The 2008 CRM Service Awards: Rising Stars -- Telcordia Technologies

Hopefully having an old-timer like Telcordia Technologies on a list of Rising Stars doesn't seem too jarring; the company, founded in 1984 as part of the break-up of (the original) AT&T, has been through a lot, and is moving in a new direction. Think of it as a comet that's swung around on a return trajectory. Infrastructure was the name of the game 24 years ago, and Telcordia got its start providing software and services for wireline networks. In fact, one could say Telcordia owned that part of the industry -- literally, since the then-Baby Bells were using systems designed and implemented by Bell Labs, the part of AT&T that would become Telcordia. "Telcordia created the operational and support systems for Ma Bell," says Shira Levine, senior research analyst with IDC. "They provided everything needed to keep the telecoms going. The system wasn't very flexible, but it did what it had to do." Today, the company estimates that its software handles 80 percent of the fixed-access lines, 100 percent of the toll-free traffic, and 90 percent of the wireless number portability market in the United States. But "flexibility" is the new "infrastructure": With the wireline almost an afterthought in a world ruled by cellphones and intense competition to provide the latest and greatest communications network services, such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Continued deregulation has allowed Telcordia to focus on IP, wireless, and cable networks as well. "Telcordia is coming back with new products, expanding into [mobile virtual network operators], and looking internationally," Levine says. In March 2007, Telcordia launched its Service Interconnection Community, a vendor coalition dedicated to speeding adoption of VoIP and IP-Multimedia Subsystem-based services, and reducing the associated integration costs. Since then, and the appointment of Mark Greenquist as president and chief executive officer last April, the company has introduced a new service management suite, and led the discussion on number portability both domestically and around the globe. A slew of industry awards and customer wins confirm that, even as a veteran of the telecom wars, Telcordia is still armed for battle. Snapshot: Telcordia Technologies

• Mark Greenquist, president and CEO
• Founded: 1984
• Headquarters: Piscataway, N.J.

[Please Note: To see the 2008 Service Awards Issue's full table of contents, please click here.]

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