Web Hosting and VoIP Provider Cbeyond Upgrades BeyondMobile Service

HostReview.com
Tuesday, August 29, 2006; 06:08 AM

Web hosting and VoIP provider Cbeyond has enhanced its BeyondMobile(TM) service offering to include unlimited mobile-to-mobile and nights-and-weekends. The service was launched in January 2006 with two handset options: the full featured LG LX-225(TM) flip-phone and the BlackBerry 7250(TM). Validating small business demand to leverage one service provider for mobile, landline phone and broadband Internet services, more than five percent of the organization's customer base has already adopted BeyondMobile, increasing Cbeyond's applications used per customer to 5.2 (as of June 30, 2006).

BeyondMobile offers small businesses landline, Internet and mobile services with a unique approach to bundling and billing voice minutes. With this service all minutes are bundled together, including long distance, toll-free and mobile. Unused landline minutes can be applied to mobile minutes and vice versa for free. The sharing of minutes is seamless and requires no intervention from the business owner. BeyondMobile customers can also pool all mobile minutes across employees so there's no need to juggle different rate plans. In addition, directory service calls are shared between mobile and landline - adding further cost savings.

"Dealing with cell phones and consumer cell phone providers is a nightmare," said Pete Ballard, chief operating officer for LAB 601. "By switching to Cbeyond as our mobile service provider, we no longer have the administrative headaches of dealing with multiple providers and multiple rate plans. We are receiving the same level of reliable, value-adding service with an integrated service plan that meets our needs. Cbeyond is helping me focus on my business instead of my cell phone provider."

The BeyondMobile service from Cbeyond is available within the six markets it serves. It is a nationwide service with no roaming charges. With these enhanced features, Cbeyond customers can upgrade their accounts to add unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling and nights-and-weekends for five dollars a month per user for each feature. The unlimited nights-and-weekends calling plan begins at 7 p.m. Cbeyond customers receive a consolidated bill for all of their landline and mobile communications services and have only one number to call for support.

"When our customers requested service upgrades traditionally associated with consumer services like nights-and-weekends and mobile-to-mobile, we delivered," said Brent Cobb, vice president and general manager of mobile applications for Cbeyond. "We will continue to incorporate customer feedback into our product development efforts to ensure we meet customer demands."

Additional service features available for BeyondMobile subscribers include picture mail, Internet browsing, downloadable applications and unlimited text messaging.

Cbeyond (www.cbeyond.net) is an Atlanta-based managed services provider that delivers integrated packages of voice, mobile and broadband services to small businesses in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston and Los Angeles. Cbeyond offers core communications services such as local and long-distance voice, mobile and broadband Internet access along with enhanced applications, including voicemail, email, Web hosting, fax-to-email, data backup, file-sharing, VPN and more. Cbeyond manages these services over a private, 100-percent Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) facilities-based network.