“With nearly 2 million incoming and

8 million outgoing calls expected this

year alone, we needed a reliable

provider that could help us manage

our voice and data network so we

could run our business as efficiently

as possible,” said Lee Marrs, president,

Texas Excavation Safety System.

Texas Excavation Safety System Digs AT&TCompanies’ Data Center Hosting Service

SGB02251-1 • December 2005

n order to seamlessly

integrate security, voice and

support services, network circuits

and environmental systems into

one reliable operations center,

Texas Excavation Safety System

(TESS), a public safety service

for businesses in Texas, enlisted

the help of the new AT&T family

of companies for data center

hosting services.

Since implementation, TESS has spent

less time and resources managing its

network. The organization is now able

to focus on its more than 700 member

companies throughout the state.

IBecause the SBC Internet Data Center

(IDC) helps ensure that TESS is always

up and running, the organization is

now able to keep its members notified

of potential excavation sites, even

during power outages.

“The new AT&T companies and the

AT&T account team helped us bring

all of our services together to meet

our voice and data needs,” said Lee

Marrs, president, Texas Excavation

Safety System. “Because of this,

employees have spent less time

fighting equipment failures, and we’re

also saving a tremendous amount in

maintenance costs.”

Texas Excavation Safety System (TESS),

a nonprofit organization that serves as

a public safety service for companies

in Texas, helps businesses prevent

damages to vital buried lines

before excavation.

When companies in Texas need to

begin a dig, they contact TESS,

which has been in operation since

1987 TESS notifies owners of buried

facilities so that the location of all

lines can be marked ahead of time.

This facilitates damage prevention

and ensures public safety. By law, TESS

T E X A S E XC AVAT I O N S A F E T Y SY S T E M

Texas Excavation Safety System

Situation: TESS needed to meet government regulations and integrate its systems into a single,reliable operations center

Solution: AT&T family of companies1 provide data center hosting with IDCs

Result: TESS spends less time and resources managing the network, allowing for more focus on other business-critical operations

About TESS

Texas Excavation Safety System (TESS) is a nonprofit organization that serves as a public safety service for companies in Texas

and helps businesses prevent damages to vital buried lines before excavation.

AT&T Inc. is one of the world’s

largest telecommunications holding

companies and is the largest in the

United States. Operating globally under

the AT&T brand, AT&T companies are

recognized as the leading worldwide

providers of IP-based communications

services to business and as leading

U.S. providers of high-speed DSL

Internet, local and long distance

voice, and directory publishing and

advertising services.

AT&T Inc. holds a 60 percent own-

ership interest in Cingular Wireless,

which is the No. 1 U.S. wireless

services provider with more than

52 million wireless customers. For

more information about AT&T products

and services, contact your local

AT&T technical sales representative,

or visit www.TheNewATT.com.

Why AT&T Companies?“We’re the people you call before

you dig,” said Marrs. “And with nearly

2 million incoming and 8 million

outgoing calls expected this year

alone, we needed a reliable provider

that could help us manage our voice

and data network so we could run our

business as efficiently as possible.”

In 2001, TESS recognized the need

for more secure and reliable services

and approached the AT&T family of

companies for a solution. AT&T

companies recommended the imple-

mentation of a data center hosting

solution, an equipment-housing

service that offers on-site technical

support, scalable bandwidth and

network transport in a fault-tolerant

and secure environment within a

state-of-the-art Internet data center.

The Internet Data Centers (IDCs)

are designed with redundant power

supplies, dual-grid access, and

completely redundant power backups

to ensure a highly available solution

and maximum uptime for TESS’ voice

and data applications. In addition,

all systems are monitored by the

on-site 24/7 Operations System

Center, which allows TESS to virtually

monitor its network circuits, fire

protection, environmental controls

and security systems.

The data center hosting solution

has provided TESS with lower

maintenance costs, increased uptime

and productivity. Because the IDC

is managed by AT&T companies,

employees no longer worry about

an equipment failure.

“We rely entirely on AT&T companies

to keep us connected at all times,

even during power failures and bad

weather, as required by law,” said Marrs.

TESS also wanted to consolidate its

services with one provider in order to

reduce expenses. TESS put its trust in

AT&T companies for its local, long

distance and toll-free calling services.

It continues to rely on AT&T companies

for SBC Yahoo!® DSL2 and Cingular?

Wireless service. Further, TESS has

renewed its contract for long distance

voice services and extended its IDC

services contract for another five years.

1 Services provided by former SBC companies,

which are now part of the new AT&T Inc.

2 With the close of its acquisition of AT&T Corp.,

SBC companies are currently making the

necessary legal and regulatory filings required

to offer products and services under the new

AT&T brand.

must provide its services 24 hours

a day, 365 days a year. Therefore,

reliable voice and data services are

critical to the organization.

Before 2001, TESS relied on a main-

frame to support traffic; but the

organization soon realized that it

wasn’t secure or immune to power

outages. In addition, TESS was

spending a great deal of time, money,

and energy using various telecomm

and equipment vendors instead of

one point of contact.

By law, TESS must provide its

services 24 hours a day, 365 days

a year. Therefore, reliable voice

and data services are critical to

the organization.