In a world where technology is growing and improving at a dramatic rate, ease of use is something that we can all look forward to. As more companies adopt policies to allow their employees to bring your own devices (BYOD) to use as workforce tools, ease of use becomes even more important. To lessen some of the burden, Switch Communications, a provider of unified communications, collaboration and productivity tools for work, has been beta testing a business grade phone system for Google (News - Alert) Apps. After three months in beta Switch has now been made available to the public.

Google Apps is a suite of cloud computing productivity and collaboration tools and software, which is offered on a subscription basis by Google. Switch was designed and built specifically for companies that subscribe to Google Apps. This should not come as too much of a surprise since Craig Walker (News - Alert), CEO of Switch Communications had a hand in helping to create Google Voice.

I mentioned ease of use earlier, Google Apps users are imported straight into Switch—it does not get much easier than that. It should only take a few minutes for a company, regardless of size, to be up and running on Switch. All of your information is at your fingertips the minute that you log into Google Apps.

In describing Switch, Craig Walker said "Switch puts the power of the phone back in the hands of the user with your work number on your own device, enabling you to stay connected and productive from wherever your work and life take you. It integrates perfectly with Google Apps so that your work phone number travels with you, just like your Google Apps email, Calendar and Drive, keeping up with the streamlined, mobile nature of work today."

With Switch, there is no need to give out different phone numbers if you are out of the office. Your business phone number will ring on any device that you want it to. You are not limited to just your smartphone, thanks to a Chrome app for Mac, Windows, Linux or Chromebook desktop, you have a variety of options.

Administrators will like the amount of control that they gain through Switch. Setting up the system can be accomplished in just a few minutes. Items can be selected from a drop-down menu eliminating the need for an IT specialist. Calls can be directed through the use of a virtual receptionist, with a lot of other options that can be chosen.

If you need a physical desk phone, Obihai for Switch ships with one-click activation and deep integration to give the same rich call controls. Pricing for companies of all sizes is $15 per month, per employee, including a free company number and unlimited domestic calls and texts.

If you find yourself near the Miami Beach Convention Center later this month, it will be worth dropping by and taking in what ITEXPO has to offer. In fact, Craig Walker will be participating in multiple sessions on January 28 as he will be on four different panels.

At 10am on January 28 he will be discussing the evolution of Voice over IP in a session entitled 20 years of VoIP. The discussion will include many of the innovators and visionaries that have been part of the past 20 Years of VoIP. That will be followed at 11am by a discussion on how startups are changing communications. It seems that there is a new game in town with its own rules.

After a break for lunch, Craig will be back to explain what you need to know when it comes to VoIP and law enforcement. This session is designed to acquaint the Internet telephony community with the people that are actively involved in addressing criminal, fraud, and homeland security issues today.

A hot topic right now is net neutrality, which everyone including the President Obama is commenting on. This brings up the question of what can or should the FCC (News - Alert) do to maintain net neutrality? This session which starts at 2:30pm, will explore all of the options, including the FCC's discussions on the regulation of broadband, Title II and what it would mean for technology vendors, operators and their customers.