PontiMAX Offers Gateway
PontiMAX Technologies LLC has introduced the RAPTOR (Remote Access Platform for Telecom Ordering Resources) electronic gateway. PontiMAX managing member Ray Keating says RAPTOR "has cut the Gordian Knot of data and interface complexity that, until now, has put electronic gateways out of the reach of many CLECs." As an alternative to OSS integration through complex gateway application program interfaces, RAPTOR offers Data Transformer and Data Exchanger gateway resources -- both described as "Active Components" -- to be accessed over either a standard publisher-subscriber messaging bus or as a true Web service, using the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP). The set of Data Transformers available provide XML to/from SQL, PIC/CARE, and Electronic Local Mechanization Specification (ELMS) 4 TCIF X12 EDI translations. The Data Exchangers provide FTP, X.400 messaging or TCIF Interactive Agent data transport to Trading Partners.
Cracking Up
NetCracker Technology Corp. introduced NetCracker Integration Server and NetCracker Facility Management, the latest additions to its inventory-based Communication Infrastructure Management solutions for network-dependent enterprises and telecommunications service providers. The NetCracker Integration Server, the platform of NetCracker's OSS, provides what the company calls a "workflow workhorse." Architecturally open and written in pure Java, the NetCracker platform leverages industry-standard XML, CORBA and remote method invocation technologies to access, query, retrieve and update infrastructure data. The Integration Server also combines with pre-integrated NetCracker modules and provides a set of published application programming interfaces and connectors for complementary OSS and enterprise applications, thereby shortening implementation time. The Facility Management module complements the package by offering a tool to provide an up-to-date, comprehensive and visual account of every device throughout the enterprise, with a floor planning tool and a rack configurator to assist in facility design, planning, and management.
Nine-Step Program
PanAmerican Telecom Inc., a UNE-P provider targeting more than 2.2 million households in Southern Florida's Hispanic communities, selected Step 9 Software Corp.'s iCustomer SDX as the foundation for its OSS. PanAmerican Telecom will use Step 9's iCustomer SDX Application Service Provider solution for order entry and service fulfillment to contain costs and accelerate profitability. "PanAmerican Telecom relies on dispersed channel partners and an outsourced call center for order entry, trouble management and billing functions, who then push out the customer information to our in-house provisioning department for fulfillment," says Chey Lovelace, PanAmerican Telecom's COO. "We chose iCustomer SDX because of its ability to automate the interactions between front-office and back-office functions, and because we see a way to streamline our delivery process for increased profitability."
Electronic Alternative
Cox Communications Inc. purchased the DSET Corp. ezAccess Receive gateway designed to let Cox accept access service requests electronically from providers that want to lease high-speed data links from Cox. As an electronic alternative to e-mail or fax submitted ASRs, the send and receive capabilities of ezAccess automate the ASR process for a variety of service provider types.
In other DSET news, the company announced OSS and integration services provider NE Tech- nologies Inc. will resell its IPSource platform, a suite of IP provisioning and activation solutions developed by DSET.
