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Fully Managed IT Services Solution For Small Business

Small businesses use plenty of technology, and managing all that tech can be beyond the capabilities (in both time and understanding) of most of the business staff. More small businesses are turning to what is called Managed Services. CenturyLink has launched its own version called Managed Office tarteted at small businesses.


"Managed Office is CenturyLink's solution for customers who are frustrated managing disparate networks, keeping up with new technologies, allocating IT staff, reconciling multiple bills, making never-ending investments in IT infrastructure and failing to resolve issues via the traditional call center support model," said Shirish Lal, senior vice president of marketing, CenturyLink. "Our research convinces us that no competitor is offering SMBs a thorough managed services solution with high-touch customer service at such an affordable and flexible price."

Leveraging network, Hosted VoIP and cloud capabilities, Managed Office is CenturyLink's first managed services offering geared toward small and medium-sized businesses combining and supporting all of the following features:

    --  Managed network and Hosted VoIP: The Managed Office environment is
        anchored by a single, converged IP network for Internet, data transport
        and Hosted VoIP voice service backed by solid service level agreements.
        Network connectivity is delivered via reliable, business-grade Ethernet
        or other connectivity options available at the customer's choice of
        speeds.
    --  Managed CPE (customer premises equipment): CenturyLink provides and
        maintains hardware, including feature-rich IP phones, routers, switches
        and Wi-Fi access points.
    --  Hosted apps and cloud-based storage: Reliable cloud-based business
        applications free IT support from expensive and time-consuming software
        and server maintenance, creating opportunities to focus on big-picture,
        revenue-driving priorities. Managed Office includes hosted email and
        calendar software, collaboration software and data backup services.
        Software upgrades are included, and the suite of cloud-based business
        applications available with Managed Office will continue to be expanded
        in the future.
    --  Security software: Advanced security features are layered throughout the
        network and applications.
    --  Managed install and training: Each Managed Office customer is assigned a
        dedicated project manager and an account consultant who learns its
        business, understands its network requirements, manages installation and
        reviews the first bill. Customers receive personalized service, feature
        and software training, tailored to their needs and schedule.
    --  One-stop support: When service is up and running, trained specialists
        who work exclusively with Managed Office customers are on-call 24/7 at a
        dedicated, U.S.-based technical assistance center. In addition,
        customers receive ongoing support from a single account consultant who
        understands their IT services and communications network needs.
    --  Scalable per-seat pricing that shifts costs from capital to operating
        expenses: Managed Office offers a monthly price-per-employee user option
        that can help make it easy to predict the cost of managing the entire
        communications network, and businesses can easily scale up or down to
        meet seasonal needs or accommodate growth. As a monthly operating
        expense, Managed Office reduces the total cost of ownership for IT
        services by eliminating up-front capital investments or ongoing
        maintenance on equipment that could break or become obsolete.

"SMBs face very different challenges from larger businesses; scaled-down enterprise services can't serve these companies effectively. CenturyLink Managed Office has been built from the ground up to deliver a comprehensive package with the levels of service and support that smaller business customers need," said Brian Washburn, an analyst with Current Analysis.

"We ordered Managed Office to consolidate our voice, data and IT services into a single package. Our CenturyLink project manager made sure that the entire process from install to training went smoothly and was on time. Our new VoIP phones give us crystal-clear sound, and we especially like the flexibility we have to add seats as our business grows while knowing in advance how much we will be spending," said Curtis Eubanks, vice president of Aleutian Consulting, a business consulting firm and a Managed Office beta customer.
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