• Internet Service Providers
• VSP/Phone Companies
• Multi-Service Operations
• Fiber to the Home Providers
• Solution Providers
• Help Desk, Support, or Call Centers
• IT Departments

• FAQ
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Frequently Asked Questions

• Why should I purchase BOSS?
• What cost savings should I expect in the first year after purchasing BOSS?
• What types of OSS solutions does BOSS provide?
• How soon can I be up and running once I purchase BOSS?
• How does BOSS work?
• What is the typical structure of a client relationship with IntraMeta?
• What security measures are in place to secure my business and its data?
• What hardware vendors do you support?
• Can I check out BOSS?
• How would BOSS integrate with my business?
• What are the benefits of using BOSS versus traditional off-the-shelf software?
• What does BOSS cost?
• What are my payment options for BOSS?
• Does BOSS have a trial period?
• Do you have any kind of partner or affiliate program?

1. Why should I purchase BOSS?

   • If you’re in the market for a better OSS solution, BOSS moves your back office costs from a capital expenditure to a cost center tied directly to revenue.
   • If you’re having problems with a specific component of your back office, BOSS has core services within the suite that are all necessary for service providers. Flexible, à la carte pricing ensures that you only pay for what you need and nothing you don’t.
   • Looking to offer new services to your customers? BOSS Provisioning will fast track your offering with digital voice (VoIP) and video (IPTV) services and have you seeing revenue from these services more quickly than from an alternate solution.
   • Worried about meeting demand? BOSS is perfectly scalable so you are free to take on as much business as you can muster without having to second-guess your capacity.
   • Having trouble seeing what’s really happening inside your business? BOSS is a complete integration platform. Once your systems have been integrated with BOSS, you have a single interface to your entire business and can treat your data similarly. When fully integrated, the utility of your back office is limited only by your ability to conceive the most important dimensions of your business.

2. What cost savings should I expect in the first year after purchasing BOSS?

   • BOSS competes with your other business costs on a variety of dimensions. Some are more difficult to monetize than others:
   • Upfront and ongoing costs for competitive software and the hardware to run it.
   • Staffing and training for technical responsibilities within your back office.
   • Improved efficiency through total visibility of all data and functionality within BOSS.
   • Flat support. Service reps can see as much or as little data as you like. No more phone mazes for your customers.
   • Rapid deployment of services to address newer markets and revenue opportunities that would have traditionally required upfront investment or a greater potential return to justify their pursuit.

3. What types of OSS solutions does BOSS provide?

   BOSS offers the following components:
   • IP Services [DHCP, DNS, Email, Authentication, Web Hosting, and Voice]
   • Customer Relationship Management [User/Customer Management, Ticketing, Customer Self Help and Captive Portal]
   • Provisioning [Customer Activation: Internet, Phone, TV; Product Catalog, Network Element Management]
   • Workflow Management [Workflow Designer, Task Manager, Event Viewer]

4. How soon can I be up and running once I purchase BOSS?

   • While this varies, the typical client is usually up and operational within two weeks. Key factors are the complexity of your existing back office software and the number of BOSS services you wish to use.

5. How does BOSS work?

   • BOSS is really an operations platform for service providers. It provides a holistic overlay over all (typically) isolated sets of data within your company through a single interface. This interface is the dashboard to the operations of your business. BOSS provides reports on performance and service quality and allows the operator to turn services on/off and track assets, support issues and company projects.

6. What is the typical structure of a client relationship with IntraMeta?

   • IntraMeta is a behind-the-scenes business. We generally do not have any direct interaction with the end user, but this is really at your discretion. We can provide as much or as little service, support and exposure of our services as the situation dictates. All of our interfaces can be customized and branded to suit your branding or identity system.

7. What security measures are in place to secure my business and its data?

   • Security is a constant practical consideration with all of BOSS’ features. The BOSS administrative interface uses an encrypted SSL connection, which allows you to access your business from anywhere. Intranet operates several geographically diverse data centers to insure against data loss in the event of a natural disaster. All of our clients’ data is stored securely at all of our data centers at any given time. These data centers are top-tier facilities with a deep accoutrement of backup power and latency-optimized connectivity.
     
     For example, one of our key data centers in Houston, Texas, was active during Hurricane Rita, a category 5 hurricane in September 2005. The data center withstood the storm and continued to service customers without any interruption or packet loss.

8. What hardware vendors do you support?

   • Given a choice, we prefer industry standards to a specific hardware vendor. But from our experience with numerous service providers using all varieties of last mile technology, we also understand the realities of our industry. With this in mind, BOSS was designed as an extensible platform to quickly accommodate new hardware. We can currently provision most triple play devices that require IP connectivity and support the SNMP protocol. Please contact us with the specific requirements for your hardware.

9. Can I check out BOSS?

   • Absolutely! We pride ourselves on the features and level of polish BOSS provides compared to MUCH more expensive solutions. You can see screen shots under our products section that show most of what BOSS has to offer. Please contact a sales rep for an online demonstration.

10. How would BOSS integrate with my business?

    • Every function within BOSS is exposed via a complete Application Programming Interface (API), which means you can use our BOSS web interfaces or your own. The choice is yours for what is most convenient. BOSS really shines as a platform when all the BOSS services and legacy systems are fully integrated.
      
      Within five days of executing a service agreement, we generally have our business analysts at your company site to do a thorough analysis of your current systems, business processes, your data and where you need help. This analysis is critical to ensure you get the most out of BOSS and that nothing is overlooked. Once this is done, we prepare a proposal and begin any necessary work to integrate your business with BOSS: from importing and scrubbing data to creating synchronous relationships between BOSS and your existing systems to providing on-site training.

11. What are the benefits of using BOSS versus traditional off-the-shelf software?

    • Small and medium-sized businesses often find themselves in the difficult position of having to move from a software solution that may have suited their needs at some point to something more. Depending on what they’re looking for, they can be faced with a hefty price tag for a piece of software that promises capacity for the future. When combined with license renewals, training, hardware, specialized staff and maintenance costs, it’s easy to see how this can quickly exhaust an operations budget that is meant to contain costs. Additionally, the software probably doesn’t do anything out-of-the-box, so more funds are needed to integrate it with the rest of the business. For an “enterprise-class” back office, on demand without all the strings, BOSS uses the utility computing model to charge you only for what you use.

12. What does BOSS cost?

    • BOSS is a metered utility and you only pay for the services rendered. This effectively ties a portion of your operational costs to revenue. Using BOSS, decision makers can better predict expansion costs and plan more effectively. For a typical Internet or communications provider, BOSS generally costs between 3-5% of the provider’s monthly recurring charge (MRC) for services.
      
      However, this depends on the number of BOSS services used and the service offering of the provider. We also offer tiered pricing as well as an enterprise license for managed installations of BOSS. A sales representativecan fully explain the BOSS pricing structure based on your needs.

13. What are my payment options for BOSS?

    • IntraMeta offers standard payment options (check, credit card, e-draft) and net terms for our qualified clients.

14. Does BOSS have a trial period?

    • Yes. We currently offer a 30-day trial period to allow you to get comfortable with BOSS and all included features. We do not migrate any of your data to the system during this period.

15. Do you have any kind of partner or affiliate program?

    • Yes. BOSS offers a unique opportunity for systems integrators and solution providers. With metered pricing and immediate availability, our partners are able to complete projects more quickly than with off-the-shelf alternatives or in-house development. IntraMeta offers a full partner support team to address their specific needs and concerns. If you have any questions about IntraMeta’s partner program, please e-mail partners@intrameta.com.