The Problem: A Data Dilemma
Okay, maybe not quite a data dilemma, but certainly a frustration. Prior to becoming a Tele-Tech customer, Todd Wolf, VoIPnet Technologies' President/CEO, found he was using a telecom data provider whose “accuracy was not accurate”, with pricing “out of sight”, and lackadaisical customer service. In a nutshell, he was paying too much for inaccurate data with inadequate support. Not good – and definitely enough motivation to seek a solution! Todd knew other service providers who were using Tele-Tech’s products, and was aware of our high data quality reputation – which was a significant factor when he considered alternative data sources. And, since becoming a Tele-Tech customer – no more data dilemma.
The Solution: Tele-Tech Services
VoIPnet Technologies uses Tele-Tech’s Localizer database of Local Calling Areas to identify and rate local voice over IP traffic. Of course accuracy is of paramount importance when the data is supporting rating and billing, but Todd also says flexible purchase options add tremendous value, both in terms of what and how he buys his data.
The what factor: having the ability to buy data specific “to states we do business in” is extremely beneficial; so, VoIPnet can purchase individual states as service is launched in new areas -- simply put, they only have to buy what they need! Also, being able to purchase data with or without premium expanded local calling areas is hugely helpful.
The how factor: the capability to decide to purchase data one time, or via annual subscription, or on a monthly/quarterly basis is an added freedom that allows Todd to tailor what he buys to what he needs – and when.
Using Localizer enhances VoIPnet’s profitability, since calls are correctly identified – allowing for proper billing; but, less obvious time and cost savings have been realized as well! Knowing his local calling area data is accurate allows Todd to focus on other aspects of his business; and reduces the resources spent on database entry. So, time is not wasted and funds are not diverted by trying to work with inaccurate data.
Todd Wolf has found the perfect combination with Tele-Tech. VoIPnet is able to rely on accurate data, with the flexibility to purchase in the manner their business needs – and, at competitive pricing. Add our stellar customer service , and you’ve got a classic Tele-Tech case study – and more importantly – a very valued customer is satisfied!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Tele-Tech Provides the“Missing Link”
We’ve all been there – trying to correlate arcane rate center boundaries used by the telecom industry to other geographic elements. It’s like doing a puzzle with a missing piece – because rate center boundaries don’t align with cities or counties; and sometimes not even with states! The task was time consuming and produced questionable results at best – not to mention a tad frustrating!
Well, no more! Tele-Tech now offers the missing link between telephone boundaries and other geographic boundaries. Zip-Link maps NPA-NXXs (area code/prefix) to United States Postal Service Zip Codes, enabling our customers to determine all zip codes partially or wholly served by each NPA-NXX. Now you can solve the puzzle!
VoIP service providers and other competitive carriers can use Zip-Link to aid in telephone number assignment. Often, new customers signing up for service don’t have an existing phone number on which the selected service provider can base their number assignment. With Zip-Link, the customer’s billing zip code is enough information to determine which NPA-NXXs are in their geographic area - making telephone number assignments easy and accurate.
Zip-Link also helps service providers to determine service availability for new subscribers without an existing phone number. Based on the customer’s zip code and a list of NPA-NXXs from which you offer service, you can determine whether a new customer is within your service footprint before processing their service order.
Finally, software applications storing address and phone number information need Zip-Link to determine whether provided data may be invalid. If the zip code and area code/prefix provided are not matched in Zip-Link, you may have an invalid entry.
Zip-Link was created by geographically mapping zip code boundaries and rate center boundaries, and then determining where the data points overlay each other. Zip-Link provides the data on those cross sections in an easy to use format, enabling various opportunities to cross-reference other demographic and geographic resources. With Zip-Link, no more missing links! A world of data points is open to you for analysis.
Contact Kimberly Russo (krusso@telecomdb.com or 800-433-6181 x7103) today for more details.
Well, no more! Tele-Tech now offers the missing link between telephone boundaries and other geographic boundaries. Zip-Link maps NPA-NXXs (area code/prefix) to United States Postal Service Zip Codes, enabling our customers to determine all zip codes partially or wholly served by each NPA-NXX. Now you can solve the puzzle!
VoIP service providers and other competitive carriers can use Zip-Link to aid in telephone number assignment. Often, new customers signing up for service don’t have an existing phone number on which the selected service provider can base their number assignment. With Zip-Link, the customer’s billing zip code is enough information to determine which NPA-NXXs are in their geographic area - making telephone number assignments easy and accurate.
