Cox (News – Alert) Business officials say they have improved the offerings of the managed service provider, by enhancing its voice services with a managed IP PBX (News – Alert) tool based on Cisco’s Small Business Communications System.
The MSP service is designed “specifically to address small and midsize businesses with fewer than 100 employees,” company officials say, “many of which have limited in-house IT resources.” The Managed IP PBX+ service is initially available, interestingly enough, in Oklahoma and Las Vegas, not traditionally seen as the usual early rollout markets, and will be expanded to additional Cox markets in 2011.
In conjunction with the service, Cox becomes the first cable operator to achieve the Cisco (News 
– Alert) Managed Services Channel Partner Express Certification, a significant distinction in the managed service provider market.
The system and service is monitored and managed by Cox Business (News – Alert) on a 24/7 basis, and any trouble can be resolved by Cox Business. Features can be shared at up to five networked locations, company officials say, including “four-digit dialing without incurring long-distance toll charges, productivity-enhancing applications such as a PC-integrated toolbar, and secure soft phone access to communications features for employees working remotely.”
Kristine Faulkner, vice president of product development and management, Cox Business, said managed IP PBX+ provides “advanced communications capabilities to small businesses that prefer onsite telecom equipment and frees them to allocate resources to core business activities. Cisco is a recognized data networking and VoIP leader and validates Cox’s commitment to partner with best-in-class technology organizations to expand the business product portfolio to meet diverse customer needs.”
In a recent interview with TMC (News – Alert), Mike Bolognini, vice president of Cox Business and Hospitality Network in Las Vegas, talked about the planned rollout of Hosted PBX in Southern Nevada. “In the business world, premise-based PBX systems were managed by a dedicated operator so business owners could rely on that individual for systems management,” he said, explaining that as new technology is made available and affordable for new business audiences–”specifically the small and medium sized businesses that are such a big part of our clientele here in Southern Nevada” – so too is the expectation that a certain learning curve will have to be mastered.David Sims is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of David’s articles, please visit his columnist page. He also blogs for TMCnet here.
Edited by Jennifer Russell