Some of the services the Melbourne-based provider offers, include voice and IP telephony, data and Internet, hosting, co-location, and firewall and security.

Many of the provider's customers have a mix of traffic running across their VPNs (Virtual Private Network) that includes demanding applications such as VOIP, Citrix and Windows Terminal Services in conjunction with email, Web browsing and file sharing, said Telarus managing director, Jules Rumsey.

"Without IP QOS, this would result in poor voice quality, dropped calls, and the disruption of access to mission critical applications being accessed via Citrix or Windows Terminal Services," he said.

Rumsey said the previous generation of Cisco equipment had performed extremely well and delivered excellent performance and availability but was not well suited to handling high volumes of traffic with IP QOS enabled. Additionally, it would not have been able to handle the load generated by enabling the features that would underpin some of its new product initiatives, he said.

Other vendor options were considered for the upgrade but the Cisco solution was "superior" for its needs, Rumsey said.