Facing an intensely competitive market, ARBROS Communications, a relatively new communications provider serving the mid- and northeastern American states, had been looking for a system to help its sales force of 160. Since the company’s inception in 1999, the sales department had used a combination of manual and semi-automated systems to support quotations, contact management, field pricing, rate maintenance and network inventory. ARBROS needed an all-in-one system that could be easily customized and was easy to use. Most of all it wanted a scalable product that would grow as the company expanded.

The Sales & Marketing department was contemplating a purchase when they saw a demo of the NDA Account Management System (AMS). “NDA came in and blew away all the other contenders,” says Gerard Adore, Senior Manager for Product Marketing at ARBROS. “It was a complete solution, one that we could grow into as we moved forward as an organization.” Adore and his team recognized AMS as more than just a pricing tool. AMS can handle order processing, contact management and can interface to third party mapping products, to help determine product availability at any given location.

Comprehensive Quotation System

At times, sales staff were using up to four different software applications for items such as marketing material, contact management, and preparation of proposals and pricing models. Furthermore, ARBROS staff used to prepare some quotes manually, going to a map to calculate mileage for a proposal.

Looking for an alternative, the sales department drew up a list of requirements that included a common user interface, accurate pricing using current tariff information, customizable quotes and proposals, and the ability to tie into legacy systems. Most important, ARBROS wanted a consolidation of services in one tool. NDA’s solution was the Account Management System (AMS) a Client/Server, NT/Oracle application.

AMS is a web-based, integrated quote, proposal, order request, rate maintenance, order processing and network inventory system for data, voice and managed services. Carriers gain enterprise-wide access to Customer Profiles and Rate information from a centralized server to ensure enhanced control and consistency in Pricing and Customer data. AMS features: Customer Profiling and Contact Management, Network Planning, Competitive Pricing, Standard and Special Plans Pricing, Rate Database Maintenance, Quoting, Proposing and Order Requesting, Funnel Management and Order Processing/Workflow Management.

“It is a complete solution,” exclaims ARBROS’ Gerard Adore. “We’ll grow into NDA’s solution as we move forward as an organization. This is where and how we need to grow and NDA gives us the best ability to shape the way we’re going to operate.”

Through XML, AMS can easily interface to front and back office applications. AMS is integrated with other productivity improvement applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, VISIO & MapInfo.

Accuracy of Quotes

AMS has a single, centralized database for pricing, which is managed at the corporate level with the proper implementation of design rules. The competitive tariff database is extensive with over 3000 US, Canadian and International tariffs. For the US, all RBOC, IXC and most independent Carrier rates are supported and updated twice per month by NDA. AMS comes with a powerful Tariff Editor for easy rate, discount plan, POP, mileage and NPANXX data maintenance. With the Tariff Editor, updates, changes and even the addition of new Carriers and their rates can be added in-house without any programming.

AMS supports Private Line, Frame Relay, SONET, ATM, Internet Access, Long Distance and CPE/Managed Services.

Gerard Adore explains his choice of NDA’s Account Management System, “We are focused on data services, and in order to price our data services we needed the ability to price distance-sensitive tariffs. The accuracy of pricing is exceptional. AMS has exceeded our expectations.”

“We didn’t have the ability to price out distance-sensitive or mileage-sensitive services, particularly data products. That was putting us at a huge disadvantage in the market. Since we installed AMS we’ve been able to close more business which means we’re more competitive.”

AMS allows telecom carriers and resellers to confidently prepare quotes. Competitive pricing depends on reliable tariff data and intimate knowledge of carrier services. NDA has been providing accurate and consistent pricing and network design software to the largest telecom carriers in North America for over 17 years.

Professional Looking Quotes – Customized to match your existing marketing material

A key feature of AMS is that it is easily customized to incorporate a provider’s exact rates, services, facilities and terminology. “NDA was the only company that met 100% of our needs from a customizable perspective,” states Gerard Adore, Senior Manager of Product Marketing for ARBROS Communications. “When we generate a proposal, AMS gives us the ability to include information on our company and other products we’re selling.”

AMS enables the creation of Quotes, Proposals and Orders. Once the quote is approved, the proposal and order request can be automatically populated and generated. AMS captures order issue date, due date, and actual installation date. The Quotes, Proposals and Orders can be tailored to anyone’s specifications with minimal customization.

Once an order has been created, using Workflow Management, AMS sends the order to various departments in series or in parallel for implementation and approval. Approvals, rejections and delays are tracked and the customer's netowork inventory is automatically updated when orders have been completed.

Sales Managers and Account Managers can generate sales reports instantly for Quotes, Proposals and Orders by Month, Year, Representative, Customer, and Service for dollar amount Issued, Sold, Lost, and Expired.

ARBROS® Communications, Inc., founded in March 1999, is a facilities-based integrated communications provider serving small and medium businesses in the northeastern United States. ARBROS offers an integrated package of voice, data and Internet communication services and seeks to provide exceptional customer service to businesses traditionally underserved by incumbent and competitive local exchange carriers. ARBROS is headquartered in Silver Spring, Md., with facilities in Washington, D.C., Landover, Md., Richmond, Va., Northern Virginia, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Pa., Newark, N.J., New York and Boston.

Network Design and Analysis Corporation (NDA), based in Markham, Canada, provides customized Network quotation, inventory, account management and order processing solutions to Telecommunications Carriers and Resellers. Since its foundation in 1983, NDA has focused on network pricing, optimization, order processing and inventory management applications. NDA has developed expertise in interpreting, implementing and maintaining telecommunications rates for over 17 years. NDA is working closely with many carriers like Global Crossing, GTE Communications and Bell Canada to drive enhanced productivity and reduced operating expenses.