"TLS believes that we succeed in our business only if our clients succeed in their business."

Case Study - AccessPoint, Inc.

AccessPoint, Inc. (API), headquartered in Cary, NC, is an integrated communications provider offering voice, data and Internet services in selected markets throughout the United States. API had grown to the point where its existing backend Operational Support Systems (OSS) could no longer support its expanding customer base. Since API resells the services of other service providers, its key differentiator is its superior Customer Experience. The challenge for API was to design a set of new and efficient internal processes and then implement systems to automate them cost effectively.

Scoping Study: TransLogic Systems. (TLS) together with Telecommunication Solutions Group, Inc. conducted a study to better understand API’s business model and system needs. This resulted in a white paper that documented the company’s existing processes, and proposed a new, integrated web-based architecture for the OSS to meet the company’s current and future business challenges.

Detailed Design: A key element of this architecture was that the systems comprising it must be implemented based on API’s business priorities and not technical dependencies. This was key since the most severe ‘pain points’ had to be addressed first without disrupting ongoing business. Hence, a Customer Care system was first designed and implemented that automated all customer ‘touch points’. Then a Pre-Order and Pricing (POP) system was developed accompanied by a unique and powerful Products Catalog. Next came an Order Management System (OMS). The POP system captures prospective customer information, pre-qualifies customers, presents a comparative quote for the customer and submits product orders to the provisioning system and, by interfacing with the OMS, tracks end-to-end progress of the orders over the Internet. The easy to use Administration tool allows API to modify the systems to accommodate their ever-changing business processes and product rollouts.

Since all these systems were built on top of TLS’ versatile Process Engine (or Work Flow Engine), they were inherently integrated and data could be shared easily between all systems. A front end LDAP-based Single Login interface allowed users to seamlessly move between systems without having to logout and log back in.

Delivery: TLS developed and deployed these systems on an average of 16 weeks each. This was followed by an intense ’beta’ testing in the actual production environment at the customer site. During this phase, continuous improvements were made based on user feedback and empirical observations. Deployment in production was the next logical step. The entire cycle from inception to deployment of the entire architecture was less than ten months.

API got exactly what they needed to support and grow their business. The speed with which the solutions were implemented gave the company an advantage since it allows it to scale their business immediately. It was remarked that the company got ‘customized’ solutions for less than ‘off the shelf’ prices. That is the TLS advantage.

Case Study - FairPoint Communications, Inc.

FairPoint Communications, Inc., headquartered in Charlotte, NC, is an integrated communications provider offering voice, data and Internet services in selected markets throughout the United States. FairPoint owns and operates 29 Independent Local Exchange Carrier (ILEC) telephone companies as well as a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC), making FairPoint America's 14th largest telecommunications firm. FairPoint, having been in business for a number of years, had all the necessary backend Operational Support Systems (OSS) in place. The problem was that less than half of all orders were going through the process successfully. The challenge for FairPoint was to improve the accuracy and timeliness of its orders while leveraging its existing backend systems.

Scoping Study: A brief study was conducted by TransLogic Systems (TLS) to understand FairPoint's needs and their existing backend OSS systems. Two recommendations were made: 1) FairPoint needed a "pre-qualification" system (Pre-Qual) that could capture and process customer orders from inception through provisioning, and 2) FairPoint needed to integrate this system with the existing provisioning system.

Detailed Design: TLS designed a web-based, custom system for FairPoint utilizing its powerful and general purpose Business Process Engine. The design incorporated the identified pre-order features that would allow FairPoint to "pre-qualify" its customer orders prior to being sent to the provisioning system. The "Pre-Qual" system is written in Java and uses a SQL database that is platform independent. This gave FairPoint the required flexibility to deploy the system in their existing IT infrastructure. The system also had to be scalable so it was designed to allow over 300 simultaneous accesses.

Delivery: TLS developed, tested and deployed the Pre-Qual system in six weeks. The system captures prospective customer information, pre-qualifies customers, submits product orders to the provisioning system and tracks end-to-end progress of the orders over the Internet. Being web-based, the system can be accessed by FairPoint's sales force nationwide, as well as by the order entry and customer care staff. Once the order is completed, all relevant information is automatically transmitted to the provisioning and billing systems. The easy to use Administration tool allows FairPoint to modify the system to accommodate their ever-changing business processes and product rollouts.

"TLS implemented a system that increased our order accuracy from 40% to over 95% and improved total productivity 25% to 30%. This freed up our sales and order entry staff to concentrate on processing more and more orders."
Abby Horn, Manager, FairPoint Communications, Inc.

