ShopforEthernet is Born

Today I am excited to announce the arrival of the newest member of our "Shopfor" family: ShopforEthernet.com. As the name implies, ShopforEthernet.com allows people to "shop", or at least locate, potential carriers that offer broadband ethernet service in the customer's immediate location.

Why is this important you ask? Well, 5 years ago we set out to greatly reduce the time and effort required to sell a T1 line. Through GeoQuote, we were able to automate the research time required to sell T1s by over 95%. Telarus agents could price out and sell T1 lines 10X faster than their competition.

Fast forward to 2007, when Ethernet high-speed internet technology is just coming online as a potential powerhouse of a product. The problem that faces customers looking to purchase ethernet broadband is: it's only available where carriers have the equipment to provide the service. Unlike T1's, which can be extended by "local loops" provided by the local phone company, Ethernet requires a direct connection to the carrier. (Some carriers will relay the signal using DS1 (copper) or fiber if the distance warrants). Knowing the exact (and I do mean exact ... down to the physical building) location of both the customer and the carrier's equipment is the key to selling Ethernet. If you didn't have real-time access to this information, you would have to literally contact ALL 30 carriers Telarus offers and wait many weeks to hear back. And most of those responses will be "sorry - we don't have facilities in the area!"

Here is a mini-screen shot of the interface we've created by integrating the various carrier "Lit Building" lists together with Google maps. As you can see, our agents (who will see this image with much greater resolution) will know EXACTLY which carriers to go to for potential opportunities. Although there is never a guarantee a carrier will be able to provide service, we're greatly improving the agent's chances of striking ethernet gold, as well as removing all of the "dud" requests carriers have to receive from our agents who are quoting and hoping.

Never has there been a bigger day in the life of Telarus since we launched ShopforT1.com way back in July 2003, over 4 years ago. Look for many more specialty type web sites to come out in the months ahead: ShopforVoIP.com, ShopforSIPTrunks.com, ShopforMPLS.com, and ShopforVPN.com are among the sites in the planning stages right now.

Congratulations to the IT Department (I am now in charge of marketing) for a great job. I'm sure many people will find this site helpful while our carriers find this site profitable!