DataLinx Push2Test* Helps Cut Support Costs for Internet

Business
Sales Guide
DataLinx Push2Test*
DataLinx Push2Test*
Helps Cut Support Costs
for Internet-based Services
Who should know this information
Industry segments:
Telecommunications, broadband service providers
Interested executives: CTOs, VPs of Operations, and CEOs
Covered GEOs:
Worldwide
Intel contact:
Paul Saulnier, Intel Telco Software SRM, [email protected]
What Service Providers May Be Saying
Service providers have limited or no visibility into their
customers’ environments, including the home network,
broadband access, and other configuration details. They
can’t be sure customers are properly qualified to receive
a service; they are limited in the support they can provide
when a problem does occur; and they often have to
troubleshoot home network problems to enable the service.
Challenge: Cost-effectively Supporting
IP-based Services
Many companies provide Internet-based services over a
broadband connection provided by another service provider.
For example, companies such as SunRocket provide voice
over Internet protocol (VoIP) services to qualified subscribers
with adequate Internet connectivity, but do not provide the
broadband Internet connection itself to these subscribers.
An analog telephone adapter (ATA) connects subscribers’
phones to their home networks, converting analog voice
signals to digital IP packets for transport over the Internet.
information would help them reduce the costs of
troubleshooting and repairing services while enhancing
customer service.
Solution: A Service Tool to Access
Subscriber Home Network
Configuration Information
DataLinx Push2Test* is a diagnostics and service assurance
tool for providers of IP-based services over traditional
telecom and broadband Internet services. It supports the
installation and maintenance of services such as basic
broadband access, VoIP telephony services, and IPTV.
Push2Test provides service representatives and field
technicians with visibility into the home network to enable
rapid, reliable, efficient isolation of issues and help reduce
overall troubleshooting time.
Benefits include:
• Reduced support center operational costs
• Increased support center productivity
The ATA is located on the subscriber’s home network within
a router or as a separate device. Due to Network Address
Translation (NAT) by modems or routers, service providers
can’t easily detect home network configurations or diagnose
service problems and outages. Due to this limited visibility,
service representatives often must walk subscribers through
detailed questions and instructions to obtain diagnostic
information before executing a repair. Service representatives
may even be required to diagnose and repair home network
issues before resolving the problem related to their
companies’ services.
A solution that allows providers of Internet-based services
to more easily access subscriber home network configuration
• Reduced training costs
• Increased subscriber retention
• Fewer dispatches of repair trucks
Push2Test Application Suite Supports
Effective Troubleshooting over the Internet
The DataLinx Push2Test application provides information to
service representatives about subscribers’ home network
equipment. It also measures broadband characteristics,
verifies the ability to support VoIP services, and verifies
the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) signaling capabilities
that enable VoIP services. Push2Test highlights potential
problems for service representatives and offers pre-determined suggestions for repairing issues local to subscribers’
home networks. Push2Test is available in a variety of
configurations to meet the needs of IP-service providers.
Push2Test Field Tech*
Push2Test Field Tech* runs on field technicians’ laptops or
PDAs. Field technicians use it to assist with initial installation
and setup of IP services for subscribers and for subsequent
diagnostics and troubleshooting of problems. To perform a
diagnosis, a technician connects his laptop to a subscriber’s
network through an Ethernet port or wireless port on the
subscriber’s home router or modem. Direct access to a
subscriber’s computer is not required.
Push2Test Care Center*
Push2Test Care Center* is targeted to service providers
that wish to offer interactive tools to subscribers while
minimizing call handling times. Push2Test Care Center is a
Web-based application that uses WebStart* technology
to run Push2Test on subscribers’ computers and
communicate with the Web-based component used by
service representatives. It enables service representatives to
perform diagnoses without relying on subscribers to provide
technical information or assist with the troubleshooting.
Push2Test Consumer*
Push2Test Consumer* is designed for service providers
that encourage their subscribers to participate in self care.
Push2Test Consumer is installed on subscribers’ home
computers. They can then use Push2Test Consumer to help
identify if and where a fault exists before picking up the
phone to call the service provider. Service representatives
have the same visibility into subscriber networks as with the
Push2Test Care Center.
