At ImOn Communications, a telecommunications provider, the pursuit of operational excellence—especially in managing its complex system architecture that includes both legacy and best-in-class software systems—is constant. The various systems in ImOn’s tech stack don’t have built-in integrations, so data management has historically been time consuming, error-prone, and unreliable from system to system.
With increased efficiency, accuracy, and growth in mind, ImOn looked for a technology partner that could help them build an integration layer that allows data to flow to and from each system without the need for manual intervention. They’d heard good things about Far Reach from others we’ve worked with and, after discussions with our team, ImOn decided to work with us on this and potential future projects.
Data Integrations in Custom Software
Learn how and when to use data integrations in your next custom software project.
Data Integration Layer
The Far Reach and ImOn teams dove in. The primary goal of the initial project was to eliminate disparate information and manual processes by building a cohesive integration layer that would link marketing, sales, and customer service systems seamlessly into the OSS/BSS (operations support system/business support system).
“The OSS/BSS is the center of the system where new customer accounts are created—it triggers things like marketing and billing,” said Ross Stimart, Business Process & ERP Engineer Supervisor at ImOn. “But before someone becomes a customer, their data is in the marketing system and then they move to the sales platform. Previously, these were all disparate systems, so we had to pull customer data and move it back and forth between systems manually.”
This back-and-forth made errors more likely and reduced operational efficiency. The new data integration layer keeps the information in each of these systems in sync, providing a seamless flow of accurate data.
The integration layer is the foundation for additional process and workflow improvement projects ImOn plans to undertake.
Self-Scheduling Benefits Customers and ImOn
We all know what it’s like to play phone tag with the telecom company to schedule installation and service. After back-and-forth messages, you finally get scheduled, just to learn the technician will arrive between 9 and 5 on Wednesday.
ImOn knows this traditional process is frustrating for customers. It also requires a lot of internal resources to call and follow up with customers to get them on the schedule. Once they had the data integration layer, the team was ready to improve the scheduling workflow and allow customers to self-schedule—in 2-hour time slots instead of all day. This would have been next to impossible without a streamlined data flow.
Far Reach and ImOn built a user-friendly self-scheduling system on the customer-facing ImOn website, working together to come up with ideas and finding a solution that works.
Now that the self-scheduling functionality is live, ImOn is seeing the benefits.
“75% of our customers are now choosing the time of install during the web order process,” said Rich Brecht, Director of Customer Care at ImOn. “We avoided nearly 1,000 contacts last month due to self-scheduling, and we estimate that our time speed to revenue—the time from sign-up to billing—went down about 40 hours.”
That’s hundreds of employee hours saved contacting customers and manually updating data. And now there are fewer touch points where customers could fall out of the sales process. This technology shift has not only increased efficiency but also enhanced customer satisfaction by giving them more control over their experience.
Setting Up for Growth
As ImOn expands into new markets—in Iowa and beyond—the integration project has positioned them to scale more efficiently. With the new integration layer in place, ImOn can handle larger volumes of new customers without having to hire additional personnel or rely on outdated systems. Streamlined, reliable workflows allow them to focus on growth without worrying about operational bottlenecks.
Looking ahead, ImOn is focused on leveraging the work they’ve done with Far Reach to continue improving and automating other business processes. They’re exploring new features like expanding self-scheduling capabilities and automating pre-sales for new markets. The data integration layer will play a critical role in enabling these future innovations, helping ImOn scale.
More Than a Vendor
In his time working with Far Reach, Stimart feels like the collaboration has been highly productive.
Despite the complexity of the OSS/BSS system, Far Reach’s responsiveness and willingness to learn alongside ImOn has created a true partnership, not just a contractual arrangement. Both teams brainstorm ideas together and come up with creative solutions to meet a project’s goals. “They’ve been a great partner, more than just hired contractors,” Stimart said, noting how the knowledge sharing went both ways.
The partnership between ImOn and Far Reach has proven to be a successful collaboration, solving longstanding operational challenges with systems integrations. By creating a robust data integration layer, ImOn has laid a strong foundation for future system enhancements that continue to improve workflow efficiency, reduce manual tasks, and boost customer satisfaction. As ImOn continues its growth into new markets, this project will remain a cornerstone of their efforts to expand while maintaining operational excellence.
Do you have mission-critical data in systems that don’t talk? Are your legacy systems holding you back from improving workflow efficiency? We want to help.
Reach out.