Cablecom VOIP is based on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), a method by which voice is digitized and transmitted in digital packets rather than using traditional circuit-committed protocols of the public switched telephone network (PSTN). The IP concept is similar to the PSTN, except that instead of telephones it uses computers, and instead of telephone numbers every telephone has a unique IP Address. Thus, IP telephones use IP addresses. Probably the most significant difference with VoIP, as compared to PSTN, is that backbone-trunking resources are not assigned in a dedicated, predictable manner to support a voice call. Instead, trunk bandwidth for a VoIP telephone conversation is assigned on a random, as needed basis, via packet switching. These service applications reside on hosted-network servers, which deliver very fast response and provide all the features of VoIP²Business.

Just about any business interested in an overall increase in communications efficiency and potential decrease in overall costs associated with their telecommunications needs could benefit from Cablecom VOIP services. Businesses that operate over multiple locations, utilize telecommuters and/or field personnel, and want to reduce their overall costs of maintaining and managing their traditional phone system are ideally suited to benefit from Cablecom VOIPs' offering.

Just about any business located in the Chicago area.

Cablecom VOIP provides a complete spectrum of local, long-distance and Dedicated Internet Access functionality. Specific service components delivered to customers depend on the Cablecom VOIP package selected. Customers can choose from multiple service plans.

Cablecom VOIP provides the following key value elements to customers:

• Create a "National" campus
  • Remove physical limitations
  • Connect remote employees seamlessly without extra costs
  • Migrate easily
  • Moves, adds, and changes made simple through Web-based tools
  • Implement 4- and 5-digit dialing plans

• Simplify User Experience
  • Shared company directory
  • Prioritized call handling
  • User-friendly conferencing service
  • A unified voice mailbox
  • Instant tie-in to remote workers and branches
  • A web-based Personal Communication Manager (PCM) for all feature management and personal preferences

• Save Operating Expenses (OpEx) and Capital Expenses (CapEx)
  • Free "on-net" calling - Eliminates long distance between offices
  • Reduced support costs - Instant Moves, Adds, Changes with a click of a mouse
  • Built-in disaster recovery
  • Bundled packaging and pricing
  • Minimized service calls
  • Minimized system upgrade costs
  • Minimized upgrade costs for new features
  • No full-time employee needed to manage phone system

• Customized to Meet Unique Needs
  • Scale quickly up or down to meet staffing changes
  • Adjust easily to each user through a browser-based Console
  • Deliver predictable monthly costs
  • Adapt rapidly to integrate newly acquired personnel
  • Work from office, home, mobile, or customer site while still on the system

Cablecom VOIP offers a new fully hosted VoIP service that replaces the need for a premises-based phone system and the multiple vendors required to provide popular applications like voicemail, conferencing, and unified messaging. The features and applications are not only delivered to customers' phone via a single dedicated Internet access pipe to the business, but the service can be individually customized by the user through the Personal Communications Manager (PCM). For businesses, the solution provides centralized management and control that allow them to perform their own moves, adds, and changes from an Internet connection.

Cablecom VOIP is hosted in a carrier-grade network, not the Internet. The applications were built with a browser-based model in mind, making it easy for the customers to administer, manage, and update their features (such as speed dial keys, phone templates, and moves, adds, and changes). Therefore, a PBX is not required - only phones. Other Web-based portals, such as those offered by Vonage, are simply PC-based solutions with a Web-enabled front-end for making calls over the Internet. Calls over the Internet may be satisfactory for consumer-grade calling, but businesses require a higher quality of service. Cablecom VOIP gives the user the same (or superior) voice quality they have been accustomed to with their own PBX, unlike other VoIP solutions that may transport voice traffic over the Internet.

Additionally, and unique to Cablecom VOIP, all system deployments incorporate Quality of Service (QoS) devices to ensure consistent quality of voice signal service and to aid in bandwidth allocation and system oversight.

There are two options for messaging:

Conferencing offers the end-user an on-demand conference service and the ability to schedule conference calls via the PCM. Its unique Web-enabled features such as question queue, voting, text chat, volume control, conference record and playback, and many other additional features enhance the end-user experience. Conferencing is capable of hosting 48 active participants and 400 passive, or listen-only, participants per conference call.

Equipment setup, activation, and operations training are provided by Cablecom. Typically, one or two technical and/or office contacts are designated within the customer's organization and they will receive specialized System Administration training. They will receive details on setting up the service for the company. They will have their own Office Administrator Portal, separate from their own personalized PCM, which will allow them to - for example - perform moves, adds, changes for any user, maintain their company directory, and administer hunt groups and even ACD groups. From an operator's perspective, this is very much like owning an in-house PBX or Key system, without the difficulties of managing a physical piece of equipment.

The service is engineered to be as reliable as any other carrier-grade network product. Since all of the data is stored in the network, the data itself is intact. The system has been tested to have "five 9s" reliability (99.999% availability), including (and especially) customer data. Even with such impeccable reliability built into the system, our network is managed via three primary Network Operating Centers (NOCs) located in the Southern, Northeast, and Midwestern US. Full redundancy and fail-over capabilities exists between the NOCs; so that in the unlikely event one NOC falls off-line, the other two takeover seamlessly.

