Midcontinent Communications has signed a long-term contract extension for NetCracker’s BSS products, putting the MSO on the path of a transition to a service-oriented architecture (SOA).

The benefit of SOA is the ability to link business units within a company, even if they were established using disparate business systems that previously did not integrate smoothly, or at all.

With the contract extension, Midcontinent will continue using NetCracker’s BSS solutions for its billing and customer care and will implement NetCracker’s secure SOA, including Web services, for a standardized approach to customer and service management.

The addition of these enhanced Web services will give Midcontinent easier access to billing and customer data through interfaces with external applications, such as Web portals, IVRs and mobile devices, the vendor said.

As a result, Midcontinent will be able to quickly and securely integrate and invoke the billing system for new applications, and thereby reduce costs and enhance the customer experience.

Midcontinent’s Gary Shawd, vice president of information systems, said, “The adoption of NetCracker’s SOA and Web services to our BSS solution will enable us to deliver a superior experience to our customers in the near term, and – as an important addition to Midcontinent’s infrastructure – these services will also enable us to address customer needs and business challenges as we grow and expand in the future.”