NeuralStar delivers for Cincinnati Bell

Turning Automated Network Management into a Competitive Advantage

With broadband choices expanding for consumer and business markets, not to mention the integration of technologies such as VoIP and MPLS, telecom companies, ISPs and other communication service providers are discovering that success is tied to how quickly and effectively they can roll out cutting-edge services.

Cincinnati Bell, one of the oldest and most respected regional communications companies in the United States, saw Internet access and DSL as a crucial line of business, one that required new thinking both about network infrastructure and network management. To compete effectively in this highly competitive market, new management solutions would be needed to automate services, reduce errors, lower cost of network changes, enhance revenue and improve customer satisfaction.

Leaders from both the ADSL business unit and technical team worked together to implement an integrated ordering and provisioning system using NeuralStar as an automation engine for DSL ordering and provisioning services. Within NeuralStar, the company maintains complete information about ADSL equipment inventory and network configuration, including where all DSLAMs are located.

”NeuralStar enables us to automate and streamline inventory discovery and reconciliation, equipment assignment and service activation,” explained one executive, who added, “By having the most efficient processes and the best customer service, we not only save money, we enhance customer loyalty and satisfaction.”

Using NeuralStar, the company has surpassed an 89% automated flowthrough rate for DSLAMs and can now take orders for and install upwards of 250 ADSL installations per day. It now offers 26% of customers a two-day due date for DSL installation, a turnaround that is virtually unheard of in the DSL industry. If needed, they can even offer instant installs for technicians in the field.

NeuralStar delivers:

• Automated service activation, resulting in dramatic reduction in error rates, shorter time to activate and recovery of revenue losses on billing issues, integration into order entry, inventory and other custom and packaged applications.

• Complete visibility into the provisioning processes, ensuring efficiency in business operations to support service delivery and meet customer commitments.

• Dramatic savings in engineering time and resources. Customers are up and running faster than ever before with provisioning and activation of every DSLAM port through a hands-free process. As more capacity is required, NeuralStar brings a DSLAM online automatically.

• Pathways for growth. The company no longer has to add employees even as thousands of new customers come online. In addition, the increased visibility and control of capacity and utilization means new network equipment is purchased only as needed.

• Seamless support for heterogeneous vendors and protocols. When the new service first went live, Cincinnati Bell had only two providers of DSLAMs. Today it has at least four manufacturers and NeuralStar supports them all. Said one executive, “I don’t think we will encounter a piece of equipment we can’t model.”
  
  

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