208 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
208 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
Centrex Renaissance
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"The Technology"
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By John D. Bray * (See below)
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Retyped from: On Communications
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(October 1985,Vol. 2,No. 10)
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By Jester Sluggo
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Serious new investment is being made in central office-based
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services. Regulators appear to be ready to let the fight begin
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in earnest between Centrex and the PBX (Private Branch Exchange).
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Local exchange telephone companies have discovered that, in
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Centrex, they have the only differentiated product in the crowded
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customer-switching marketplace. Hardware manufacturers are
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offering new sets and switches in voice/data and data-only
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formats. Software developers are recognixing the opportunity to
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support the large, established user base. Customers are
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beginning to understand that Centrex is an extremely flexible
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service concept. Like any modern communications system, Centex
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is hardware-dependent. Unlike the options available to most
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users, Centrex is not hardware bound.
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In 1981, most telephone companies in the U.S. and Canada
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decided that they could make more money selling customer
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premises-based switching than they could selling central office-
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based switching. Following the time-tested "grass is always
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greener" school of marketing, the telephone companies' low-key,
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service-oriented sales forces convinced themselves that the only
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reason they were not selling was that their product did not look
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exactly like everyone else's. The regulators seemed to feel that
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if they just left their wards to their own devices and AT&T
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direction, the regulatory difficulties of Centrex services would
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just dissappear.
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U.S. District Court Judge Harold Greene's divestiture order
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in 1982, though not necessarily a complete surprise to AT&T,
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caught the local phone companies with limited planning resources
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and few integrated stratigies ready for implementation.
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Though there was shock and then lethargy in some quarters,
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most telephone companies took action quickly. The establishment
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of independent dealers was a giant step in many states. The
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telephone comapany recognized itself as a wholesaler of products,
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rather than insisting on total customer control. Initially, this
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concept was thought to apply to the new, small-user market.
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Executone, Inc. saw the license as much more broad than
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that. This dealer strategy broadened the terminal equipment
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variety available to Centrex customers. There was no need to
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wait for the telephone companies to test terminal equipment and
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negotiate distribution agreements. Everything in the market was
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already compatible with the national telephone network, and
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Centrex, as a soft-ware defined feature group, is a component of
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that network.
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While more sources were becoming available to users,
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manufacturers like Northern Telcom, Inc. and Gandalf Data, Inc.
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were seeking new ways to enter the marketplace as suppliers to
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the telephone companies. Northern Telcom's response to the need
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for a digital central office with Centrex capability suggests it
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isn't only the telephone companies that have done a quick about-
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face.
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As no one knew that Centrex would come through divestiture
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stronger than ever, Northern Telcom's DMS-100 central office
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could only have been developed to be the first giant PBX aimed at
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displacing major Centrex installations. Instead, major supply
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contracts across the U.S. and Canada for Northern Telcom caused
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AT&T, the historically dominant U.S. supplier, to rethink its
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central office development strategy. A crash program was
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initiated to develope a full array of Centrex features in its
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digital technology central office, the 5 ESS. These are
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scheduled for customer site testing in January 1986.
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While Northern Telcom was teaching new lessons to sum old
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suppliers in 1983 and 1984, in 1985 there is a crowd of new
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options--that is, new suppliers entering the market and old
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suppliers offering new options--for Centrex. GTE Corp.'s
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manufacturing arm, Automatic Electric, is trying to get a
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foothold in the central office market. Where AT&T and Northern
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Telcom are touting the ability of their offices to serve remotes,
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ITT is getting a foothold in the market by offering so-called
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centrex remotes that bring digital functionality to the customer
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while being hosted by extant technology, the 1A ESS.
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Like many customers, the telephone companies are learning
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that combing voice and data functions in the same switch is not
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always a cost-effective answer. Using ordinary bell wire for
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local transmission does appear to be an effective answer.
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Sophisticated customers, of course, have already beaten the
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utilities to that conclusion. They have been using contention
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data switches, like Gandalf, in conjunction with Centrex.
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Using the in-house cabling provided by the telephone company
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to carry both voice and nonvoice traffic simultaniously, these
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users strip off the data traffic at the building terminal block,
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sending it through the cost-effective contention switch and
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letting the time- and quality-sensitve voice traffic pass on to
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the central office.
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More elaborate solutions for the digital data communications
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user are seen in announcements from companies like Wisconsin Bell
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and Southern New England Telephone Co., where Siemens
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Communications Systems, Inc. equipment is being considered as the
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backbone for a separate, switched data network.
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Ameritech, working with AT&T, has selected Illinois Bell as
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the site for its integrated services digital network trial.
