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Centrex, IP Style: Page 6 of 15




Advantage Interface

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MCI's Find-Me options rival those found with GoBeam's service but are harder to configure and use. Routing can be set up to locate you at as many as five different numbers, though unlike GoBeam's service, Find-Me can't be set based on who's calling you. MCI's documentation does mention a call-acceptance setting, but we didn't have access to it during our tests. Turning on Find-Me was a time-consuming process, problematic if you're trying to leave the office quickly. Calls also can be forwarded to a preset number or voicemail, though having this feature and Find-Me as separate entities seems strange.

Voicemail is managed and sorted similarly to ICG's setup, letting the user sort messages by phone number, caller, date, status and length. You can't see a log of incoming and missed calls, though. Also missing from the Web interface is a conference-call setup feature.

MCI's Web interface seems designed more for traveling users to listen to their voicemail and change preferences than as a desktop utility to enhance the IP telephone.

MCI Advantage, business-grade service starts at $35 per simultaneous call/line with QoS and $1,100 for a T1 of dedicated Internet access. MCI, (800) 465-7187, (703) 886-5600. www.mci.com

Darrin Woods is a Network Computing contributing editor. He has worked as a WAN engineer for a telecom carrier. Write to him at [email protected].