Cincinnati Bell (News - Alert), Inc., is parent to one of the nation’s most-respected and best-performing local exchange and wireless providers. With headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Bell provides a wide range of telecommunications products and services to residential and business customers in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.

 

Cincinnati Bell’s Director, Business Development — Marketing and Product Strategy, Michael Herrmann will be speaking at the upcoming ITEXPO on a panel titled, Why SIP Trunking Makes Sense For SMBs.

 

I had the opportunity to ask Herrmann some questions in advance of the event.

 

 

MH: As it relates to IP telephony, Cincinnati Bell will continue to integrate our VoIP network capabilities (i.e., BroadSoft, Acme Packet, etc.) with our managed services and equipment portfolio to deliver fully managed solutions to our customers. Furthermore, we will leverage our wireless network and its UMA components to deliver enhanced mobility solutions and features to our business customers.

 

MH: As the traditional landline telephony business declines over time, new products and services are needed to meet the needs of our customers. The IP telephony and network platforms that Cincinnati Bell has invested in provide the foundation to offer these new products and services.

 

MH: From our standpoint, it has allowed us to streamline the delivery of services to our customers, and to tie together various network platforms — data, traditional TDM, and wireless — to build unique solutions packages for our customers.

 

MH: A few common themes we have seen from a product perspective:

 

MH: We are constantly evolving our product roadmap to meet the demand of our customers. We are also spending a great deal of market research dollars to make sure we’re developing what our customers are looking for.

 

MH: That is hard to say; I think it depends on the market segment you are evaluating. In the SMB space, there is an ever-growing focus on wireless integration. With our GSM wireless network, the UMA network components, and our IP telephony platform, a “Wireless Centrex” solution looks very compelling.

 

MH: We see strong demand and growth for IP Telephony and fully managed service bundles in our footprint; since we do not have any significant international operations, I am probably not the right person to ask about ROW opportunities.

 

MH: Both of these companies are revolutionizing their respective segments of the technology market. I am excited to work with companies like Google and Apple (News - Alert) to find unique ways to integrate their content and applications within our products and services.

 

MH: Microsoft is a strong technology partner of Cincinnati Bell, and we will continue to work together on a variety of projects.

 

MH: We continue to see more and more customers pushing their business applications to wireless devices, or with wireless connectivity options. They also have increasing mobility needs. Businesses that were never “high tech” will discover wireless applications that lower costs and increase productivity.

 

MH: More and more focus on mobility and wireless connectivity; applications and business features enabled on wireless devices.

 

MH: With the focus of SIP to the SMB, I will focus on what we have seen in the SMB market, the solutions we offer them today, and some potential roadmap services we have in development.

 

MH: Real-world examples of a company focused on the SMB space, deploying leading edge products and services.

 

MH: We are a lot more than a regional ILEC. A few examples are we are the fifth largest Avaya partner in North America. We have over 200K sq/ft of raised floor data center space. We are a Cisco Service Provider for voice and data services. A BroadSoft partner, etc.

 

MH: The Bengals will win the Superbowl! :-)