Hosted VoIP cannot be left in the public internet spectrum because of the critical nature of voice to business communications, according to Western Europe-based managed services provider, Claranet.

The performance of organisations' cloud-based telephony systems is only as reliable and secure as the network in which they are delivered, Claranet says.

“Network integration is critical to ensuring reliability of service for hosted voice solutions and safeguarding corporate reputation,” the company explains.

"Given the benefits that these technologies can offer, in terms of cost, agility and flexibility that should come as little surprise, but the migration away from traditional PBX systems has not been without its challenges, particularly when it comes to connectivity,” explains James Mitchell, senior product manager for Unified Communications.

"All businesses that have outsourced, or intend to outsource, parts of their IT infrastructure should consider the vital importance of the network to the successful operation of their cloud service,” Mitchell says.

"The consequences of this include having to pay over the odds for networking technology that is often unsuitable for taking full advantage of the cloud-based telephony, with businesses suffering from poor application performance as a result.

He adds, "If you are going to outsource business-critical IT functions to the cloud, such as voice, then you need a connection with strict performance and availability guarantees."