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R E V I E W

Centrex, IP Style

July 10, 2003
By Darrin Woods

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ICG Communications VoicePipe

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	In this article
	Introduction
	GoBeam vPBX
	ICG Communications VoicePipe
	MCI Advantage
	Executive Summary & Web Links
	Don't Want Centrex?
	The Business Case
	Report Card

We tested VoicePipe first and were immediately impressed with the voice quality on our unmanaged network. Although we did not rate these products on voice quality, we have to say that we were very pleasantly surprised. ICG's service is aptly named.

Like MCI, ICG sent us a Cisco 7940 IP phone to connect to our network. And like GoBeam, ICG connected us to its internal network so we could see the directly populated employee list. With the phone connected, we had a dial tone in a matter of seconds. Our first call--which came within minutes--was from an ICG engineer calling to see if the phone was working and if we were having any problems. Nope, it worked like a champ. Like GoBeam's implementation, ICG's service had no problems dealing with our network setup.

We had one hiccup, though, caused by the configuration being fat-fingered into the switch: Our phone could not find its directory server because the IP address had been entered incorrectly. A quick call to ICG had the problem solved in a matter of minutes, and we could see the entries created on the Web site from the telephone.

ICG's Web interface is even simpler to use than GoBeam's and offers much of the same functionality--voicemail, directory services and conference-call setup. Conference calls are easier to set up with GoBeam's service, however.

For reporting, ICG's logs lumped all the calls together instead of breaking them out into outgoing, incoming and missed, as GoBeam does. However, the logs can be sorted based on call direction, date and time, person or length.

VoicePipe Interface

click to enlarge

As for call management, we could set up particular actions based on the time of day for select incoming calls. For example, you can send calls to voicemail automatically, which is great if you don't want to be disturbed during customer meetings. ICG also lets you forward calls to a remote number, such as a cell phone number if you're out of the office, but it can forward to one number only and cannot try several numbers, as GoBeam's system can.

ICG began offering the service in Denver and now provides it in Atlanta; Dallas, Houston and Austin, Texas; northern and southern California; and the Ohio Valley. ICG has its own MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching)-enabled, OC-48 backbone and keeps voice calls on its data network as long as possible, even if the call is not meant for another ICG-serviced telephone.

VoicePipe, $4,398 monthly for 100 seats basic VoicePipe service plus a $1,250 nonrecurring setup charge, with a 3-year term. ICG Communications, (888) 424-1144, (303) 414-5000. www.icgcom.com