Telenordia

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Tools Used:
Inprise Application Server, VisiBroker®, C++, Java, Jbuilder, Sybase, Oracle and Microsoft Databases

Problem:
Telenordia, one of Sweden's leading communications companies, needed to create a Web Interface for customer registration for ISP service and personal telephone service.

Solution:
Telenordia developed a single Web interface to allow customers to register for both ISP services and its personal telephony package. The Inprise Application Server provides the backbone technology enabling customers to open and modify account services, via the Web. This ensures that personal information is consistent across the various customer care databases from Sybase, Oracle and Microsoft.

Telenordia is deploying Inprise’s Application Server to deliver an integrated Web-based customer care system. Telenordia will also standardize on Inprise’s VisiBroker CORBA technology in future software developments. Agenda, Inprise’s enterprise business partner in Sweden, works closely with Telenordia through the implementation process to develop solutions.

"It became clear to us that the Inprise solution offered clear benefits in terms of ORB performance and integration with Java, both key factors in delivering a customer care system over the Internet. Having a complete, end-to-end enterprise solution from Inprise meant we would get support from one vendor throughout the whole development and deployment process," said Daniel Silen, network manager at Telenordia.

When Telenordia entered the ISP market in 1995, very few out-of-the-box solutions were available. As a result, Telenordia customized a number of public domain applications to build customer care and Internet service provision systems, which needed to be integrated and Web-enabled.

"We believe the issues Telenordia is facing will be mirrored in many ISPs throughout Europe," commented Gidi Schmidt, VP of Europe for Inprise. "Very few ISPs start out at ground level -- most have evolved from a variety of different companies. Simplifying the challenge of Web-enabling and integrating legacy ISP services is one to which Inprise Application Server is especially suited."

In addition to Inprise Application Server, Telenordia relies on the VisiBroker ORB and VisiBroker SSL security system. The development team works both in C++ and Java and uses Inprise’s JBuilder for Application Server to rapidly generate servers and provide Web-based clients to the backend system.

Telenordia’s original customer care system was designed to service Fortune 1000 customers. Currently, Telenordia offers a number of services from telecommunication provisions, to newspaper distribution and Web services to a much larger customer-base. As a result, it uses Inprise technology to build a more flexible, reliable and scaleable customer care system.

"As we expanded, managers in different business units had a free hand in selecting databases," said Daniel Silen, principal developer at Telenordia. "Now, our big problem lies in integrating all of the information from seven databases. But, we have solved this problem by building a CORBA-based application on top of all the databases to allow an integrated view of information."

This integration with a number of ‘home-grown’ customer care systems was another factor in selecting Inprise Application Server. When Telenordia first entered the ISP market, it had a number of individual developers working on separate customer care systems. "Relying on one supplier to provide an end-to-end solution and technical support for all aspects of our development was the basis of our decision to use Inprise technology," continues Silen. "The whole environment is integrated around the VisiBroker ORB, which we recognized as the industry-standard object request broker."