Ten Reasons To Choose OSPInsight

Twenty years ago we released the first version of OSPInsight, a fiber network management system. We built OSPInsight to help our customers organize their data and better utilize their network assets. 

We started to make our own Top 10 list for why customers choose OSPInsight, but we thought it was more compelling to use what our customers have said to create the list.

 The following are unsolicited comments from our customers. We’ve added the emphasis.

10. Organization – You’ve already spent the money to create your data … use it.

“In the past, while working in the field and questions would arise concerning our fiber network, we would have to call back to the office –  hoping there would be someone available – and have them dig out paper maps, spreadsheets, database printouts, old napkins, etc. and try to decipher what it was you were asking in order to find the answer you needed.”

9. Engineering – Build the network with confidence when planning is precise.

“OSPInsight plays a big part in how we engineer new build – how it will tie into older existing fiber, patching configurations needed, Right-of-Way options (permitting & leasing considerations), fiber count capacities needed, etc.”

8. Portability – Field technicians and engineers with data at their fingertips.

“Now, I flip open my laptop inside my van, punch the OSPInsight icon, and within minutes I have our entire network and all of its data right in front of me.”

“With a hurricane bearing down on us we were able to distribute OSPInsight and our data to our field tech’s laptops.  Once we got hit, our field personnel had the information they needed to start getting service back up.”

7. Sales & Marketing – Find the prospects, show the network.

"Before this tool, I always had OSPInsight and Google Earth open at the same time, to check building shapes, and geography, because most of these places I've never been to.  But now that I can export my network to Google Earth, I use that all the time, it's fantastic.  I use it to tweak my cable positions and buildings.  My marketing guy uses the OSPInsight data in Google Earth all the time to present our network to customers.  Since we name our buildings based on the customers we serve, it's great I can select the layers I want to export; and our marketing guy only shows certain areas of the data to clients and potential clients, so the regional export is perfect for that."

“Before OSPInsight, Business Intelligence was almost an oxymoron.  Now, my business information with OSPInSight helps me direct my resources to sell services to areas never before imagined.”

6. Maintenance – A “stitch in time …”, you can’t fix what you can’t see.

“Some of our builds are getting old, and we need to keep closer tabs on network performance. We really want to be ahead of it, because the fiber can start to fail due to the environment. For example, one of our current challenges is dealing with water in splice enclosures. They’re supposed to be watertight, but some are taking on water. Others have in the past been opened for inspection, and many of them develop leaks afterward.  We recently removed a 12-inch piece of ice inside one of these enclosures that, if left alone, will cause a failure. With OSPInSight, we can query for the age of the enclosures and the type of enclosure, not to mention determine the location of the enclosure so that we can better determine where to focus our attention.”

5. Accounting & Taxation – What you don’t know will cost you … a lot.

“We have agreements with the owners of utility poles to use them in our fiber network. One problem we have is being able to document the usage of a pole and the date we installed our cable. At times, when the pole owner does an audit and finds we’re not on their records, we are assessed a penalty of $65 per pole for not verifying our installation date. With OSPInsight, we can track pole usage and installation dates.”

“Determining the number of miles of cable in any given tax zone has been an arduous task.  But it is very important … don’t want to make the tax man mad! Before OSPInSight I could make a good guess after doing a lot of research.  Now, it is almost just pushing the right button.”

4. Restoration – Can you say, “Service Level Agreement”?

“When we do experience an outage due to construction, etc., OSPInsight helps us get the right people, to the right place, at the right time. We can supply the technician with all the all of the tools he needs before he goes out. Maps, splice schematics, tabular data are all available in less than a half an hour.”

“The program is working great.  We recently had to cut our main high count fiber cable and were able to minimize the amount that went down due to having the program.”

3. Partnership – More than software, you’ve bought experience and dedication.

“… all of you folks have been absolutely the best kind of partners - trudging through the muck, working impossible deadlines, and helping us get it done. I am deeply grateful. This work - the records clean-up - is vital and I would not want to tackle it without [OSPInsight].”

“Although we haven't met as yet, it does often seem like you and your
colleagues are extended members of our team. I wanted to thank you both for
your partnership and for your expertise as we work through critical tax
issues. I know that several of our teams are relying on you for support.”

“I want to thank your team out there for all of the support and help you have given us over the past couple of years. This job is hard enough on a daily basis but is extra hard without the support of a great team. With the support of all of you at [OSPInsight] it has been a much better process tracking our systems.”

 “You and your team always uses sound logic and solid judgment when trying to tackle some of their more complex solutions, we are looking forward to work with you and the AFO team as we kickoff more projects together.”

2. It Works – No doubt about it, this application will do what you need.

“I have been involved in fiber splicing, testing, engineering and documentation since 1988. I am typically skeptical of software that can provide the all the needs for documentation and tracking, Until Now. You have made me a believer in OSPInSight. I am very impressed with your program and look forward to having Orlando's records transferred to OSPInSight.”

" I'm getting to where I love this system.  I've been working on systems like this since about 1986...it's the one that does what all the ones promise you.  I've seen about 100 demos, at trade shows, ...but this system is the best.   I didn't know what MapInfo was when I first trained on this system.  The system I used before was Autocad, that was my comfort zone....  It blows all the other systems out of the water."

“I am not going to call you today and probably not tomorrow because… YOUR PROGRAM DOES WHAT IT’S SUPPOSE TO!   Just want to say thanks.”

1. Savings – When it comes down to it, it is all, ultimately about money.

“We utilized three contract employees, at $42 per hour, to handle CAD work, for build prints and schematics, and to retrieve what documentation we had for producing reports and maps. That added up to $1,008 per day, five days a week, which is a significant annual expense of over $262,000.  After we implemented OSPInsight and built our database, we were able to reduce number of contract employees to one and a half.”

“We outsource our fiber splicing schematics. The contractor charges between $150 to $300 per schematic (splice case), with the average being around $250. We are currently documenting over 300 splice cases in our network.  OSPInsight is the only software that produces splice schematics, and it draws them automatically when the splices are documented via the splicing editor. With this capability, we essentially can get the schematics for “free,” because they are a byproduct of the splicing documentation function. So, we can realize a savings of nearly $75,000 for our current network build.  We will have over 1500 splice locations in our network, so the savings will be significant.”

“The exact savings is hard to calculate, but it is safe to say we have already saved many thousands of dollars in repairs due to preventative maintenance. And when you factor in keeping our customers through better service, some of them are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

“OSPInsight has not reduced the number of people working in our department, but has increased the productivity of our people dramatically. What it has done is allowed us to expand our work to cover activities that need to be done but due to the lack of manpower we can’t normally do.”

“At times, when the pole owner does an audit and finds we’re not on their records, we are assessed a penalty of $65 per pole for not verifying our installation date. With OSPInsight, we can track pole usage and installation dates. Because we use thousands of poles in our network, we can save literally many thousands of dollars in these penalties by simply providing documentation from OSPInsight.”

“When I am asked about the worth (savings) in using OSPInsight as opposed to the 'old way', my answer is...PRICELESS!”