NightFire Automates Voice Services

September 12, 2000 -- NightFire Software announced its NightFire Voice, a new application for service providers. For CLECs offering DSL and other access technologies, the company claims that its NightFire Voice will offer a cost-effective way to add revenue-generating, value-added voice services to basic access service.

"Voice is the most compelling value-added service today for CLECs who have been focused exclusively on providing broadband services," said Sharon Ballard, telecom e-business analyst, the Yankee Group. "However, offering voice services involves many complex transactions with multiple trading partners. Currently, a majority of these transactions are processed manually and subject to human errors. Automation is crucial to achieving high levels of operational efficiency, minimizing errors and reducing the time and cost to provide service to new customers."

According to the company, voice over broadband provides high-speed data access and support for multiple voice lines over a single broadband connection, enabling highly cost-effective deployment of voice and data services. NightFire Voice says that it provides CLECs with a powerful way to increase revenue per subscriber and improve their margins.

NightFire Voice is a packaged software application that is supposed to enable facilities-based CLECs to automate the ordering of all the components necessary to offer voice services. The company claims that it leverages NightFire's expertise in building and managing interfaces to incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) for loop ordering. To provide a complete solution, NightFire has formed relationships with SCC Communications, and Illuminet.

The components of NightFire Voice include:
-- Local Number Portability gateways to all major ILECs (with or without loop ordering)
-- Service order administration interface to the Number Portability Administration Centers
-- Directory services and directory listings gateways to all major ILECs

NightFire Voice is supposed to enable service providers to interface with one system for provisioning a host of voice and data services in a fully automated manner and shield them from arduous and time-consuming change management requirements.

"NightFire delivers end-to-end automation for ordering voice services," said Venkates Swaminathan, founder, executive vice president and chief strategist, NightFire. "In addition, with a suite of broadband applications that automate address validation, loop qualification, loop ordering, voice services, and access service request ordering, NightFire offers the most comprehensive solution with all the key features necessary to provide voice and data services."

NightFire Voice will be available at the end of September either for onsite deployment or as a hosted service through the NightFire Network.