for new appliances from manufacturers. Accelerated deployment makes it much easier to use open-source software, and technologies that need regular patches, which is supported by network functions virtualization.
Reduced vendor lock-in
Companies can avoid vendor lock-in and proprietary equipment because interoperable, off-the-shelf hardware will run NFV. NFV makes it possible for generic hardware to operate the advanced software companies need, instead of having to use proprietary hardware that gets old fast.
This can happen because a virtualized network greatly simplifies network configuration and management; running operations on a virtual machine means you have to care a little less about what hardware it’s running on.
How virtualized network functions will change business
Network functions virtualization has several benefits for any kind of business operating at scale. But with the advent of VoIP technologies replacing traditional business phone software, there’s a huge opportunity for companies to enhance their business phone systems, with rapid software updates, instead of hardware upgrades that happen on the manufacturer’s timeline.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Allen – Director, SEO, 8×8
John Allen is a driven marketing professional with over 14 years of experience, an extensive background in building and optimizing digital marketing programs across SEM, SEO, paid media, mobile, social, and email, with an eye to new customer acquisition and increasing revenue.