"Not only did the TLS solution provide an immediate productivity gain, but by using reports in the system, we were able to identify bottlenecks in our processes and correct them immediately. It paid for itself in less than two months!"
Josh Van Dyke, Vice President - IS, FairPoint Communications, Inc.

Case Study - NetLever, Inc.

NetLever, Inc. is a new generation Application Service Provider (ASP) based in Charlotte, NC. The company’s core business model is to provide technology tools to small businesses so they may operate more efficiently. NetLever is a wholly owned subsidiary of FairPoint Communications, one of the 15 largest telephone companies in the US. Since NetLever’s business model is to increase the ‘on-net’ bandwidth utilization of its parent company’s facilities, its target market consists of FairPoint Communications’ existing customers. NetLever’s services had to appear seamless to its parent company’s customers while maintaining a separate company entity. The challenge for NetLever was both to leverage the backend Operational Support Systems (OSS) available at the parent company and to complement them with the state of the art front-end tools required by an ASP.

Scoping Study: TransLogic Systems (TLS) conducted a brief study to understand NetLever’s needs and the parent company’s backend systems. Two key recommendations were made: 1) NetLever needed an Order Management (OM) system that could capture and process customers orders from all FairPoint Communications’ target markets across the country, and 2) NetLever needed to integrate its Customer Care operations with this OM system.

Detailed Design: TLS designed a web-based, custom OM system for NetLever over its powerful and general purpose Workflow Engine. The design incorporated the identified Customer Care features that would allow NetLever to integrate the OM system with the company’s Help Desk system. The OM system is written in Java and uses an SQL database that is platform independent. This gave NetLever the required flexibility to deploy the system in a way that is complementary to its parent company’s backend environment

Delivery: Once the overall approach and design was approved, TLS was able to develop, test and deploy the OM system in six weeks. The completed system allows definition of NetLever’s custom order management processes through an ‘Admin Tool’. It also captures and tracks the status of each order from order entry through provisioning. Being web-based, the system can be accessed by NetLever’s and FairPoint Communications’ sales forces nationwide, as well as by the Customer Care representatives. Custom reports allow company executives to monitor the overall efficiencies of their order management processes by identifying and eliminating bottlenecks. Once the order is completed, the billing information is automatically transmitted to the parent company’s billing system.

"TransLogic delivered a customized, fully functional Order Management solution in less time than most companies could deliver a response to an RFP. By streamlining and automating our processes, we were able to re-deploy our staff to other revenue-generating initiatives. TransLogic's solution was also extremely affordable - the payback period was measured in weeks, not years."
Basel Kanawati, CTO, NetLever, Inc

Case Study - Interpath Communications, Inc.

Interpath Communications, Inc. is an Application Service Provider based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA that provides world-class application management and hosting services. Interpath employed diverse Operational Support Systems (OSS) and no prior integration solution existed for uniform access to each of these systems. For Interpath to succeed, they needed a way to bring together their customers, resellers, vendors and employees onto a single, secure, robust, scalable and flexible platform. The challenge was to develop a common front-end for all their backend systems and to provide an integrated interface incorporating functionality spreading across their OSS systems like Order Entry and Management, Billing, Trouble Ticketing, Engineering and other systems.

Scoping Study: The key to successful execution was in the planning phase of the project - the scoping study. After detailed discussions with the Interpath team, TransLogic identified key requirements and prioritized them based on business priorities and technical complexity. TransLogic then rolled out the project in phases, with the first phase comprising the most critical functionality.

Detailed Design: TransLogic worked with the team at Interpath in coming up with a detailed architecture and design for the project and suggested an implementation mechanism which Interpath approved. TransLogic's expertise in cutting-edge technologies helped to quickly develop a prototype based on the detailed design.

Delivery: TransLogic successfully completed the project and delivered a high-end system with full-featured web-based front-ends for all the services in an integrated fashion. The solution uses an LDAP-based directory server for client authentication and access level information and uses IBM MQManager as the message queue system for making all requests message based. An XML-based language called JNML was developed (in Java) for interaction with the backend application server. This application server handled all transactions with the backend databases either via JDBC connection pools or via C/C++ APIs provided by the vendors using JNI for interfacing with the native language libraries. Where necessary, API libraries were custom-developed in C/C++ based on the vendor specifications for interfacing with their systems.

"Not only did TransLogic deliver the product on time and within budget, but they accommodated every new feature we added during the development cycle. What's more, they improved upon our product concept by recommending several extremely valuable enhancements. I also credit TransLogic with much of the innovative thinking that went into building this solution."
Ruth Simonis, Manager of IT Systems, Interpath Communications, Inc.