Zip-Link also helps service providers to determine service availability for new subscribers without an existing phone number. Based on the customer’s zip code and a list of NPA-NXXs from which you offer service, you can determine whether a new customer is within your service footprint before processing their service order.
Finally, software applications storing address and phone number information need Zip-Link to determine whether provided data may be invalid. If the zip code and area code/prefix provided are not matched in Zip-Link, you may have an invalid entry.
Zip-Link was created by geographically mapping zip code boundaries and rate center boundaries, and then determining where the data points overlay each other. Zip-Link provides the data on those cross sections in an easy to use format, enabling various opportunities to cross-reference other demographic and geographic resources. With Zip-Link, no more missing links! A world of data points is open to you for analysis.
Contact Kimberly Russo (krusso@telecomdb.com or 800-433-6181 x7103) today for more details.
FCC in Transition – What will it Mean for Your Company?
Published in the January 2009 issue of Tele-Tech Updates:
the nation moves forward under the new leadership of President Barack Obama, the shift in power may be particularly evident at the Federal Communications Commission. With the Chairmanship and up to two of the four commissioners’ positions soon to be filled with Obama appointees, the face of national telecom regulatory policy will undergo a significant change in 2009.
The new, Democratic-led Commission is expected to favor Internet companies like Google and eBay, in contrast to the past eight years of Republican leadership which many thought benefited big telecom companies like AT&T and Verizon.
A look at the FCC’s recent history shows the contrast between Commissions lead by Democrats and Republicans. The FCC under President Clinton focused on bringing about competition through regulation, which gave a boost to competitive local exchange carriers. The current Bush FCC acted to end some of the rules put into place during the Clinton era, preferring to allow market forces to encourage competition. Will the Obama FCC take a more controlled approach to ensuring competition in communications? Only time will tell, because the Commission will first need to handle the conversion to digital television, and then focus on issues strongly supported by President Obama, in particular, universal broadband availability.
Making broadband Internet access available to all Americans is a prime element of Obama’s Economic Recovery Plan. Building the infrastructure to spread high speed Internet nationwide may be the 21st century’s version of the massive public works projects that helped end the Great Depression. The Obama team cites the U.S.’s 15th place ranking in broadband penetration as unacceptable, and expects a nationwide broadband build-out to create jobs and help small businesses compete globally.
Due to the President's broadband push, the new FCC will surely be tasked early with instituting regulations that help bring broadband to under-served areas. In order to entice service providers into these unprofitable areas, government intervention such as loans, grants, tax credits, or perhaps a reform to the universal service fund will be required. Obama even cites “reforming a weak and outdated regulatory system” as part of his plan. Look for regulations toward that end as Congress and the President mandate action from the FCC to set and enforce rules supporting the broadband deployment.
Before naming the replacement for Republican-appointed Commissioner Debra Tate, who left the commission at the end of her term in early January, Obama will likely appoint the new Chairman. That appointee is expected to be the President's long-time friend and Harvard Law classmate, Julius Genachowski. Genachowski was the FCC’s Chief Counsel under Chairman Reed Hundt and is currently helping develop Obama’s technology agenda.
There are also reports that Democratic Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein may be given a different position in the new administration. That would leave another vacant seat at the FCC, and give the Obama administration another opportunity to shape the future of communications in the U.S.
the nation moves forward under the new leadership of President Barack Obama, the shift in power may be particularly evident at the Federal Communications Commission. With the Chairmanship and up to two of the four commissioners’ positions soon to be filled with Obama appointees, the face of national telecom regulatory policy will undergo a significant change in 2009.
The new, Democratic-led Commission is expected to favor Internet companies like Google and eBay, in contrast to the past eight years of Republican leadership which many thought benefited big telecom companies like AT&T and Verizon.
A look at the FCC’s recent history shows the contrast between Commissions lead by Democrats and Republicans. The FCC under President Clinton focused on bringing about competition through regulation, which gave a boost to competitive local exchange carriers. The current Bush FCC acted to end some of the rules put into place during the Clinton era, preferring to allow market forces to encourage competition. Will the Obama FCC take a more controlled approach to ensuring competition in communications? Only time will tell, because the Commission will first need to handle the conversion to digital television, and then focus on issues strongly supported by President Obama, in particular, universal broadband availability.
