Centrex, Is Still Alive?

A few months ago, we were asked to review a request for proposal where the prospect wanted to replace their Centrex lines with VoIP/SIP Trunking. I didn't think much of it until I realized that none of our SIP Trunking call center team knew what Centrex was. We had discussed "hosted" solutions, as that is part of Broadvox's legacy, and one may even consider it a competitive offering to our SIP Trunking products. However, the term, Centrex, had never been used and they did not know who supplied Centrex services. Now it was fairly easy to make them aware of the features and the providers but I became curious. How many Centrex users remained out there? Why had they not at a minimum transitioned to a hosted IP solution such as that offered by FreedomVOICE? Was there too little a cost benefit to move from Centrex to a premised-based IP PBX and a service provider such as Broadvox?

It is not often that I start a blog without the answers, but today I have. Quick research trotted out the same old tired information of desire for fixed monthly cost, better CapEx management, suited for non-technical business owners, etc. Those answers I can give without breaking a sweat. However, far more difficult is to look at the pricing, the features, and the service agreements/contracts and truly understand why this dinosaur survives. Therefore, I am accepting the challenge. A few weeks ago, I made a list of blog subjects to cover. I still come up with some spontaneous subjects like today's, but it does help when I wake up on Monday morning with a recipe and nothing else, to have a list to review. This subject Centrex verses Hosted verses Premise has been added to the list.

Stay tuned for more. In the meantime, check out this video interview conducted during Interop 09 in Las Vegas. It was where I announced Broadvox's leadership in having the most certified IP PBX platforms in the IP Community. It also announces our new Inside Channel Sales group. Check it out!

See you on Monday with another original recipe!