Sometimes Plain Old Telephone Service is Plain Old Cheaper Service. That's what Washington state discovered when it solicited bids for a new call center system to support social services for its citizens.

Washington state recently purchased a hosted call center service that combines IP technology with regular toll-free telephone calling, because it was a fraction of the cost of the VoIP systems pitched by competing vendors.

"VoIP has some great advantages. Not having long-distance costs when dealing with a statewide network - that's something that's very appealing. But when we looked at the total cost of implementing a VoIP solution, we reached a very defensible decision," says Tom Page, executive director of Washington Information Network 2-1-1, a nonprofit set up by the state to oversee 2-1-1 services. The POTS/Internet hybrid system Page chose "was not only cheaper to implement but cheaper to operate long-term."

With 2-1-1 systems, citizens call a hot line to learn about social services available in their region, including food banks, homeless shelters, unemployment services, elder care and child care. Washington is the 40th state to offer 2-1-1 services, which function the same as 9-1-1 systems used for emergency response.

Washington selected eight social service programs scattered around the state, each of which would operate a 2-1-1 call center. The state needed to build a network to link the eight centers and purchase a common software platform for managing calls.

Washington is one of the first states to select a hosted application using traditional toll-free telephone calling for its 2-1-1 service rather than an all-VoIP system.

"Most of the others have gone with a new VoIP system or a traditional PBX-type system," Page says.

After a lengthy procurement process, Washington state selected UCN's inContact service, which cost $10,000 for a hosted application that operates at eight call centers throughout the state. The system is expected to cost an additional $20,000 per month for toll-free telephone charges.

The losing bidder on the 2-1-1 job, which was a VoIP equipment vendor teamed with a carrier, pitched a $645,000 system that would cost another $25,000 in monthly fees.

"On the upfront start-up investment, UCN was hands down the more cost-effective solution. And by our best estimate of the monthly costs, they are more affordable, even though we are paying toll charges per call," Page says.