From free bi-weekly updates to free email support, there's a lot that helps Digital Point Solutions' Optigold ISP billing software stand out from the competition.

by Jeff Goldman [October 8, 2001]

Digital Point Solutions, based in San Diego, California, was founded in 1993 by current CTO, CEO, and President Shawn Hogan. You can find out everything you could ever want to know about Shawn at his personal Web page on the company's site. You can even join the Shawn Hogan Fan Club.

With video game breaks and company snowboarding getaways, Digital Point Solutions clearly has a little more fun than your average company. "I've found that if the environment's good and it's a fun place to work, then generally you get better output from employees," Hogan said. "People actually like coming to work, and we have very low turnaround."

Digital Point was originally founded as a consulting company. In 1995, they released the first version of Optigold ISP, their ISP billing software; and in 1997, they officially shifted their focus from services to products. They're now exclusively focused on software, though they do continue to support their old consulting customers.

Digital Point Solutions 888-4-DPOINT sales@digitalpoint.com

Optigold ISP is still Digital Point's most popular product, with over 5,500 installations in 50 states and 98 countries. The software is available in eleven different languages, and can be customized for a wide range of different currencies, tax rates, even paper sizes. Companies serving customers who speak different languages can even select a specific language for each individual customer.

From ISPs to health clubs
According to sales rep Juli Hamilton, Optigold was designed to be an all-encompassing solution—it covers everything from pre-sale quotes to asset management. "The system was designed to work around how the ISP wants to do business, and not the other way around," she said. "It's flexible enough that you can really run your business however the ISP wants."

While the system was designed for ISPs, Web hosts, and ASPs, she says, just about anyone who has a recurring billing model can make use of it—it's currently being used by customers ranging from health clubs to homeowners associations. "Of course, there are a lot more features than they would need, but everything they do need is there," Hamilton said.

Optigold uses FileMaker Server for its database, and platforms currently supported include Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, and XP; Mac OS 8, 9, and X; and RedHat Linux. Multiple platforms can be supported concurrently, allowing you to run workstations on Windows and Macintosh while, for example, running a Linux server.

Flexibility is a key focus of the software, with literally thousands of adjustable preferences (left). Security can be set on a per-field and per-button basis, giving each individual a specific level of access. You can check out the full setup, and explore its options, by downloading a free working copy that will permit you to support up to 100 customers.

Hogan says Digital Point's customers can be as small as ISPs with under 100 customers who simply stick with the free version, and can reach just about any size imaginable. "We've load tested it with millions of customers in the system, and it seems to be fine," Hogan said. "My guess is the first limitation anyone's going to run into isn't going to be a limitation of the database engine; it's going to be the limitation of 250 concurrent employees using the system at once in a client-server environment."

Even if that kind of limitation did hit an ISP, Hogan notes, the company could simply switch additional employees to Optigold's Web interface, which has no such limit. "You can do tech support, look up customers usage (right)—you can do most everything that a normal employee would be doing, via the Web interface," he said. "You could offload probably eighty percent of your employees to that."

A new version is released every other week, and upgrades are easily downloaded and installed. Recent additions, Hamilton says, have included the ability to support virtual ISPs, multiple ISPs, or additional brands, from a single copy of Optigold. You can then give resellers, employees, or customers individual access to their own separate interface, without having to support a separate installation of the software for each company.

The licensing fee for Optigold ISP is straightforward. There's a $1,000 initial fee, plus $1 per customer supported-and those are one-time fees. One feature that helps Optigold stand out from the competition is the fact that upgrades and email support are free for life. If you want toll fee phone support, it's available for a flat fee of $500 per year.

Installation is simple enough. Hamilton says it typically requires nothing more than a double-click of the installer. "Even customizing the Web interface can be easily done with preferences," she said. "Our whole theory is that the only way we can offer free email support, which is what most companies use, is to keep the support volume low by making an excellent product."

They'll help you integrate with third party systems on request. Digital Point currently supports real time integration with over a dozen credit card processors and CD signup systems, as well as QuickBooks, Peachtree, and ACCPAC accounting software. "It all comes back to giving the customer the maximum number of choices, and letting them use what is best for them," Hamilton said.

Responsive to requests
Gary R. Thomas is co-founder and Senior Vice President of Operations at MegaPath Networks, an ISP based in Pleasanton, California, which provides broadband connectivity and network services to over 40,000 customers nationwide. They've been using Optigold ISP since MegaPath started up just over two years ago.

"We started the company mentally in March of '99," Thomas said. "We actually opened the doors in mid-June of '99. In the spring of '99, I knew that if I was going to do this, the one thing I would need would be a back office system. You just can't do this with any scale by using Excel."

To explore his options, Thomas spent the spring of '99 trying out all the billing software he could test on a Windows PC; his challenge was to try to break everything he downloaded, and find the holes in it. He succeeded on everything he tested, he says, except Optigold. "I said, this is scary: I can't find anything I don't like about it," he said. "So when we opened the doors, I bought it; and we've been using it ever since."

Thomas does note that the software has its limitations, particularly regarding trouble ticketing for a larger operations. "I have 60 people in tech support working 24/7," he said. "This is not terribly good at that." MegaPath solved that limitation by integrating a separate trouble ticketing system with Optigold. Still, they've set up the system so the two co-exist with shared data, and Thomas says he's very happy with the result.

He says he continues to be amazed by Shawn Hogan's responsiveness to customer requests—the bi-weekly updates that Digital Point releases for free are a direct result of customer input. "They include bug fixes if need be, but those are pretty rare," Thomas said. "Most of the changes every other week are user requests. He monitors a discussion group that, whether you're a customer or not, you can subscribe to, and he's very responsive to requests for new features."

Because of that kind of responsiveness, Thomas says he's never had a reason to regret having chosen Optigold from the beginning. "We've gotten to as big as we are just using this," Thomas said. "It's a fantastic package, we absolutely love it."

— End  

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