Global technology consultancy chooses Equant Smart Communications
With more than 8,000 consultants around the world, DMR needed robust, secure communications capable of handling high volumes of traffic night-and-day. A flexible and reliable way of allowing its consultants to keep in touch with each other and with their clients while travelling also is required.
To meet these needs in the Asia-Pacific region, DMR decided to use Equant's frame relay and dial-up services. Frame relay is a standardised telecommunications system ideal for reliably handling large volume data traffic or low cost voice traffic over long distances.
John Thornborough, DMR Asia-Pacific director and chief information officer in the region, said the adoption of Equant's frame relay service had saved the company considerable time and money.
"Quality of service is as important as price," he explained. "However, Equant has given us quality of service and saved us on cost. Frame relay has saved a lot of money compared to what we were paying before. The overall cost has been dramatically reduced."
Sydney is the central communications node in DMR's Asia-Pacific network, while its dial-up services node is located in Kuala Lumpur (KL). This then connects to the Sydney node unless the user wants to talk directly to KL.
"Wherever we move information in the region we often move it through KL," said Thornborough. "It's a huge job and Equant does it very well."
DMR communications manager Shane Oliver said the Equant dial-up solution facilitated messaging between the consultancy's dispersed team in the region. "our consultants,="" who="" may="" be="" working="" anywhere="" in="" the="" region,="" love="" it,"="" he="" said.="" "they="" can="" dial="" a="" local="" number="" which="" connects="" them="" to="" kl="" -="" and="" from="" there="" they="" communicate="" with="" world."="" ="">He added that DMR was so impressed with the efficiency of the Equant services that it now planned to introduce voice over the frame relay network supplied by Equant.
"We're very happy with the service we get," Oliver said. "When we send even large amounts of data, it gets through. We can send a gigabyte of data to our major corporate office in Sunnyvale, Calif. on almost a daily basis without any problems.
"In its reports of service delivery, Equant regularly tells us where we are over-utilising links so that we can take steps to minimize the chance of dropping packets of information buzzing from DMR Asia-Pacific's offices to other regional offices."
Beth Jackson, regional general manager, Australasia, for Equant's network services division, said DMR was an excellent example of the type of modern business that relied on the reach and flexibility of Equant's communications services.
"Because we have the world's most extensive commercial data network, we can help companies like DMR to keep in contact with their workers and clients almost anywhere on the planet," she said. "We truly offer an end-to-end solution that can be tailored to suit a customer's needs."
Earlier this year Equant globally launched four Internet Protocol (IP) products allow users to have IP-borne communications within countries and to as many as 220 countries contactable through Equant's network.
The new product offerings include:
* iVAD with offnet dialling. iVAD integrates voice and data transmissions on a single access line and allows calls to be made off-net to anywhere in the world, subject to local voice regulations, using Equant's global data network. Billings are either on a usage or flat-fee basis.
* High-speed PPP dialling. Equant provides point-to-point IP (PPP) dial access service to over 100 cities in major countries. The service operates at 56 kilobits per second (kbps) for users on public switched telephone networks but users with ISDN (integrated services digital network) access can use the service at 128 kbps.
* Global LAN. Equant supplies its customers with IP based solutions for wide area networks (WANs) and local area networks (LANs). Such networks can be designed, deployed, managed and maintained by Equant staff.
* Video conferencing services. Equant currently provides video conferencing in 42 countries.
About Equant
Equant (NYSE: ENT; Paris Bourse: EQU) operates the world's largest data network in terms of geographic coverage, which extends to key business centres in over 220 countries and territories. Using its network, Equant has established itself as a leading provider of managed data network services, end-to-end, for multinational businesses worldwide - including over 20 percent of the Global 1000. Equant also provides network design and integration services; equipment installation; maintenance and support services; and software development. See www.equant.com for more information.
About DMR
DMR Consulting Group Inc. is a leading international provider of information technology services to business and public enterprises, employing over 10,000 professionals in Canada, the United States, Europe and the Asia/Pacific region. The company's services include IT strategy, business transformation, benefits realisation, e-commerce, systems development and integration and outsourcing, as well as Year 2000 and euro conversion services.