What's at the End of the Pipe: A Primer

Posted: 02/1999

What’s at the End of the Pipe: A Primer
By Kieren McCobb

Most telecommunications services marketed by agents plug into some type of voice or
data equipment, or "box." The agent who wishes to stay in business and grow
needs to know and understand these systems. The following is a primer explaining the types
of voice and data equipment that’s at the end of the pipe.

For simplicity, these are described separately below, but note that there is some
crossover between voice and data systems. For example: The T1 your customer installs for
dedicated access to your long distance carrier’s point of presence (POP) plugs into a
channel service unit/data service unit, (CSU/DSU). In this case, the box serves a voice
function. If the T1, or some of its channels, is used to transmit data, then it is serving
a data function.

Voice Communications Equipment
Telephone Systems

To keep things simple we will assume there are two kinds of telephone systems: private
branch exchanges (PBXs) and key systems. You occasionally will hear a PBX referred to as a
"switch." There was a time when the distinction between the two was clear, but
as with so much else in the 1990s, telling them apart has grown a little more complicated.
Generally, a PBX is bigger–meaning more lines or phones and more trunks–and can do more
(i.e., it has more features). Typically, users need to dial "9" to make a call
on a PBX but press a line button to make a call with a key system.

Long distance agents need to know about a feature in most PBXs and some key systems
called least-cost routing (LCR) or automatic route selection (ARS). This feature routes an
outbound call attempt over the least expensive facility available at that moment in time.
It does this because it’s been programmed to do so by your customer’s telecom manager or
the customer’s vendor. This is important because some carriers have great interstate rates
and miserable intrastate rates, or vice versa.

The phone system then will send the call over the carrier facility with the economical
interstate rate, if the call is interstate. But if it’s going intrastate, the PBX will
attempt to route the call over the facility best for that type of call. The telephone
system reads the area code/exchange combination (NPA/NNX); this is called six-digit
screening. The system then looks to see what facilities are available and sends the call
out over the most economical carrier available at that moment in time.

All agents have been in situations in which they had a price advantage on part but not
all of a prospect’s business. Understanding LCR will win some percentage of those
otherwise-lost deals. How do you know if the customer has LCR? Ask him or her, or offer to
call his or her equipment vendor and ask about this capability. It will set you apart.

Key systems generally are smaller phone systems, meaning less phones and trunks. They
may not have every feature that a PBX has, but the gap has narrowed considerably over the
years. Again, the main thing to look for here is LCR capability.

Voice Processing Systems

By no means are these the only industries that use the technologies, however. IVR
"marries" voice processing with the customer’s computerized database. IVR
frequently is used along with ACD these days. What IVR and ACD say to the savvy agent is
"lots of incoming calls" and "heavy need for reliability." This type
of customer is one who will say, "I’m not just interested in the cheapest
price." They also are huge users of telecommunications services, including long
distance. Selling this type of account is the grand slam of long distance and will take
knowledge, patience and hard work. And it’s worth it.

Data Communications Equipment

Private lines and data services are the holy grails of our business, and most agents
are afraid of them. Make no mistake–selling these types of services will decide who is
still in this business three years from now. These services are far less complicated than
agents think (see the Agency columns in the October 1998 and November 1998 issues of PHONE+).
Following are the most common types of data equipment:

Kieren McCobb is president of TeleConfusion Removal, a consulting firm serving
telecommunications agents. He also is president of AIB Communications Inc., an authorized
Bell Atlantic Corp. agent providing T1, primary rate interface (PRI), DS-3, frame relay
and Centrex offerings to end users in the Northeast region. He can be reached by phone at
+1 732 249 2821 and by e-mail at [email protected].