The Importance of the Move, Add, Change, and Disconnect (MACD) Process

The MACD process these days seems to be swept under the rug by many enterprise companies. With new software tools exploding on the market, folks tend to rely on that very software for up-to-date service data or pertinent records from the carriers based on bill statements or carrier databases. Network Control works with our customers to ensure this process is alive and accurate. Due to the geographic diversity of many of our customers’ footprints—both domestic and international—we know the processes needed carrier by carrier, which is essential to the accuracy of service inventories.

Recently, we were doing an audit for a big electric company. We started the organization of the project, began pulling bills, contracts, and customer service records (CSRs), and noticed the overlapping of legacy to newer technology services. This made us realize that it is very easy for a company to move forward to a cloud-first strategy and lose sight of legacy pieces that must be disconnected. Usually, these types of companies have numerous legacy meet-point network designs from having to create patchwork quilt networks, for example, to reach rural areas. These networks come with their own very convoluted pricing and designs from an engineering perspective. For instance, having to bond together 4 DS1s to get a 6M circuit is very expensive, especially if it is a meet-point circuit/s. Often overlooked in the disconnect process is fixed and variable mileage, as charged by each carrier, being incorrectly calculated. Overcharges for mileage are a common occurrence that often goes unseen. Another example, are legacy PRIs that get turned down when SIP is installed and operational. Depending on the carrier, the PRI service can have up to 3 or 4 bills; the main circuit, channels, taxes/surcharges, and DIDs. It is vital to trace out all components of the service to ensure the capture of each element being billed.

Our teams at Network Control are trained to catch these anomalies instantly to bring your service inventories up to date and go after historical credits and/or future savings. We take the MACD process very seriously, and it is not only built into our software tool, but our staff has the experience to identify these network design legacy elements and correct course immediately via carrier services, processes, and troubleshooting.

Also, continuing to highlight the importance of having an experienced team allows us insight into options on your behalf for new service requests, suggestions, and options related to service moves, changes, or closures. We also research process details for lease acquisitions and carrier technical support as needed. Furthermore, our investigation will look at some MACD changes that are based on actual changes in the service makeup and related to demarcation work, research work, or how it is billed.

A few examples:

IT needs to disconnect a circuit; IT needs a new VLAN.

A customer needs to get an idea of what existing services exist for all locations across the country. Network Control can get you competitive, well-researched quotes, saving time and extra costs for you and your team.

Researching network design options.

Contract negotiation to enable customers to maneuver through the MACD process without early termination penalties.

The MACD process is not going away, and it is critical to build these health checks into your monthly service inventory checks to maintain complete accuracy.