YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
The most recent installation job is the Hughes Brothers Celebrity Theater, which joins nearly two dozen Branson-area companies under contract with the communications service provider.
An interconnect agreement with CenturyTel signed in May 2007 opened the door for NuVox to expand into the Branson, Branson West, Reeds Spring and Hollister areas.
“It was a competitive agreement to fully participate and connect in that market,” said Bill Whitworth, sales manager in the Springfield office. “We started prospecting for business in October 2007.”
Added Pamela Anderson, manager of area marketing communications for CenturyTel South Missouri, “Local exchange carriers like CenturyTel have interconnect agreements with many companies.”
Whitworth said that NuVox had been delivering service to Branson-area customers for more than five years, but before the agreement, those services were geared toward Internet services.
Now, the firm can offer its signature VoxIP service, which expands ordinary broadband through an exchange of voice and Internet circuits. The IP-based technology sends voice and data over a single connection on NuVox’s private network, which is largely powered by Cisco Systems equipment, rather than over the public Internet, Whitworth said.
When phone and fax lines are not in use, the circuits convert to Internet bandwidth.
“(VoxIP) is designed to get better use of your circuits … so you don’t have wasted space (on your broadband),” added Walt Gorman, vice president of direct sales for NuVox’s west region, which includes Springfield.
Client demographics
Greenville, S.C.-based NuVox provides information technology to businesses in 16 states, offering package bundles with long distance, managed Internet security, audio conferencing, local calling features such as caller ID, messaging services, Web hosting and e-mail.
NuVox serves about 800 customers in Springfield and the surrounding communities, including Missouri State University, Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Co., AG Financial Services Group and Springfield Business Journal, Whitworth said.
In Branson, NuVox has seven active customers, including Jim Stafford Theatre and Shoji Entertainment Inc., with another 15 customers awaiting installation.
Companywide, NuVox serves about 90,000 customers, nearly 70 percent of which are small-to-medium-size businesses, officials said.
Although NuVox has customers who spend as much as $100,000 per month on communication technology, most of its customers spend between $400 and $20,000 per month for IT services. He said NuVox usually targets businesses with five or more employees and that have multiple locations, such as banks, health care facilities, automotive dealers and insurance companies.
There are no immediate plans to add a sales office in the Branson area. Whitworth said the staff of 11 at the Springfield office at 1523 E. Lark Street will handle its Branson-area business.
Editor Eric Olson contributed to this report.[[In-content Ad]]
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