Ernest Howell
May 12, 2022

Ernest Howell has served Protector customers for as long as the product has been available. He’s seen many changes in the telecom market as well as to the application itself. He explains how the transition to Protector 11 affects not only him but also the Protector community. He’s pictured here with his wife, Aleathia, who enthusiastically supports his endeavors and participates in company activities and functions.

1998 is a special year in my Equinox journey. Not only is it when I joined the team, but it’s also the year Equinox introduced the Protector fraud management system (FMS) commercially. Since that time, I’ve been blessed to help customers every day install Protector, implement new features, upgrade their systems, and provide guidance for questions or issues in the application.

The system that was introduced in 1998 is now called Protector 10. Over the last 24 years, it has evolved in response to customer requests, industry / compliance requirements, and of course fraud changes. Its endurance is a testament to the legendary foundation on which it was built—one that encapsulates hundreds of years of combined telecom knowledge and fraud fighting know how.

At the beginning of 2022, Equinox launched a completely new version of the Protector FMS. Before that, product updates were incorporated by layering them on the existing framework and maintaining basically the same frontend interface. This new product is different—it’s a clean sheet rewrite, using next generation technology. It’s called Protector 11. And besides being completely rearchitected from the ground up, it also has different database structures and a totally redesigned user interface.

Having spent every workday for more than two decades in Protector 10, I was apprehensive about what the switch to a new application would mean for me and my customers. Of course, Protector 11 (aka P11) is built on a legendary, tried-and-true foundation of fraud management, so I was confident in its ability to detect and stop fraud. I thought more about the transition to an application that looked very different. Well, we’ve deployed it for several customers thus far and, let me tell you, I love it and am very excited about the future!

The most apparent difference is Protector 11’s new interface. It’s been totally redesigned to streamline the case investigation and resolution process. It’s intuitively organized, so even though it’s all new, it’s very easy to locate items. Plus, there are a host of new features in the system, including ad hoc creation and generation tools for cased-based as well as usage-based reporting. Customers have asked for this feature many times in recent years and are loving it. Also, the interface lets everyone see the underlying details for any call directly from the original raw record right from its entry in the Warehouse. Speaking of the Warehouse, P11’s field mapping is vastly improved, which means, if the data is in your CDR, you can see it in the Warehouse. This feature is all due to the system’s new data model, which offers virtually limitless possibilities. That means requests that were previously constrained by switch and data record type are now possible. I love that! Protector 11 also includes a host of new tools just for Equinox Support, so I can research questions easier and more quickly than ever before. The comprehensive setup area simplifies every single aspect of configuration.

Many of Protector 11’s improvements are not part of the interface yet are impossible to ignore. For starters, the new system:

• processes usage data almost 9 times faster than its predecessor;
• detects fraud more than 2 times faster than older versions;
• is more than 4 times more performant overall;
• has even more sophisticated methods which find additional fraud incidents;
• handles significantly greater volumes with lightning speed; and
• catches up after issues (for example, database outages) expediently.

The entire Equinox team worked closely with existing customers and beta testers to ensure Protector 11 kept the essential features everyone relies on while expanding areas that had been most requested. The development efforts focused on performance, speed, and scalability, in conjunction with next generation hardware and technology. As a result, Protector 11 is set to support carriers now, as their network and markets grow, and to keep pace with industry changes far into the future.

Regardless of the application’s version, my day-to-day responsibilities are unchanged. I’m here to help you protect your network, safeguard your customers, and defend against costly fraud hits to your bottom line. I’m still fielding questions, researching issues, configuring the system’s settings, installing updates, and explaining how application features work. More importantly though, I’m still personally invested in each customer and committed to our relationship. As a result, the future is very bright indeed!

The year after I started (1999), Equinox hosted its first ever Protector User Group Meeting (PUGM), a tradition that’s continued for 23 consecutive years. The annual event is especially important for me because I know our customers on a personal level. I have developed a very real relationship with each person I serve and enjoy catching up with every member of the Protector community.

The PUGM isn’t work; instead, it’s more like a family reunion. After two years of being online, I’m so ready to see everyone at this year’s Protector User Group Meeting in Nashville! Until then, the entire Support team and I are here to help with any fraud management questions or issues. You can email us at Support@Equinoxis.com with questions about any version of Protector or to schedule a system update. To reach us by phone, you may call (615) 612-1225 Monday–Friday from 7:30 to 5:00 (Central).

About the Author

In his role as a Protector specialist, Ernest has been helping customers day in and day out longer than any other member of the Equinox Support team. His primary responsibilities include working with Protector users to schedule product updates, turn up new switches, fine tune configuration settings, implement blocking, or help troubleshoot a technical issue. Ernest and his wife Aleathia have two adult children and a couple of grandchildren. In his time away from Equinox, he enjoys spending time with his family, loves to watch and play sports (especially bowling), and listens to jazz every chance he gets.
To learn more about Equinox, its products, and staff, visit www.equinoxis.com or call (615) 612-1200.