InterMapper and InterMapper Flows at Work

Brian Magnuson runs two companies: Cascade Networks Inc., a wireless service provide that serves customers in five counties that stretch from Portland, Oregon to Seattle, Washington, and Last Mile Gear, a reseller of wireless network equipment. Both organizations have come to rely on InterMapper along with InterMapper RemoteAccess and the Wireless Bundle to deliver reliable high speed wireless services and set ups.

Cascade Networks

Like all wireless service providers, Cascade Networks knows that satisfied customers that renew their subscriptions and a reputation for reliability are the key to success. When Brian Magnuson, Cascade's president went looking for software that could monitor his large, wireless network, he found InterMapper. “I was really interested in the founders' story,” he remembers. “They were network guys who knew a lot about hard platforms.”

Cascade's wireless service subscriber base is 2/3 commercial and 1/3 private residences. InterMapper monitors every router and the real-time information available on maps and reports enables Magnuson's team to stay on top of potential problems. In effect, InterMapper provides them with an early warning system that often delights customers.

“When we see a customer go down, we give them time to call us. Business customers get ten minutes and private customers get 30 minutes. During that time, we call the power company to see if there's an outage. Then we call the customer to see if everything is o.k. They're always amazed we know that they're down – sometimes they haven't even noticed. For us, ROI is a happy customer so InterMapper's customer relationship value is huge.”

The main InterMapper server sits in Cascade's server farm. Every technician accesses maps using InterMapper RemoteAccess. Cascade has several client providers that also use InterMapper RemoteAccess to connect to their own subnet maps and data. “RemoteAccess lets us restrict our client providers to their own maps. They usually take care of their own networks using InterMapper but if they can't figure things out, they can call us and we can access the same information.”

Magnuson's use of InterMapper was also inspired by Dartware's ability to add probes to monitor new types of wireless gear. “We're the largest distributor of Motorola Canopy equipment and have an OEM agreement that allows us to modify units by adding an external antenna that allows a longer distance with fewer access points per cell. We've been able to provide access to Canopy equipment and our accessories so Dartware could write and test new probes for InterMapper.” Cascade Networks has also helped Dartware create probes for Redline hardware.

Last Mile Gear

Through Last Mile Gear, Magnuson outfits wireless networks around the world; customers are as close by as Kansas and far away as Africa. Half of Last Mile's customer base is other wireless service providers. The other half is made up of corporations with campus facilities, universities, and phone companies. This is where Magnuson has noticed real growth. “Everyone used to be reliant on T1 lines. Now they have the ability to expand their bandwidth instantly.”

Last Mile sells backhauls, antennas, radios, access points and other wireless gear and accessories. Customers are almost always encouraged to add InterMapper to monitor their new equipment and overall networks. “Lots of time there's not a lot of in-house expertise on site,” explains Magnuson. InterMapper helps customers quickly note problems so they can notify local support teams.

As both a wireless service provider and wireless equipment reseller, Magnuson clearly sees the value of InterMapper and his Dartware relationship. “Dartware is great to respond to new equipment and InterMapper is plug and play.”