In the event of a failure, the impact on service is very limited, if at all perceptible. In fact, the system was designed to isolate failures from the users, so any calls that are in progress will remain "up" in the event of a failure. Extensive network monitoring ensures that any local failures (for example, phones or LANs) are minimized when they do occur.

A Cablecom Convergence Network engineer is involved with the needs assessment and design of every customer solution. Part of that assessment calls for an evaluation of the service needs of the customer. Determinations are then made as to the correct bandwidth required for the number of employees, as well as an evaluation of the customer's Local Area Network (LAN). The system will be provisioned and installed to ensure voice quality, (including Quality of Service (QoS) devices), and the number of users and/or data being transmitted won't have an effect on voice quality.

The Cablecom VOIP system design and operation includes traffic engineering on a per-customer basis. In addition, Cablecom VOIP is transmitted over a managed IP network, not the Internet. This network is engineered for voice traffic. If the Internet is busy, it will only effect the response time of your PCM, which you do not need in order to use your phone and make calls.

Customers will need to go through a qualification / provisioning checklist to determine what specifically will be needed, including selecting the most appropriate service packages for the business. Once this is complete, the customer may only need new phones, or they may need additional cabling, a router and/or Frame Relay termination device, and phones.

Customers will need to go through a qualification / provisioning checklist to determine what specifically will be needed, including selecting the most appropriate service packages for the business. Once this is complete, the customer may only need new phones, or they may need additional cabling, a router and/or Frame Relay termination device, and phones.

We currently offer the most sophisticated e-911 on the line-side and work with the Class 5 to support the trunk-side, network-facing functions of e-911, Line Number Portability (LNP), and 800 services. Our e-911 solution has unique capabilities that, for example, address the situation in which a business has multiple locations all served by the hosted service but the business has moved a phone number from one location to another. Since 911 requires the call to be routed to the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) associated with the physical location, we have a technique that allows us to ensure the 911 call is routed to the correct PSAP with the correct phone number.

Here's another example that demonstrates that what we can do with IP is much better than what a business gets with a PBX solution. As far as a local numbering plan, each phone will have a specific DID that does not need to be published in a public directory. In other words, only the customer's main number needs to be published. A 2-, 3-, 4-, or 7-digit dialing plan is available for internal extension dialing, depending on the needs of the customer.

The hosted communications servers are fully secured in the network, thereby ensuring that only authorized end users and network servers can access the system.

There are multiple approaches for delivering IP telephony while keeping firewalls intact. Our solution operates outside of the firewall and can utilize a Network Address Translation device (NAT) that only allows voice calls to the specific IP addresses through the firewall.

The answer depends on how a customer's current bandwidth is delivered, whether Line Number Portability (LNP - the ability for a customer to maintain its current phone numbers) is required (from another service provider), whether cabling upgrades are required, and a number of other factors. However, a general expectation for service turn up, from the time the order is submitted to the time the customer has dial tone and training, to be between 30 and 45 days - most delays are associated with porting over existing phone numbers from other providers.

The Office Administrator Portal provides users with a report that allows them to view each phone number and the services assigned and provisioned to that phone number. Every time a change is made to an account, the report is automatically updated and can be viewed from any Internet connection by the administrator.

LNP is required in most cases. If the service is moving from a competitive carrier, then LNP will be required, as with any service. If the customer is an existing customer, then LNP will not be required. The DIDs must be ported to the hosted system.

Cablecom VOIP is supported by live oversight 24/7/365. Customer service and technical support includes:

Service creation, modification, and cancellation support

• Administrative and End-user Operations Training
• Billing support
• Triage of end-user WAN, LAN, CPE, or application issues
• LAN and CPE issue resolution with end-user
• Return to Manufacturer (RMA) for CPE equipment
• WAN issue diagnosis
• Knowledge base to address issues
• Managing the VoIP network backbone, servers, and applications
• Technical support and surveillance for Hosted IP Voice customers
• Providing fault isolation/resolution of VoIP²Business, including application/media servers
• Manage reported customer issues via a trouble-ticketing system
• Ensuring fault isolation, escalation, and resolution is documented within the trouble ticket
• Provide consistent customer follow-up and timely updates to resolution of reported problems
• System and application administration
• Network performance and integrity
• Platform security

This depends on the size of the business, the type of service they currently have, and other solutions they are currently considering. A total cost of ownership estimating tool and return-on-investment (ROI) calculator is available as part of the sales process and can assist in determining the value, relative to other available solutions like Nortel Meridian PBX, Cisco Call Manager, and traditional Centrex. Generally, since a customer does not have to purchase or manage any premises-based hardware, the savings will be dramatic and compelling.

Customers will be able to keep this as they do today. It will be treated as another DID number on the hosted service.

The service has the ability for a customer to assign as many codes as they like, based on users, projects, and clients, for example. At the end of the billing cycle, these calls can be separated out by account/billing code, so a customer knows where these calls are to be charged