This article originally appeared in the March issue of Customer Interaction Solutions

Google and Skype (News - Alert) have found great success based on business models involving providing free tools to the populace. Now Kunnect is following those examples by introducing a free call center solution.

Fred Côté, president of Kunnect, says Kunnect FREE will change the landscape for hosted call center solutions. “It’s time for a game changer, and Kunnect wants to be a game changer,” he tells Customer Interaction Solutions magazine.

Although Kunnect FREE, which launched commercially in February, will satiate 80 percent of call centers in the marketplace, it is positioned as a stepping stone and promotional tool for those customers that want to move up to Kunnect’s for-pay hosted call center solution, says Côté.

The company also hopes Kunnect FREE will act as a hook for Kunnect’s VoIP services. (Six-year-old Kunnect started life as a carrier offering tier-2 VoIP carrier solutions.)