Monday the 23rd August was a great day for ESB Telecoms, with the official launch of a new application, Connect Master. Telco Networks are complex by nature and the fibre networks of ESB Telecoms are no exception to that. To manage that, you need a good information system and that is now introduced. The old or legacy systems had to be converted or the data had to be checked and audited. No small task for the project team. It had to be embedded in the complex ICT environment of the ESB with all its tight security and system management requirements. It does not come as a surprize therefore, that it took almost two years from the moment the contract with the Swiss company Dynamic Design was signed, and the festive launch in ESB's headoffice in August 2010. Everybody was impressed by the demontration of Eadaoin Smith from the GIS team, who is the project manager for the roll out.

But it is not a done job, by no means. To keep a resource management system reliable, a great deal of effort goes into the data management. When changes in the actual network are not recorded properly, the data integrity becomes compromized. That was the message to all staff that attended the launch seminar. All equipment needs to be recorded in detail, but then Telecoms has a state of the art application. That will show the network on maps and schematics, and therefore where all the locations and connections are. That will improve insigt, speed and flexibility for all teams and better service for the customers and potential customers.

The application works with three components, a database, a graphical presentation with Ordonance Survey maps, supported by MapInfo and Microsoft's Visio for the schematic presentations. The responsible company for the product support is Pitney Bowes, a large company, who has both MapInfo and Connectmaster in its portfolio. In Ireland also E-Net, a partner of ESB Telecoms, is using this sophisticated application, and therefore the industry standard shows.