Brand X Networks offers outsourced technical support, along with other VISP services, emphasizing well-trained technicians and straightforward pricing.

by Jeff Goldman [October 29, 2003]

John Prather, CEO of Brand X Networks, has a long history in the ISP space, having run a wide range of ISPs, including Louisiana's I-Way Networks, Connecticut's Micro-Net Online Services, and California's PSNW.com. Prather founded Brand X Networks in May of 2002 to provide VISP services with a focus on outsourced technical support.

The name of the company reflects Brand X's desire to be transparent to the user. The company logo is a cutout of a man holding up the word "Brand," which Prather says is meant to indicate that his company's brand is less important than his customer's brand. "We've always believed that the best solution is where an end user loves their ISP, and doesn't even know that we exist," he says.

Brand X Networks Voice: (866) 490-8600 sales@brandxnet.com

Brand X Networks also operates the retail ISP, PSNW.com, though Prather says no money is spent to advertise it, and PSNW.com's pricing is set at $19.95 in order to avoid competing with Brand X's resellers. Still, he's proud of the ISP's low churn rate, which he says is a reflection of the quality of Brand X's technical support offering.

In general, Prather says, it's important to remember that technical support is one of the few ways for an ISP to differentiate their services. "In reality, the thing that people notice is how you answer the phone," he says. "Is the person that answers the phone knowledgeable, are they friendly, are they helpful, and do they fix your problem?"

Focused on support
Brand X currently provides services to about 58 ISPs, the majority of which use Brand X solely for outsourced technical support. Only about 15 customers, Prather says, opt for the full suite of wholesale dialup and billing services. "Our core focus is our technical support services," he says. "We feel that we have a strong advantage there."

In order to ensure that its support technicians are as skilled as possible, Brand X runs an internship program with local colleges and computer trade schools. About eight to twelve interns at a time participate in the program, which runs for twelve weeks. Brand X then hires almost exclusively from the intern pool. This process, Prather says, has resulted in an employee turnover rate of less than 3 percent per year.

The company's Xtranet tracking/reporting system provides key data both to ISP owners and to the technicians providing support. Prather says 98 percent of customer issues are resolved on the first call—and once the customer's problem is resolved, the system automatically sends an e-mail survey to the customer, asking them to rate the support they received using nine different criteria.

ISP owners can view reports on call data, and they can drill down to view specific information on each individual call. They can also view individual responses to e-mail surveys, as well as summary reports of all customer responses. "We get ranked on a scale of one to five—five being the best—and spread across all the brands that we support, we average between 4.7 and 4.9 every time," Prather says.

Predictable pricing
Pricing for the services is aimed at the middle of the market, with a standard rate of $1.50 per user for 24-hour support in Spanish and English, including all telco services and reporting tools. Prather acknowledges that he faces increasing competition on price from offshore providers, but he says he's already had two customers come right back to Brand X just a few months after leaving the company for a cheaper provider.

James Downey is the President of Castles Information Network, an ISP based in Vacaville, California. Castles signed up with Brand X Networks a few months ago; Downey says the fact that Brand X's tech support is bilingual was a strong selling point. "Being in the California market, we're engaging in that area more and more," he says.

The reliability of Brand X's per-user pricing model, Downey says, was another key asset. "If an issue occurs—and we all have issues in this business—you could have people calling around the clock because somebody cut a fiber optic cable somewhere, and all of a sudden you've got a $5,000 bill when maybe the bill is normally $2,000," he says. "So a set per-user price makes sense."

The change from providing their own support in-house to using Brand X's offering made a huge difference for Downey in terms of quality of service. "Before, our technicians were here Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.," he says. "When I went to Brand X, I was able to go 24/7, and also to have bilingual support. That gives us a huge leg up in the market; it means we're in the same realm as the big guys."

— End

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