InformationWeek

Once a user logs on, it's very simple to price options. For frame relay, the hub site is defined by the NPANXX number and the port speed. Hub sites are also listed on this first Web page but are not completely defined. The next page provides a section for each hub site listed on the previous page. In the appropriate section, the user will define the connection by port speed and by committed information rate back to the spoke.

The only reason these need to be defined on the first page is so the site will know how many sections to list for input on the second page.

We found this a little confusing at first but soon figured out how Telco Exchange expected us to enter information.

When you're ready for pricing information, the site provides a page showing all the connections, along with the pricing for each end point and installation.

One feature unique to Telco Exchange is its telecommunications research area, which provides users with white papers and other material on telecom issues. It also supplies links to other sites featuring telecom information. We found Telco Exchange's Web site very easy to use. We also appreciated the fact that it can be used from any Internet-accessible Web browser. If you're not a customer of the vendor, Telco Exchange is priced at $5,000 per year.

LDCircuit.com
LDCircuit provided the most-accurate pricing information. It acts as an agent to the WAN providers, so it doesn't charge the consumer for its services. Although it can take from three to five days to receive information from LDCircuit--compared with the real-time services of Salestar/NAC and Telco Exchange--the information is precise. This accuracy lets a user sign a contract with the carrier of his or her choice from the quote.

LDCircuit starts by getting information from the user on its Web site. The user fills out a Web form containing all the normal background information, along with desired permanent virtual circuits information. Within a few hours, someone from LDCircuit was on the phone with us verifying the configuration.

The representative took the time to make sure that what the company envisioned from our data was in fact what we wanted. Like Telco Exchange's Web site, LDCircuit's site assumes a hub-and-spoke frame relay network. The Web site can take other information, however, and we were able to telephone LDCircuit to find out how to input our data correctly before receiving a quote. This personalized service was nice to see in a dehumanized Web world.

Our requested pricing was faxed to us, complete with quotes from five carriers, three days after defining our requirements on LDCircuit's Web site. Although not all major carriers were included in a typical quote, the quotes did contain a mix of well-known and smaller up-and-coming carriers, which we found helpful for comparison purposes.

Once you choose which services and carrier you want for your WAN, LDCircuit continues its personalized service by working with you to get the circuits installed. The company works to get the circuits provisioned, and will coordinate the installation to your location. The service doesn't end until the circuits are up and running, which is a really helpful feature for companies that have small IT groups or none at all.

We wish we could have received quotes more quickly, but at least we knew we were getting valid, up-to-the-minute prices. Because the information is quoted directly from the carriers, it includes all the installation charges, any discounts that the carrier would deduct relative to the size of the network, and so on.

LDCircuit handles primarily inter-LATA services. It will provide quotes for leased lines, frame relay, VPN, Internet DS-1 or DS-3, and Sonet. ATM pricing is available upon request. DSL is priced only as a part of VPN services.

LDCircuit has been in business only about eight months, but with the number of services it provides today, the company appears to be well on the road to long-term survival. Our only real complaint was that we couldn't receive quotes in real time, which is a function of having to get the information from the carriers as opposed to a database.