By Lindsay Welnick

Comcast Corp. today announced Comcast Business VoiceEdge, a cloud-based voice and unified communications solution. Fully managed over Comcasts network, Business VoiceEdge eliminates the need for on-site equipment such as PBX and key systems and provides a predictable monthly cost, the cableco said.

Additionally, Business VoiceEdge delivers a common user experience, HD-quality voice service, and a full suite of unified communications features.

While Business VoiceEdge is now available across most of Comcasts Northeastern Division, nationwide rollout across Comcasts entire service is not targeted until the end of 2012.  

What sets Comcast apart from other players in this space is that were the only provider to combine a cloud-based voice service with vast network reach, a well-known brand and a strong focus on providing great products with high quality and consistency,” said Bill Stemper, president of Comcast Business Services. Businesses, especially those with a distributed workforce, need a reliable and consistent voice solution that allows their ‘on-the-go’ employees to stay connected anytime and anywhere."

With Business VoiceEdge, Comcast provides customers with unlimited nationwide calling, Polycom phones at no additional charge, HD audio and advanced unified communications and mobility features.

As with other cloud-based applications and services, organizations of all sizes are investigating cloud-based voice solutions as a means to help reduce costs and simplify operations while improving worker productivity," said Infonetics Research directing analyst, VoIP and IMS, Diane Myers.  "This combination would seem to be an obvious choice, but the service availability and operator reliability questions have been challenging."