Mantiss charts Ameritech region

If the telecommunications industry was truly e-commerce enabled, resale and unbundled network element interconnection would be uncomplicated. Access to operation support systems would be a mouse click away, and incumbents and competitive local exchange carriers would interact gracefully.

Until we reach this golden age, gateway developers are taking a piecemeal, regional approach to solving interconnection snarls. Mantiss Information, for example, focused it efforts on understanding the intricacies of neighboring Ameritech's order requirements. Based in Chicago, the software company worked closely with the regional Bell operating company and gained access to the carrier's test beds. Along the way, Mantiss built a reputation as the middleman for CLECs to reach Ameritech.

In 1998, Mantiss released the CLECware product line, which includes resale interconnection and a UNE interconnection gateway. The resale interconnection has pre-ordering and ordering features that include customer service record acquisition, address validation, telephone number inquiry/reservation, service due date inquiry/reservation and feature availability. It supports POTS, Centrex, PBX trunks and lines and private circuits. The UNE interconnection gateway supports local service request-based transactions required for processing unbundled loops and number portability.

The Mantiss developers have moved beyond Ameritech to other incumbent's systems. Mantiss is rolling out a gateway for Bell South and will turn to Bell Atlantic next.

"We have a strategic alliance with Ameritech, and we're replicating it with other incumbents," said Victor Guzman, director of sales and marketing with Mantiss. "The relationships are important because it facilitates our deploying the system rapidly, and it minimizes the headaches and ugliness that goes along with putting a piece of software in a new environment."

"We're catering to CLECs, but we have strong ties to the [incumbents]," added Rachip Dhingra, co-founder of Mantiss. "These ties allow us to roll out systems faster and meet a variety of different customer needs."

Unlike some gateway developers that have clients in one market segment, Mantiss customers represent a variety of sectors. In June, Mantiss announced customer wins from a cable operator, an Internet service provider and a CLEC. MediaOne's Midwest Region is deploying the CLECware LSR Gateway for local number portability, and InterAccess is using the CLECware UNE Gateway to process local service requests for unbundled loops from Ameritech. Cincinnati Bell Long Distance is implementing CLECware's EDI provisioning and sales order management systems for local services.

An earlier customer, WinStar Communications, already is using the Mantiss software. The New York-based carrier chose CLECware because of Mantiss' excellent relationship with Ameritech.

"Mantiss had worked directly with Ameritech to make sure that its gateway was the most effective tool in this region," said Bill Breeze, field operations manager for WinStar.

WinStar is discussing adding electronic interfaces with Bell South, Bell Atlantic and U S West, but for now, WinStar is using the CLECware gateway to electronically interface with Ameritech for resale orders. After Ameritech finalizes a system upgrade, WinStar will add LNP. Ameritech also is adding a Web-based option for CLECs to access its trouble ticketing tools. WinStar plans to use that option when it becomes available in August.