Long Distance Service
CNS has been providing long distance
service to business and residential accounts since 1995.
CNS uses the MCI,
Verizon and Paetec networks exclusively for all long distance and toll-free calls. CNS has no switching equipment or facilities that will
interfere with the high quality network services of these major carriers. With
CNS, our customers choose which carrier (or carriers)
network service they want to utilize and all calls are routed accordingly.
Long Distance Access
Long distance networks can be accessed in one of two ways.
Either using your local telephone numbers (switched access) or with a T-1 line (dedicated
access). Accessing the long distance network via local telephone numbers requires two
things; the correct Primary Interchange Carrier (PIC) Code in the Local Telephone Company
computer system and the telephone number information in the CNS computer system.
Switched Access
When a long distance call is placed from a telephone
number, the Local Telephone Company, also called a LEC (Local Exchange Carrier), checks
its database to see which long distance carrier is associated with that particular number.
The long distance number is portrayed by a 7-digit PIC code and by an acronym. The
following is a list of PIC Codes from our network carriers:
Carrier
PIC Code
MCI/Verizon
1010555
Paetec
1016340
Once your lines are converted to one of these PIC codes,
you are halfway to becoming a CNS Long Distance Customer. The second half of the
conversion is to add the telephone numbers into the CNS database, thus advising the
carrier that this account is a CNS customer.
When a call hits the long distance network, our carriers
checks its data base to see if the caller is a direct customer or a wholesale customer.
Once the telephone number is in the CNS partition of our carriers database, the
call is routed accordingly and the billing goes to CNS at the CNS discounted rate. CNS
takes this billing information from each carrier at the end of each month and creates a
bill for each of our customers.
Dedicated Access
When a customer has a higher calling volume a T-1 based service
may prove to be cost effective. A T-1 is a digital
line that transmits data speeds up to 1.54 Megabits per second and/or can support up to 24
simultaneous voice conversations. A long distance T-1 is essentially a tie line to your long
distance carrier bypassing the PIC process of the LEC. In addition to providing 24
additional talk paths to the carrier's network, a T-1 reduces the cost per minute of long
distance calls by approximately .01 - .02 cents per minute. This rate reduction is due to the
cost per minute LECs charge the long distance carrier to process long distance
calls through the PIC process. The cost of a T-1 is distance sensitive and typically
ranges between $250 - $500 per month. Therefore, depending on a customer's long distance
usage and its proximity to a carrier's POP (Point of Presence), a T-1 may or may not
reduce a company's total long distance charges.
In order to connect your telephones to a T-1, your telephone
system must be able to interface with a digital T-1. Typically, additional equipment will
have to be purchased and installed into your telephone system to utilize a T-1. This
equipment cost may range from $1,000 to $5,000. Your telephone equipment vendor would have
to supply this information when doing this cost analysis. |
Rates
There are several different rate schedules depending on the
type of access and the type of call. Dedicated access / T-1 originated or terminated
(toll-free number) calls are typically .01 - .02 cents per minute less than switched access
calls. Calling card calls are more expensive than premise based switched access calls.
In addition to access differences, the call rate varies depending
on the type of call. Typically, intra-state calls are more expensive than inter-state
calls. While inter-state rates are uniform regardless of what state you are calling,
intra-state rates vary depending on what state you are in. International rates are more
expensive than domestic rates, and vary on a country-to-country basis.
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This page last
updated
03/03/09 01:53:12 PM
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