The cloud service, called NUViA, fulfills all the hallmarks of a new technology offering, including the use of the "cloud" and the somewhat random capitalization of the product name. But there's more, Genband's announcement says:

NUViA offers service providers all of the advantages of cloud-based services, such as a pay-as-you-grow business model and the ability to extend their service footprint quickly, as well as a flexible service delivery model that allows them to fully customize and differentiate their branded services. The NUViA Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) offering includes HD voice, video, multimedia messaging, mobility, conferencing, Web collaboration, desktop clients, and fixed and mobile convergence. The NUViA RCS offering allows wireless operators to quickly take to market extensive multimedia communications services and experiences that go well beyond standard RCS capabilities for consumers.

Meanwhile, Genband is presenting its "Making Networks Smarter" vision, a way of explaining how all the bits and boxes it has acquired over the years -- session border controllers, media gateways, softswitches, application servers, etc. -- actually work together to help service providers go from TDM- and voice-based networks to IP-enabled networks with unified communications via the cloud.

It is a lot to take in, but it's the coat of paint the company needed to better position itself for a possible initial public offering someday. Also, the market positioning reiterates CEO Charlie Vogt's zeal for making Genband an IP transformation specialist, not just a box vendor. The message Genband is now taking to the market is that it can be a trusted partner for handling the complexity of a unified communications service.

"The key to the cloud is not having to deal with all the evolutionary technology changes," Vogt tells Light Reading. "You can leave all that capex and all those headaches to someone else." Vogt says he'll have more news during a CNBC appearance that's tentatively scheduled for next week.

— Phil Harvey, Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading