"ConnectSouth has taken us from non-existent network communications to a fully integrated solution. We didn't know what we didn't have! With a high-speed connection, ConnectSouth opened the door for us to build an e-commerce site that gives us the ability to sell team merchandise online and create an Internet-based client database."

The Oklahoma City Blazers are one of the top teams in the Central Hockey League (CHL). Founded in 1992 by league owner Horn Chen, the team was purchased in 1999 by Bob Funk, Sr., a hockey enthusiast and Oklahoma City civic leader. Now in their ninth season of play, the Blazers run the most successful financial operation in the league, had the third highest attendance in the league for the 1999-2000 season and consistently have the highest season average for attendance in the CHL.

Before the team changed ownership in 1999, there were only two laptop computers in the Blazers' business office, each with a 56K modem and dial-up connection through a major network provider. The slowest skater on the team could have hand delivered a message faster! Moreover, the computers were primarily used for word processing and spreadsheets, leaving the office to operate without benefit of a network or Internet connection. The lack of modern communications technology was sadly apparent when the new management team arrived. One of their first steps was to upgrade communications systems throughout the office.

ConnectSouth worked with the Blazers to install a computer network that could integrate accounting software and provide a high-speed Internet connection. The solution was to install a DSL line with e-mail account management from ConnectSouth. Today, the Blazers' business office has ten workstations, and the staff is enjoying a dramatic increase in communications due to the new technology. While many Blazers' employees are still on a learning curve to understand and use the new system's total capabilities, they are enjoying the benefits of instant e-mail messaging, document delivery and Web searches. The Blazers' staff is equally pleased with the "impeccable" customer service from ConnectSouth. When a local communications loop was accidentally cut by a construction crew, ConnectSouth had the Blazers' network service reconnected within hours and has since installed a redundant system to avoid similar problems in the future.

The Blazers have skated into the 21st century! Since teaming up with ConnectSouth in June 2000, they've integrated communications and software applications that have made business operations more efficient for management and staff. The team is now well positioned to build on its network capabilities and become online marketers, further enhancing their designation as the most financially successful team in the CHL. The Blazers were ConnectSouth's first customer in Oklahoma and are so pleased with the relationship that they have sent the company numerous referrals for customers previously frustrated by poor service from a big name telecommunications company.