We first released FOND Design Pro 12 months ago primarily as a costing and feasibility tool. Users quickly found uses for the output beyond what we’d anticipated. They began taking the design into the field for field validation and then making adjustments to it in their Fiber Management System (FMS) before sending it out for construction.
We never expected that to begin happening so soon, but after observing this need, we have started adding functionality which allows users to incorporate field feedback into their FOND design. This has culminated in the release of FOND Professional where we’re giving users more control over their design via deeper collaboration with the algorithms.
While we were a little surprised to see FOND designs being constructed this early on in its development, we certainly never expected to see them being built during the recent floods that have hit Missouri.
Sandy Bethmann from Sellenriek Construction, one of the first users of FOND, sent through these pictures of her construction team building their network from boats.
It’s been great to see Sandy take FOND and apply it in ways we didn’t expect. In the past 12 months, we’ve seen her develop a new business capability where she is using FOND to have discussions with her customers on different architectural options as she is able to run different scenarios before a consultation, giving her customers more certainty when making recommendations on the equipment and network topology to use in their networks. They can then take those designs, adjust them, and roll trucks (or boats!) a few weeks later.
“we don’t let a little flood water slow down fiber construction. Folks want high-speed internet!"
We’re thrilled to see Sellenriek innovating in this way to bring their customers to construction faster than before, however, it should come as no surprise given their determination to go above and beyond when serving their customers as we see in the photos above. In Sandy’s words, “we don’t let a little flood water slow down fiber construction. Folks want high-speed internet!"