Our Software Tools:

Over the past twenty years, Cox Associates has developed dozens of software tools for clients in each service line. All of Cox Associates network optimization tools are made commercially available through its subsidiary NetAdvantage, Inc. Examples of our software tools and capabilities are provided below:

Network Optimization Tools    Customer Data Mining Tools    Capacity Planning Tools

______________

SONET Ring Planning: Network service providers and equipment vendors can use NetAdvantage's RingPlanner™ tool to optimize the cost of deploying both next-generation and legacy telecommunications equipment within metropolitan and regional ring topology networks. RingPlanner allows users to quickly analyze and compare vendor-specific equipment against competitive ATM and SONET equipment in terms of cost, central office floor space and power consumption. RingPlanner integrates proprietary forecasting and optimization algorithms with economic decision-making tools for access and interoffice TDM and data services. Its user-friendly graphical user interfaces map network ring builds and also identify equipment that can reduce or replace SONET add/drop multiplexers and reduce fiber and regeneration costs. With this software tool, users can quickly identify the economic and operational impacts of various network architecture choices.

Optical Layer Mesh Topology Planning: The NetAdvantage MeshPlanner™ tool can be used by both network operators and network equipment vendors to demonstrate the significant cost advantages of optical mesh networking. MeshPlanner integrates proprietary industry-specific forecasting and optimization techniques into dynamic economic decision support tools to allow users to rapidly design, configure and deploy optical switches, fiber and DWDM equipment in telecommunications and data networks. MeshPlanner provides user friendly graphical user interfaces with the ability to map optical switch nodes and placement of DWDM systems. With this proprietary software tool, users can identify the economic and operational impact of network architecture choices, and better determine where to place facilities and equipment to simultaneously optimize demand, service and protection routes in terms of either cost, equipment floor space or power consumption.

Wireless Backhaul Network Planning: The NetAdvantage AccessPlanner™ tool helps network planning engineers to rapidly plan, evaluate, and optimize the design of backhaul networks to carry cellular or PCS traffic from base stations to mobile switching offices (MSOs). It is offered as a customized product, i.e., it is configured to meet your needs and to take into account the challenges and technologies specific to your backhaul network design problem - e.g., availability of SONET facilities, RAD-RASP technology, microwave links, and so forth. A demonstration version of the software is designed to reduce the costs of leasing facilities (T1s, DS3s, and SONET facilities if available) and equipment (channel termination equipment, MUXs, access ports) from Local Exchange Carriers (LECs) or their competitors. It does so by using mathematical optimization techniques to identify optimal hubbing and interconnect strategies.

See our discussion of cellular backhaul network optimization for a discussion of minimizing the cost of a traffic network. 

Dark Fiber Network Planning: The NetAdvantage DarkFiberPlanner™ software is a network optimization tool that helps metropolitan area fiber network operators optimally allocate demands to Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) facilities or dark fiber resources that are available in the ground by adding electronics equipment at the ends. DarkFiberPlanner helps network planning engineers to rapidly plan, evaluate, and optimize the routing of CPE to CPE and CPE to POP network traffic such to minimize the total facilities cost. DarkFiberPlanner uses NetAdvantage's advanced mathematical optimization engine to identify optimal strategies for purchasing dark fiber resources, LEC facilities and DWDM equipment.

Top of Page

More Accurate Churn Prediction: We used a new Predictive Clustering method to predict which customers are most likely to churn based on recent product-purchase patterns, account age and size, and demographics. The predictions were far more accurate than those from previous (logistic regression, neural net, and business rule) models, achieving more than twice the lift in predicting the 10% of customers who were most likely to churn.

Better Targeting and Revenue Delivery: Cox Associates' Predictive Clustering technology was used to quantify the probability that each of several million customers would purchase each of a company's products (as well as selected product combinations) in the next 3 months. More accurate targeting based on these predictions quickly led to a 15% increase in revenues in an in-market trial.

Tracking Impacts of Advertising: We applied the Predictive Clustering methodology in conjunction with survey data on ad awareness and Competitrack data on competitor advertising to quantify the impact on customer loyalty and purchasing habits of individual advertising campaigns in specific markets and to identify strategies for more effective advertising.

Service Improvement Planning: Predictive Clustering was also used to quantify the total impact on customer loyalty and revenues of alternative proposed service improvements. The resulting causal model was based in part on Customer Satisfaction survey data validated and refined using several years of actual customer behavior data. In contrast to previous, overly optimistic and insufficiently precise regression models, the Cox Associates predictive models clearly distinguished he expected causal impacts of changes in service metrics on customer behaviors.

Business Simulation: Our Predictive Clustering technology has been included in business simulation models that provide fully integrated models of marketing, engineering, and operations and their financial impacts in new businesses. Such models include high-level models of subscriber purchasing behavior; predicted effects of pricing, advertising, and competition on market share and average revenue per subscriber; and relative costs and performance associated with different network engineering choices and build schedules. Reduce by over 50% the time to create and run financial and strategic scenarios. Improve planning validity and consistency. Help planners to focus on what can be controlled instead of on what has been assumed.

Top of Page

Wireless Switch Capacity Planning: The NetAdvantage SwitchPlanner™ tool can be used by both network service providers and equipment vendors to determine where and when to add Switch Modules (SMs) to Mobile Switching Offices (MSOs) in order to meet growing demand requirements. SwitchPlanner formulates a comprehensive purchasing schedule, specifying how many and what types of SMs to buy such to minimize the total cumulative cost of covering demand over a planning horizon. SwitchPlanner integrates proprietary dynamic hierarchical packing optimization techniques into innovative economic decision-making tools to allow users to rapidly plan for the deployment of SMs at MSOs. SwitchPlanner even provides a friendly graphical user interface with live screen displays for user control of critical inputs and viewing of data and graphical outputs. With this proprietary software tool, users can save 15% or more over current "trigger rules" provided by SM vendors.

See our whitepaper on optimal switch packing for a new technique that can reduce costs of switch capacity by 10% or more by carefully coordinating the mix of resources purchased over time.

Top of Page

Click Here to Get Free Demo Software of Our Network OptimizationTools!

Send mail to webmaster@cox-associates.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2001 Cox Associates, Incorporated. All rights reserved.