ServiceMaster taps AT&T's backbone technology

Computerworld - The ServiceMaster Co. in Chicago has picked AT&T Corp. for a three-year, $21 million integrated networking contract -- largely because of the carrier's rollout of a resilient global network backbone, a ServiceMaster networking official said yesterday.
The contract was awarded last August but not made public until April 12, said Todd Willinger, vice president of infrastructure engineering for ServiceMaster, which provides residential and commercial services such as lawn care, cleaning and pest control. After a six-month review of six service providers, ServiceMaster picked AT&T, which was already building a global Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) IP network that could help ServiceMaster guarantee quality of service for its growing voice-over-IP rollout, he said.
"MPLS is the best technology solution for the backbone," Willinger said. AT&T also had the strongest network management software of the bidders to provide administrative support for provisioning new segments of the network, such as when a franchised business unit is added to ServiceMaster.
Currently, there are 5,400 company-owned and franchised ServiceMaster service centers in North America, increasing the complexity of the company's network operations.
AT&T's Michael Antieri, group executive for product management, said AT&T has come the furthest in building out an MPLS network globally compared with competitors and has recently expanded access in China. This capability makes AT&T the largest global IP provider and the largest virtual private network service provider, he said.
Using Cisco Systems Inc. equipment, ServiceMaster is rolling out VoIP to many of its 40,000 employees. It has so far reached 1,500 workers in 35 locations, Willinger said.
About 7,000 service delivery truck drivers have handheld computers to aid in making deliveries, and ServiceMaster is eager to see location-based services (LBS) for wireless users to help track the whereabouts of truckers. "LBS would be huge for us," Willinger said.
Antieri said AT&T has plans for LBS but the details remain unclear and implementation could be several years in the future.
The MPLS backbone will help AT&T roll out a range of IP services sooner, however, including audioconferencing over IP and local voice calling over IP in the second half of this year, he said.
Willinger said the planned merger of AT&T with SBC Communications Inc. has not given him any concerns, adding that the combination of the two businesses "should be very complementary."
The one technology Willinger hopes AT&T will support soon is the fixed wireless technology WiMax, which would give ServiceMaster franchise locations an affordable backup connection. AT&T has already announced a WiMax trial in New Jersey starting in May.

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