CrestPoint Solutions Gets Telecom and IT Systems Up and Running

By George Walsh, Hacienda Network Staff Writer

When you do business with a telecommunications company for your high-speed network access or even telephone service, you may think that the people putting in the systems, managing them, and making sure they work are part of their team. In fact, many of these telecom companies rely on outside firms with experts to install and keep their systems running without a hitch. One of these providers is Crestpoint Solutions at 5994 W. Las Positas Boulevard.

CrestPoint Solutions is a company that provides technological and telecommunication products and services, central office engineering, maintenance, and business-to-business consulting services. The company's primary markets are the Regional Bell Operating Companies, independent telephone companies, and telecommunications equipment manufacturers. Crestpoint also serves businesses in various other industries, as well as governmental agencies. The company's clients include Pacific Bell, Nevada Bell, Ameritech, Southwestern Bell, SBC, and Comcast, among others. In addition to land-based telecommunications, Crestpoint is also involved in working with cellular phone companies, most notably Cingular Wireless and Verizon.

"Much of the work we do is in network engineering," says Fabomi Ojuola, President of Crestpoint Solutions. "We write out specifications that companies then use to build out their network infrastructure. Another division of our company, called MWI, actually does installations of network equipment, structural components, and wiring."

Ojuola thinks telecom companies hire outside contractors based on good business sense rather than a lack of internal talent. "Most telecommunications companies hire firms like ours because they are smart enough to know that it is nearly impossible to have all the types of engineers that they would need to get the job done. It's much more cost effective for them to use a company like ours. If business slows down or they no longer need our services, they don't have to incur the financial overhead of having engineers on staff."

Crestpoint has been in its Hacienda location since January of 2003 and has 16 employees onsite. In total, the company employs 47 people including those in an office outside San Diego. That number can be a little misleading, however, since the company uses anywhere from 10 to 50 contractors depending on the size and scope of their current projects.

Part of Crestpoint's plans for the future include a push to let people know about its own software products. These include Cotis, a tracking application for inventory, invoice, and maintenance records; and CORDS, a database management application that caters to the central office record keeping of telecommunications companies. CORDS features include resource planning, record management, network design, custom reports, and inventory management. "The management of the data the telecommunications industry and others have to deal with is getting to be a real challenge for them. If the opportunity presents itself, that's a part of the business that we'd really like to expand," Ojuola says.

In the end, Ojuola doesn't like to keep the definition of his company in a specific category. "We don't see ourselves as a telecommunications engineering company or a telecommunications installation company or a data service. We are a solutions company. Even if a customer comes to us with something that isn't in our particular area of expertise, we help them find the solution or the people who can help them."

Photo: Fabomi Ojuola, CrestPoint Solutions' president, wants to expand sales of two software tools his company has created.

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