Integrated services have moved down market in a big way

CLECs, cable companies, incumbents and even software giants such as Microsoft are seeing the light of delivering integrated data/voice-over-IP services to small- to medium-sized businesses.

Companies such as Covad Communications and MegaPath were preaching VoIP at the VON.x show in San Jose, and cable giant Comcast is flexing its VoIP muscles by promising business-class services for SMBs. During its third annual small business summit, Microsoft said it would release a service pack for Microsoft Response Point this summer that will enable session initiation protocol (SIP) trunking and a range of new services.

Comcast announced last week that it is offering its Business Class Voice Service for SMBs in New England, featuring unlimited local and long-distance calling, a wide range of advanced voice features, and Internet access at speeds up to 16 Mb/s. In addition, the company is offering free software from Microsoft to provide e-mail, calendaring and document sharing, as well as McAfee data protection software. Comcast initially is bundling all that with video for a $99 per month introductory price.

As yet, Covad isn't seeing the cable industry making inroads into the SMB space, said Lisa Graham, senior vice president and general manager of the wholesale division, which has witnessed a number of its service provider customers launch integrated voice/data offerings for SMBs. Their focus is on quality and end-to-end control, Graham said. “We are offering a business-class [service level agreement], which we can offer because we prioritize the voice traffic, on an end-to-end basis,” she said.

MegaPath, a national CLEC, used VON.x to announce new SIP trunking and primary rate interfaces for its integrated voice/data service to take it to larger businesses within the SMB space, including those with 50 to 75 employees, said Greg Davis, vice president of product marketing. The MegaPath Duet service is based on private IP connections, not the public Internet — a key distinction for many businesses, Davis said.

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