Making broadband Internet access available to all Americans is a prime element of Obama’s Economic Recovery Plan. Building the infrastructure to spread high speed Internet nationwide may be the 21st century’s version of the massive public works projects that helped end the Great Depression. The Obama team cites the U.S.’s 15th place ranking in broadband penetration as unacceptable, and expects a nationwide broadband build-out to create jobs and help small businesses compete globally.
Due to the President's broadband push, the new FCC will surely be tasked early with instituting regulations that help bring broadband to under-served areas. In order to entice service providers into these unprofitable areas, government intervention such as loans, grants, tax credits, or perhaps a reform to the universal service fund will be required. Obama even cites “reforming a weak and outdated regulatory system” as part of his plan. Look for regulations toward that end as Congress and the President mandate action from the FCC to set and enforce rules supporting the broadband deployment.
Before naming the replacement for Republican-appointed Commissioner Debra Tate, who left the commission at the end of her term in early January, Obama will likely appoint the new Chairman. That appointee is expected to be the President's long-time friend and Harvard Law classmate, Julius Genachowski. Genachowski was the FCC’s Chief Counsel under Chairman Reed Hundt and is currently helping develop Obama’s technology agenda.
There are also reports that Democratic Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein may be given a different position in the new administration. That would leave another vacant seat at the FCC, and give the Obama administration another opportunity to shape the future of communications in the U.S.
Introduction to the New Tele-Tech Updates Newsletter
Dear Colleagues, Associates, and Friends,
Welcome to the first issue of the new Tele-Tech Updates newsletter! We’re taking this opportunity to reintroduce Tele-Tech and tell our current and former clients, our associates, and those who have considered our products over the years, what we’ve been up to lately.
While many were happy to bid good riddance to 2008, last year marked many milestones for Tele-Tech that make it memorable. We can think of no better way to re-introduce ourselves than to share those milestones with you.
Some of you have been Tele-Tech customers and friends for the better part of our 34-year history, and immediately associate the company with our founder, my father, Steve Kromer. In July of last year the transition of ownership from Steve & Janice Kromer (my mom), to my sister, Stephanie Fetchen, and me was completed, with the two of us taking the positions of Co-Presidents. Stephanie’s expertise is in hardware and software, and mine is in sales and marketing, so we act as “yin-and-yang” and our partnership works well. The two of us essentially started working at Tele-Tech at the ages of five and six when the company operated in the basement of our childhood home. We’ve each been gainfully employed fulltime at Tele-Tech for about 15 years, and we’re excited to carry our products and services for the telecom market into the future.
Our high level of data quality attracted a lot of attention in 2008, and in September, Stephanie and I were honored to deliver the Keynote address at the annual conference of the International Association for Information and Data Quality. There, we presented our quality story, describing our rise to a level of data accuracy that no one thought could be reached in our industry. Stephanie’s leadership and accuracy initiatives coupled with our analysts’ tenacity and passion for quality brought our data to this level. Because of these initiatives, in October we reached 12 consecutive months with 100% accurate local calling area data based on customer-reported errors (or in our case, the lack thereof). We’re now at 14 months of 100% accuracy and counting!
Also in 2008, Tele-Tech’s parent company, KFR Services, Inc., received the Alfred P. Sloan Award for workplace flexibility from the When Work Works Project. We’ve long been proponents of family-friendly work policies such as flex time, telecommuting, and providing health benefits. And yes, it’s true that we encourage employees who are new parents to bring their infants to work for the first six months. While each of those policies was a factor in our receiving the Sloan Award, we are most proud of this honor because the winners were selected by confidential surveys of each finalist’s employees. So, this award represents our employees’ contentment with the company and their commitment to their positions here, and for that we are grateful.
As an owner of Tele-Tech Services, I have a lot to be proud of. While the economy tanked in the second half of ’08, we’ll continue to look back on successes like those described above to help us weather the storm. We may get a little wind-blown and wet, but we’ll still be in tact when the storm ends.
While we’ve used this inaugural issue to re-introduce ourselves, future issues of Tele-Tech Updates will include commentary, company and product highlights, and industry topics of interest to our readers. We hope to make it a light-hearted, but information-packed monthly read. We hope you enjoy this issue, and that you’ll opt to remain on our mailing list.
Best regards,
Kim Russo
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