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Centrex product managers around the country smile at talk of
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ISDN. To their knowledge, none of today's PBX products are
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compatible with the ISDN concept. Solutions like the Gandalf and
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Siemens options mentioned above extend the functional life of
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today's network workhorse, the 1A ESS.
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Electronic key telephone service, with its associated
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reductions in cable requirement and rearrangement flexibility,
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works with Centrex as well as it does with PBX or any basic
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telephone service. If the Centrex user has what is generally
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known as Centrex II or later editions of Centrex service, these
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key systems tend to duplicate many of the features already
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incorporated in the basic Centrex line rates. AT&T and Northern
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Telcom have produced additional product lines that work only with
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Centrex, as proprietary sets do with PBXs.
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In the case of AT&T, a subprocessor must be installed in the
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central office. Northern Telcom has takien another step. With
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its Unity series, rather than duplicate the array of features
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inherent in the central office itself, Northern Telcom has
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produced a series of high-function sets that combine flexibility
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with economy.
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These feature sets actually use the in-place, two-pair
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station wire. They can be monitored by a receptionist using a
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small console that displays either 15 or 30 station-busy lamps.
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The console positions use either 25- or 50-pair cable. Several
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companies, including the Redmond, Wash.-based Tone Commander
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Systems, Inc., have produced Centrex consoles. Many of these are
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aimed at providing low-cost console operation for the small
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Centrex customer where little support was available before.
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The telephone companies are also reaching out to make
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Centrex compatible with adjunct systems, like voice messaging.
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In 1982, the 1A ESS talked only to itself when doing call
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processing. Now, when it finds a called station busy or one that
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does not answer, it will retain the number of the first station
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called. When it forces the call to a predignated point, like a
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customer-owned voice message center, it first passes on the
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original called telephone number. This enables the message
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center to bring up a screen filled with data on the party that is
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normally located at the originally called number. When the
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message center takes the forwarded call, the call can be answered
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professionally and personally.
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Direct customer control of the telephone number and line
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feature arrangements has become commonplace in companies with an
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aggressive Centrex policy.
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The moves and changes area has become one of the most
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contested in Centrex software development. Products have been
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developed by AT&T, Bell Communications Research, Inc. and
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American Telecorp, Inc., as well as local products developed by
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Illinois Bell, Nynex Corp. and Northwestern Bell. Each of these
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products is aimed primarily at speeding up the rearrangement
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process while cutting costs for both the customer and the
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telephone company.
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Telco Research Corp. of Nashville, Commercial Software, Inc.
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of New York and several others have entered the lists with
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mainframe-,mini-,and microcomputer-based systems, each aimed at
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providing a cost-effective solution to an old, but now more
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critical customer management problem. System size and the
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desired speed of reports will usually dictate the best answer for
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each user.
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An area of rapidly expanding interest in Centrex is the
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multitenant market. Several telephone companies have seen enough
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potential to put new offering together that will take new names
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and have new rate structures. Basic Centrex advantages, like its
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ability to handle expansion and contraction easily, while leaving
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serious maintenance problems in the hands of the telephone
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companies, seem to be important factors. Customer control of
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moves and changes also plays a major role.
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Technology no longer appears to be a limiter to central
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office-based services. Centrex will give way to a host of new
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labels denoting more specialized services.
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No longer dependent on a single source for innovation,
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development and distribution, the Centrex customer and the
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telephone company alike can look forward to an increasing rate of
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innovation.
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All of the manufacturers with an interest in the market of
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not yet established a place. Major firms, like Ericsson
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Information Systems, do not plan to be left out. ITT's strategy
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to start with Centrex remotes and build back into the central
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office has potential. The excitement surrounding the resurgence
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of Centrex in the U.S. and Canada has triggered serious inquiries
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from Europe.
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Several other factors will determine whether development
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accelerates as fast as it can, including regulators, customers,
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telephone company management, embedded processes and alternative
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technologies. At the end of Round 1, Centrex has surprised many
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observers and reassured others. Unless sumone fixes the fight,
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it is going all the way.
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* Note: Bray is vice-president, marketing, for American Telecorp,
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Inc., Redwood City Calif.
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Watch for Part 2 of Centrex Renaissance, "The Regulations",
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written by Leslie Albin.
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The above text was written primarily for people in marketing
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telephone technologies. In the interests of the phreaking world,
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I hope that you can focus on the business side of
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telecommunications which may be in your future. There are more to
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PBX's than 0-700-456-1001. Any comments, questions, or
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corrections may be emailed to me at Metalshop, or to:
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J. Sluggo
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P.O. Box 93
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East Grand Forks,MN 56721
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This file is dedicated to Bambi for bringing me my fondest
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memories -- There is "No One Like You!" -- The Scorpions.
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