AT&T

Company: AT&T
Company Description: AT&T is the largest long-distance carrier in North America.
Nomination Category: Company, Office & Product Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best New Product or Service

Nomination Title: Manage Your Network Anytime, Anywhere

1. Tell the story about this nominated product or service (up to 500 words). Describe its function, features, benefits, and sales to date. You may include hyperlinks to product photos and data sheets. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

In today’s business world, certain events cannot be planned or anticipated. 
Degradation in network performance shouldn’t resign a telecom manager to his
desk awaiting status. With an increasingly mobile and geographically dispersed
workforce, mobile devices are now considered a key component of the connected
enterprise.

With AT&T BusinessDirect® Mobile, customers get "anytime, anywhere"
maintenance and performance-monitoring of networks that carry critical data
and applications. Customers can initiate network tests from their mobile
device, and take advantage of AT&T’s sophisticated circuit-testing technology
that speeds trouble isolation, resulting in faster service restoration. The
user interface offers drop-down menus, so data entry and transcription errors
are eliminated.

AT&T BusinessDirect users are now able to access the portal's eMaintenance
application allowing customers to request network maintenance and remotely
monitor the network maintenance process from beginning to end. For the first
time, network administrators can help maintain optimal performance of
corporate networks via their mobile device while juggling offsite meetings or
unexpected travel that prevents them from handling tasks they would otherwise
oversee from the office. The service can be accessed by any mobile device on
the market today, as long as the device is wireless Internet-enabled.

AT&T surveyed its large enterprise customers to determine which features were
most critical for them to access on the go. Customers responded with
overwhelming support for mobile eMaintenance because of its unmatched ability
to help keep revenue-generating networks and applications performing optimally
at all times. Customers also noted that the expanded mobile capabilities added
significant value to network management and billing update e-mail alerts that
AT&T has long provided to customers via their mobile devices.

Released in November 2006, AT&T BusinessDirect Mobile also allows customers to
get status on their network trouble, escalate, and view test results. 
Customers can also monitor their network for key metrics such as % of calls
blocked, % out of service, and average call length. And text messages are
provided when there is any change in network status.

While other industry players have introduced limited functionality, Mobile
AT&T BusinessDirect supports mobile devices utilizing the Windows Mobile
(Smartphone), Symbian, Palm, Blackberry, and Pocket PC platforms.

2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, product reviews, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

AT&T Press Release:
http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=23237

Product Collateral:
http://www.corp.att.com/ebcc/pdfs/ATTEM_PDA_fact.pdf

AT&T Customer Magazine:
http://www.business.att.com/newsletter.jsp?slotnum=4&rtype=
Article&rvalue=nv_customer_central&segment=ent_biz

http://www.tmcnet.com/news/2007/01/16/2248641.htm

3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the team that developed this nominated product or service:

Mark Metzendorf is AT&T Business eSales & Service Vice President, located in
Bedminster, New Jersey. The eSales & Service organization manages AT&T
Business’ electronic sales and customer care channel. It is focused on
improving AT&T’s customer experience through the overall design and
implementation of electronic based service applications, that are part of the
AT&T BusinessDirect Portfolio and att.com/business website. Additionally, the
organization is responsible for customer training and adoption of the
applications while ensuring that the processes are in place to meet customer
expectations and needs.