[mtelliott]

RBOC's pain point is less dependent on regulation (which is loosening) and more on the final mile. DSL has limits over distance that cable does not have. Most homes are hardwired to a Central Office using twisted pair. This is the problem. These lines have been in place for years and have various technologies thrown on them over the years that severly limit the bandwidth. Cable companies have relatively new technology with cable running directly to the house that inherently have greater bandwidth.

If RBOCs could run fiber to the home, they would put cable companies out of business. They could offer it all. Problem is, fiber is expensive to put in. And when a homeowner planting a tree breaks the line, it's expensive to fix.

Wayne: My quick thought would be that you could purchase a VOIP number, use your ACD to forward to that number, then have the person working at home office use the ATA to answer the phone with a traditional phone. You could purchase an LA VOIP number relatively inexpensively (maybe as little as $5 per month) and the ATA is less than $100. This would allow them to receive calls while not incurring LD on your part since you are forwarding to an LA number.

The only thing you would need to consider is Quality of Service (QOS). The networks have gotten significantly better so the QOS of the home office internet access would be the key. We have dsl at home (128K) and have extremely good service using VOIP. I typically use the POTS line (Plain Old Telephone Service - Analog) for most calls but use the VOIP for LD on occasion with excellent results (cell phone quality).

Michael