About DataLinx
About SunRocket
DataLinx delivers best-in-class consulting, technology, and
services that address critical business and operational
challenges faced by communications providers. DataLinx
offers proven methodology and field-tested experience to
assist service providers in the planning, development,
implementation, and support of efficient and scalable
operational support system (OSS) and business support
system (BSS) solutions. These professional services
enable communications providers to:
Headquartered in Vienna, Virginia, SunRocket brings
Internet phone service to mainstream America. The
company offers complete Internet phone service at an
all-inclusive, bottom-line annual price with no hidden
charges or termination penalties, making it easy for
households with high-speed Internet access to take
advantage of the enhanced capabilities of state-of-theart Internet telephony.
• Rapidly deploy new broadband services
• Efficiently manage mobile work forces
• Minimize customer churn and maintenance costs
• Streamline back office systems
• Achieve maximum return on investment (ROI)
on projects
DataLinx enables the latest developments in service
delivery, network architecture, and service offerings.
DataLinx, a certified minority-owned business, has its
corporate headquarters in Tarrytown, New York, with
additional offices in Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio,
Texas, Virginia, and Canada.
For further information, visit DataLinx at
www.datalinx.net.
SunRocket has more than 100,000 subscribers and is
the nation’s second fastest-growing residential Internet
phone company. SunRocket is backed by leading venture
capital firms, including BlueRun Ventures, Mayfield Fund,
DCM – Doll Capital Management, and Anthem Capital
Management.
For more information about this privately held corporation,
visit www.sunrocket.com.
How Intel® Architecture
Fits into the Solution
Intel® Carrier Grade Servers provide DataLinx customers
with an open-architecture solution that enables best of
industry innovation, lower cost, investment protection,
and a longer lifecycle. A common architecture with
non-Network Equipment Building System (non-NEBS)
platforms results in reduced solution development costs,
hardened server management and operating system support,
and enhanced reliability.
Proof Points
Founded in early 2004, SunRocket is one of the
fastest-growing Internet phone service providers in the
United States. SunRocket uses DataLinx Push2Test to
provide technical support for their entire subscriber base.
When SunRocket subscribers have problems with their
VoIP service, they can call, e-mail, or chat with a SunRocket
service representative, who works with them to diagnose
and resolve issues. If the service representative needs details
about subscribers’ home networks and connectivity to the
Internet, he or she directs them to the Push2Test application
on the SunRocket Web site. Subscribers then use this
application to execute tests in their home environments.
Push2Test allows the service representative to quickly and
accurately identify problems related to subscribers’ home
networks or services from other providers. When problems
are identified, the service representative provides details so
that subscribers can resolve problems themselves or go to
their broadband service providers for assistance. SunRocket
benefits by minimizing the time service representatives
spend diagnosing problems unrelated to SunRocket services,
and subscribers benefit from fast, accurate diagnoses that
allow them to solve their problems.
For a service provider like SunRocket, availability 24
hours a day, 7 days a week is a requirement. A reliable,
high-performance hardware platform is essential to
making diagnostic tools and applications available to
service representatives at all times. DataLinx delivered
Push2Test to SunRocket on a Dual-Core Intel® Xeon®
processor-based server to provide the performance and
reliability needed to support a high-demand service center.
For More Information
For more information about DataLinx and Push2Test, visit:
www.datalinx.net
At DataLinx, contact Tom Lybarger, [email protected],
614-762-1113
For more information about Intel® technologies
and products, visit: www.intel.com
SunRocket is poised for growth in the VoIP consumer
market. The Dual-Core Intel Xeon processor-based platform
can be easily and cost-effectively scaled to accommodate
future expansion.
The Competition and
Their Value Proposition
Some vendors offer software with limited home network
testing capability as part of a larger, integrated solution or
provided as a simple add on. Other vendors offer a “test your
VoIP” service for any customer to download and run. The
tests are often little more than a broadband speed test and
may not offer the integrated capability of Push2Test.
Vendors also offer home network testing applications as
part of larger test suites, sometimes geared to a specific
application. For example, one large service provider’s DSL
offering includes an application to help subscribers diagnose
service problems. However, the diagnostics are minimal,
focused on the DSL broadband service, and don’t help
resolve critical problems with the home network configuration.
Intel, the Intel logo, Intel. Leap ahead. and Intel. Leap ahead. logo, and Xeon are trademarks
or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and
other countries.
This paper is for informational purposes only. Intel assumes no responsibility for any errors
contained in this document. INTEL MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS
CASE STUDY.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
Copyright
© 2006, Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.
0806/FP/MESH/XX
313319-002US