An Interview with GrandCentral

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GrandCentral Pursues Unique Business Opportunities Using Global Crossing VoIP Solutions

Carrier Connection sat down with Craig Walker, CEO of GrandCentral, a personal communications company, to chat about their recent selection of Global Crossing's VoIP Local Services for its converged personal communications solution. Excerpts from the interview follow:

CC: Craig, you've said in the past that your inspiration for GrandCentral came after a long trans-continental flight. You landed at San Francisco's international airport and while muddling your way through three separate voicemail boxes it struck you.

CW: Yes. You can imagine my frustration: Three separate voicemail boxes - one for my cell phone, one for my work phone and one for my Blackberry. It was right then that it hit me: This has got to change! I want ONE phone number that people can reach me on - that will NEVER change and I never, ever, want to have to check voice mail in more than one place again. Furthermore, my vision included the ability to be able to customize everything - the voice mail content, the number, the specific features - everything - from the Web.

CC: Next generation IP communications are making a lot of this possible and driving a plethora of cost savings and productivity-enhancing benefits. What kind of support were you looking for in a carrier? What requirements did they need to meet?

CW: Since we wanted to be able to assign our customers with one phone number that could reach them at any device of their choice; and enable them with complete control over how the calls are handled, we needed a Voice Over IP service that works with our platform to enable us to tie all our customers' devices together, no matter where they are. This same capability would enable them to answer a call at any phone of their choice inclusive of the ability to seamlessly switch phones in the middle of the call. Global Crossing's VoIP Local Service does just that.

CC: The single phone number works as each customer's personal identity access to voice mail via phone, email or the Internet?

CW: Right. Global Crossing VoIP Local Service™ is an inbound local service that provides us with a single IP interconnection, transport and call completion of packet-based voice traffic over their integrated IP and TDM platforms. This gives us the secure, reliable, high-quality inbound voice service necessary for these next-gen applications. We can originate traffic on the public switched telephone network in different countries using geographic and non-geographic numbers. The VoIP calls are delivered with minimal latency, packet loss and jitter and we're seeing consistent and predictable call quality.

CC: Rafe Needleman of CNET recently reviewed your service and said, "…this looks like one of the best personal phone call-handling services I've ever seen" and as David Pogue of the New York Times put it, "….a rather brilliant melding of cell-phone and the internet." How do you feel about that?

CW: Of course we're thrilled. We believe passionately in the value-added services GrandCentral is delivering and currently, they're free! We plan to continue to work with Global Crossing in light of their differentiating technology, security, support and control measures, and roll out additional cost saving services.

CC: Craig, thanks for participating. Readers can visit either www.grandcentral.com or www.globalcrossing.com for additional information.

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