October 20, 2000

eSoft’s SmartDSL solution targets small-,mid-sized businesses

BOULDER – Despite all the ruckus being made about DSL (digital subscriber lines) in terms of poor customer service, publicly traded eSoft Inc.’s new SmartDSL unit promises to provide the perfect solution for small- to mid-sized businesses.

“It’s a step above,” says SmartDSL Vice President and General Manager Jane

Merickel of the company’s services.

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In the world of fast Internet connections, there’s DSL and then there is “Smart” DSL, Merickel explains. Besides offering fast Net connections using DSL technology, SmartDSL offers Web site hosting, unlimited e-mail, firewall protection to detour hackers and viruses, remote access, virtual private networking, managing solutions and free software upgrades.

SmartDSL is so confident of its niche in the DSL market, the unit’s sales and marketing group have come up with the ultimate competitor slam campaign. “We’re too hot for the competition. Because nobody’s smarter than us!” reads a poster hanging outside SmartDSL’s marketing center. Most of the brochures and posters feature the classic, yellow smiley face illustrated in some rather funny disguises. One for instance, shows the smiley face blind

folded, smoking a cigarette – execution style. Another has smiley zipped up, speechless in black leather.

The advertisements can be seen on local transit buses. The intended messages of the campaign seems clear enough: Either you’re getting SmartDSL or you’re getting problems. “A year ago, everyone predicted that this would be the year,” Merickel says of DSL technology making a big splash. “(Now) hitting the fan is in our future … for sure in the next 24 months.”

There’s a reason SmartDSL is focused only on small businesses. There are too many technical problems currently surfacing when getting residential customers hooked up. Some copper phone lines that deliver DSL get twisted and have to be straightened out to get residents connected.

There were 570,000 DSL users in the United States in March, and the number is expected to grow to 15 million in five years, making it the most common form of residential high-speed Internet connection after cable modems, according to research released by Giga Information Group.

Despite these predications, Merickel maintains that SmartDSL is committed to the business community. “We’re focused on small business. We don’t want to get distracted with residential,” she said.

The minds behind SmartDSL already have thought of ways of fixing the risks of connecting remote or twisted-pair troubled customers. “We buy from the best providers,” Merickel said.

SmartDSL has sold 300 subscriptions and installed about 100 products for customers.

Under SmartDSL’s business model, the unit acts as the Internet Service Provider (ISP), then SmartDSL contracts with one of the “Big Three” DSL technology companies: Covad, Northpoint or Rhythms, to connect the customer. The DSL provider in turn needs the services of the local phone company to operate through.

It’s a confusing integration to be sure. And many of the DSL companies still are trying to smooth out their agreements with the baby bells.

Besides twisted wires, the other major complaint most companies and residents have about DSL Internet connections is the availability and the installation time. Any ISP that offers DSL could activate a client in no time at all, whereas it may take up to five weeks to coordinate with the phone company to make sure the connection actually works and is turned on.

On the other hand, if a small business is in a rural area and has an ISP that doesn’t provide DSL connections, then it’s worth looking up SmartDSL. “We’ll provide DSL to you, let us worry about the technical stuff,” Merickel said. “We also are looking at cable and satellite options.”

Merickel said SmartDSL is in the testing phase with an unnamed company to provide broadband DSL connections. “It’s no longer a matter of when to get DSL, but how,” she said.

Depending on the services they want, SmartDSL customers have two options. SmartDSL Gold sends data at 144 kilobits per second and includes unlimited e-mail and Internet access, remote VPN access, remote network management, Web site hosting, firewall, file transfer capabilities and a router for filtering network traffic. It sells for $279 a month.

Also operating at a speed of 144 kilobits per second, SmartDSL Silver is a lower grade package. The monthly cost is $179. SmartDSL Gold and Silver packages can be upgraded to operate at rates of 1.5 megabits per second.

BOULDER – Despite all the ruckus being made about DSL (digital subscriber lines) in terms of poor customer service, publicly traded eSoft Inc.’s new SmartDSL unit promises to provide the perfect solution for small- to mid-sized businesses.

“It’s a step above,” says SmartDSL Vice President and General Manager Jane

Merickel of the company’s services.

In the world of fast Internet connections, there’s DSL and then there is “Smart” DSL, Merickel explains. Besides offering fast Net connections using DSL technology, SmartDSL offers Web site hosting, unlimited e-mail, firewall protection to detour hackers and viruses, remote access, virtual private networking, managing solutions…

Christopher Wood
Christopher Wood is editor and publisher of BizWest, a regional business journal covering Boulder, Broomfield, Larimer and Weld counties. Wood co-founded the Northern Colorado Business Report in 1995 and served as publisher of the Boulder County Business Report until the two publications were merged to form BizWest in 2014. From 1990 to 1995, Wood served as reporter and managing editor of the Denver Business Journal. He is a Marine Corps veteran and a graduate of the University of Colorado Boulder. He has won numerous awards from the Colorado Press Association, Society of Professional Journalists and the Alliance of Area Business Publishers.
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