Getting down to business: Linx has what it takes to put unified messaging to work

To take off, unified messaging will have to fit into the environment where most people receive the bulk of their e-mail, voice mail and faxes - on the job, where studies show most workers have an average of six telecom devices at their fingertips. But many unified messaging providers actually complicate users' lives by asking them to remember yet another number.

"Corporate America has always had a problem with connectivity, and the way they've solved it is by throwing more tools at it," said John Theberge, vice president of strategic marketing for Linx Communications. "We say, `Offer a service to your work force rather than all these tools.'"

Linx is building out local points of presence to provide unified messaging around the country in partnership with competitive carrier Focal Communications and AT&T. The service has 4500 customers, mainly in Boston and Washington, and just launched in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco three months ago.

The key to Linx's service is its partnership with Focal. Linx has dropped Class 4 switches into Focal's facilities in those cities and plans to follow Focal into Atlanta, Philadelphia and other cities in the near future.

"In those cities, we can give you a local number for all your messages," Theberge said. "Not only are you able to check your messages with that number, but you can take calls on it in real time. It's not a simple store-and-forward capability. We have the ability to find you any place in the world." Customers not in those metro areas can get an 800 number to dial into the nearest Linx switch.

Local calling appeals to corporations for financial reasons: Using an 800 number can cost 20cents to 25cents a minute, and the average worker spends 30 minutes a day dealing with voice mail.

The service, known as Linx-Connect, also can integrate with end users' existing telecom systems. Linx programs its switches with the pilot number for a corporation's e-mail system. When a caller presses `2' to leave a voice mail, Linx's switch dials the pilot number, inserts a pause and then dials the end user's corporate voice mail extension.

"That legacy capacity is important," said Michael Romney, head of telecom consulting firm Romney Associates. "Companies want to keep their employees on the same voice mail system, so outsourced messaging products need to integrate seamlessly with what they've got."

Focal also terminates calls for Linx via an IP platform sitting on top of Linx's switches. Subscribers enter a number to call on the LinxWeb portal page and identify the number at which they can be called. The call will be initiated, and the user's phone will ring while the called party is holding. Charges are 5cents a minute for local calls, 12cents for long-distance.

Linx has another advantage in putting unified messaging to work. Many of Linx's competitors do sequential ringing - 10 rings on one phone, then 10 on a second and 10 more on a third. "No business person is going to hang on for 30 rings," Theberge said. Linx rings up to three phones simultaneously.

The new LinxWeb portal lets subscribers access their account via any Web browser. They can listen to messages, view faxes before they print them, send messages or faxes as e-mail, make themselves available by point and click or change any of their follow-me numbers. Retail price for the service is $24.95 a month, and the average bill is about $50 to $460 a month. "This isn't a commodity, so we're still getting very good price points," Theberge said.

The company sells directly to enterprises through its own sales force, but it also sells through CLECs in Boston and Washington, and through paging companies and wireless resellers such as PCS Wireless in California.

"They're all trying to reduce churn and offer something that differentiates themselves and increases their revenue base," Theberge said. "Instead of offering commoditized cheap minutes, now they can offer enhanced integrated services."