ORLANDO, Fla. – NTCA 2007 Annual Meeting & EXPO – Bentley Systems, Incorporated today announced that the MonCre Telephone Cooperative, which serves members in a 500-square-mile rural area of Alabama, has selected Bentley communications software to support its new fiber infrastructure. By providing more accurate real-time data, the software is making it easier for MonCre’s teams to do scenario planning, model future demand, and provide accurate reports to management and the board of trustees.
Commenting on the benefits of the new software, Thomas Tapley, an engineer at MonCre, said, “We have made a positive step forward in deploying a system that makes us more nimble, more knowledgeable, and more effective. We will continue to build on these initial successes until all of our network assets are documented, viewed, and manipulated in a single environment.”
Prior to deploying the Bentley communications products, MonCre had been struggling with multiple sources of data based on CAD files, Excel spreadsheets, and a variety of documentation. As Tapley explained, “We had an overriding objective of going beyond static CAD-based documentation to introduce an intelligent network engineering system. This means that we would move from having several conflicting views of the network to a single source of data that all users would share. We decided to start with the newest part of our network, the fiber backbone, which connects 35 fiber wire centers.”
Unlike many rural communications organizations, all of MonCre’s copper and fiber plant is direct buried. This helps the cooperative provide a high quality of service with few service interruptions due to storms. However, managing buried assets can be a challenge.
Bentley communications products are used to support streamlined workflows for circuit assignment and provisioning of this underground cabling. “As a result,” said Tapley, ” it is now easier for us to distinguish between our optical circuits for DSL versus circuits for telephony and to be sure that we are fully utilizing our fiber assets.” This is important because every user across MonCre’s 500-square-mile territory has the option to access broadband services.
MonCre knew that the process of migrating from CAD-based printed outputs to an intelligent network model would require careful evaluation. As Tapley pointed out, “Although the benefits of moving from our old systems to the Bentley solution make enormous sense, we were careful to do our research before we made this decision. We looked at eight or nine different vendors before opting for Bentley. The key for us is that Bentley offers a solution that is comprehensive, does not require customization, and is not dependent on any third-party components.”
Richard Zambuni, global marketing director, Bentley Geospatial, said, “Bentley is committed to providing world-class solutions for intelligent network engineering to rural communications service providers. Though many of these organizations are small, they still must offer their customers a wide range of services of the highest quality and level of performance. This means they need software solutions that provide advanced functionality at an affordable total cost of ownership.”
Added Zambuni, “We are gratified that the MonCre Telephone Cooperative has joined the growing number of rural communications service providers that are taking advantage of Bentley’s intelligent network engineering software solutions to meet their customers’ demands while operating their businesses cost-effectively.”
About MonCre Telephone Cooperative
MonCre Telephone Cooperative is a member-owned cooperative based in Ramer, Alabama. It serves approximately 3500 members in a 500-square-mile area of Alabama that includes Montgomery, Crenshaw, Pike, and Bullock counties. Founded in 1954, MonCre currently provides local and long-distance telephone services, including many advanced calling features, as well as state-of-the-art Internet services. For more information, visit www.mon-cre.net/html/home.php.
About Bentley
Bentley Systems, Incorporated provides software for the lifecycle of the world’s infrastructure. The company’s comprehensive portfolio for the building, plant, civil, and geospatial verticals spans architecture, engineering, construction (AEC) and operations. With revenues now surpassing $400 million annually, and more than 2000 colleagues around the world, Bentley is the leading provider of AEC software to the Engineering News-Record Top 500 Design Firms and major owner-operators and was named the world’s No. 2 provider of GIS/geospatial software solutions in a recent Daratech research study.
To receive Bentley press releases as they are issued, visit www.bentley.com/bentleywire. For more information, visit www.bentley.com. To view a copy of Bentley’s May 2006 Annual Report online, go to www.bentley.com/May2006annualreport.
# # #
Bentley and the “B” logo are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries. Other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.