Anthony, Kansas, Apr. 23 /Cynthia Thomas/ -- For many small to medium size businesses, higher productivity with relation to their broadband and voice services is just around the corner. Thanks in part to the recent price reduction trend in the industry, carriers have deemed it necessary to consolidate in order to offer more services at a lower cost than their rivals. Overlapping networks have been consolidated into leaner, more feature-rich versions of their previous selves, dramatically lowering the price small businesses pay for the popular dynamic integrated T-carrier (T-1) lines that combine local voice and high-speed Internet service into one connection.

The two basic Integrated T1 line configurations, as they exist in today's market, are analog and digital. Commonly referred to as "trunks", these 24-channel bundles transmit TDM signals directly to the service provider's network via a local loop. Unlike analog trunks, whose configuration can not change once the channels have been allocated, digital "dynamic" lines can change reconfigure themselves from data, to voice, and back again. This ability to reclaim voice channels for data broadband access when not in use gives the user the performance of two T1's in one.

Kansas, ordinarily not known for its telecom prowace, has been a hotbed for businesses making the move to dynamic telecom lines. One local business owner - Linda Peterson - who operates a travel agency, recently told us that "I never expected the phone company to come out with anything that would help me lower my costs. On the contrary. Ma Bell has had a history of raising my rates and making my life difficult. When I heard about the XO Flex package (offering 10 dynamic voice lines and 1.5 mbps of high speed Internet) at a price of under $500, I couldn't move over fast enough." Since then Linda reported a $150/month savings in her telecom expenses.

"Like Forrest Gump said, finding the right phone service for your business is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're going to get" joked Elizabeth Forest of Detroit, Michigan. "Before finding Cavalier Telephone through my Telarus agent, I was mislead into signing up for services that weren't a good fit for my business. Add to that the billing inaccuracies and the hassle it was to get everything straightened out. My new integrated T1 works flawlessly, I am able to get full T1 data speeds when no one is on the phone, and I don't fear opening the bill when it arrives in the mail each month."

Kansas is a place that we found was a hot spot for small business owners making the move over to dynamic T-1 lines. One business owner that we interviewed gave glowing reviews of his move to TelePacific's "OnePac" dynamic product. Keith Gray explained "I used to have a regular integrated T1 with 10 voice lines and 14 data channels. When no one was using the phone in my office, we were limited to just 896 KB of bandwidth. After searching on the Internet for better options, I found that I could reduce my price from $850/month to $500/month, and at the same time have 14 voice lines and 1.5 mbps of broadband. I didn't take long for me to pull the trigger and make the change."

Integrated T1s comes in two basic configurations: digital and analog trunks, with a trunk being a 24-line (or channel) bundle. The newer, digital trunks, however, are able to run both voice and data over the same channels. By assigning priority to the voice traffic whenever it is present, a dynamic integrated trunk can provide the end-user with a full 1.5 MBPS of data throughput if no phone calls are in progress. As more voice lines are required, less data lines are available. Analog trunks are all pre-assigned to either voice or data traffic, and do not reconfigure in the event there is no voice traffic.

Will this train of innovation, lower prices, and services that add value to SMB's continue to roll down the tracks of progress? It's all up to our government - and which political party controls the FCC. Without the deregulation act of 1996, we would have never known just how much the CLECs were capable of. With the help of super-CLECs like XO Communications, PAETEC, Nuvox, One Communications, Cavalier Telephone, and TelePacific, small business owners everywhere now have access to non-Bell service that is on par or better than those being offered by the former Bells. Integrated T1s that do more and cost less have transformed into a solid beach head for the newcomers.

Definition 1. - The T-carrier system, introduced by the Bell system in the US in the 1960's, was the first successful system that supported digitalised voice transmission. The original transmission rate (1.544 Mbps) in the Anthony T1 line is in common use today in ISP (Internet Service Provider) connections to the Internet

Definition 2. - A high-speed digital connection capable of transmitting data at a rate of approximately 1.5 million bits per second. A T1 line is typically used by small and medium-sized companies with heavy network traffic. It is large enough to send and receive very large text files, graphics, sounds, and databases instantaneously, and is the fastest speed commonly used to connect networks to the Internet. Sometimes referred to as a leased line, a T1 is basically too large and too expensive for individual home use.

Definition 3. - The T1 (or T-1) carrier is the most commonly used digital line in the United States, Canada, and Japan. In these countries, it carries 24 pulse code modulation (PCM) signals using time-division multiplexing (TDM) at an overall rate of 1.544 million bits per second (Mbps). T1 lines use copper wire and span distances within and between major metropolitan areas. A T1 Outstate System has been developed for longer distances between cities.

Definition 4. - A type of high speed Internet connection that provides a great deal of bandwidth. Many businesses lease T1 lines to connect to the Internet, but because they are expensive and offer more bandwidth than most small businesses and homes need, they are not realistic solutions for small and low-demand Internet users.

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