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Customer Newsletter, Issue #1, Volume 1

Table of Contents

Newsletter Survey Results
An Overview
Department Heads and Notables
Helpful E-mail addresses
Baltimore Service Update
Recent Growth and Projects
On the Road
Resource Archive
Expansion
"September" Sale Extended
Education
People, Pets, etc.



The News From DIGEX

DIGEX Newsletter Survey Results 

The response to the recent bulletin which mentioned this newsletter was 
overwhelming - within 24 hours after sending it we already had over 
150 "yes" replies, and less than 5 "no" answers. In addition to the yes's
or no's, we had many suggestions from you on what you would like and not 
like to see.  For those of you that want to hear about the people and birds 
of DIGEX, all the fluff is at the end of the Newsletter. 

We will be putting a WWW version of the Newsletter up on our Web Site.  
While at first there may not be pictures or links, we will at least make 
it available via browser and input a template to make it a bit prettier. 

Please feel free to send comments or suggestions regarding the newsletter 
to dial-up@digex.net. It has been suggested that we publish "letters to the 
editor" - and that is something we'll consider, though the phrase "can of 
worms" comes to mind. This publication is intended mostly to disseminate 
information to you - not to serve as a public forum. The newsgroup 
digex.general is our designated forum for that sort of thing. If you wish 
your letter to be considered a "letter to the editor" please include that 
in the subject line. 

On a final note about this publication, we need to give it a name. Since 
this newsletter is directed at you, the Customer, we'd like your input! 
Send us an idea for a name for the newsletter, and if your entry is chosen,
you'll receive a free one year subscription of Shell or Personal IP service. 

Send your name idea to the Newsletter Naming Contest (contest@digex.net).


DIGEX - An Overview 

Many of you have asked exactly what machines we run here at DIGEX. Sparc20
processors handle all Shell account functions. Login and SLIP/PPP fucntions run
through our Livingston Portmaster system, and traffic to the Internet goes back
and forth over our DS-3 backbone which stretches from New York, NY to
Beltsville, MD. Disk storage is handled by an Auspex disk server (or is it 
two...) Finally, a 24 hour NOC (Network Operations Center) is staffed with 
experienced professionals to keep tabs on the DIGEX network and react to 
any problems. 

Multitech 28.8 modems provide connectivity for our dial-in customers, though
some AT&T Paradyne modems remain in service on our (301) 220 numbers, and
some on our affiliated sites in Central New Jersey and Atlantic City. As we 
grow, more and more 28.8 modems will be added - though with many customers 
still connecting with 14.4 modems, we will not be taking the Paradynes out
of service. 

To manage all this, our systems staff of five handles all aspects of system 
design and implementation. Connectivity to the customer and the Internet is 
provided by our Telecom Department via several Carriers including Bell 
Atlantic, Wil-Tel, Cable & Wireless, MFS, GTE and others. This Staff of
four handles circuit and phone line orders, installations, and contacts 
with vendors to place trouble tickets in the event of a problem. 

Systems and Telecom support our Sales force and Customer Service Department
by providing product, support and ongoing maintenance. In turn, our Customer
Service Department handles all levels of customer inquiries from questions 
about news or e-mail to leased line and server installation and maintenance 
assistance.

DIGEX Education not only handles training for our staffers, but also runs
seminars and courses for business customers seeking education for their people
on all aspects of the Internet. 

Supporting these functions, and mostly hidden from the public eye are the
Accounting, Human Resources, Administration and Billing and Exectutive
Departments. While mostly out of the limelight, these functions are vital in
supporting the day to day operations of DIGEX. 

DIGEX - A Brief List of Department heads and notables

 
Doug Humphrey           CEO, President, Director of New Product Development
Mike Doughney           Vice President
Clyde Heintzelman       Chief Operations Officer
Bill Pendley            Chief Financial Officer
Ed Kern                 Manager - Systems
Jim McDonald            Manager - Telecom
Gary Sibiski            Director of Sales
Doug Mohney             Manager - Leased Lines
Melissa McDowell        Manager - Dial Up
John Todd               Manager - Leased Line & Server Customer Service
Heidi Patton            Manager - Dial-Up Customer Service 

Helpful E-mail addresses

Questions and comments can be mailed to the following addresses. All the
addresses are local, so if you are mailing from your DIGEX shell or SLIP/PPP
account, you can use just the name, i.e. "office". 

 
office                  Questions or comments about your bill
help                    Questions or comments about your services
slip                    Questions or comments about SLIP/PPP service
info                    Autoresponder with information on DIGEX
sales                   Questions about rates and product offerings
notice                  Notify DIGEX of a problem if you don't need a reply

When sending mail to any of the above addresses, please be sure to send it 
from your DIGEX account. If you cannot send from your DIGEX account, please
reference your DIGEX account name. Also, please include a daytime phone
number. These simple steps will enable us to respond to your requests as 
quickly
as possible. 

*NEXT ISSUE: Look for more information on the individual departments and their
functions at DIGEX. 

DIGEX Baltimore Service Update

In working on the Baltimore connectivity problems we have implemented several
projects in an attempt to isolate and remedy the problem. These are as 
follows: 

Install resistors to attenuate the incoming signal, which due to our 
close proximity to the local Telephone Central Office, is too loud for 
our modems to manage, resulting in lower connect speeds. Results from 
these tests are showing that some improvement in connect speed occurs 
when resistors are added. The improvement is most evident in raising 
connects up to the 26.4 Kbps level. With the advent of the new Eproms,
further testing is needed. 

Multitech - Replace old Eproms with upgraded chips. Multitech has already
replaced Eproms for all our 28.8 modems once. Now they have shipped a further
upgrade of the Eprom which we are testing. Updates on this will be posted to
digex.announce, digex.general and digex.slip. The purpose of the new proms 
is to address the problem of dropped connects in the Baltimore area. Testing
on this has only begun within the last week so it is too early to tell if 
these new Eproms are having a positive impact. 

Customer Service Survey - We hope to pinpoint trends and common
features of a "bad" connect by collating data from our Customer Service 
Survey.  If we can isolate a common thread in these connect problems, we
should be able to create a solution. No booklets have been received back 
to date, but as soon as they roll in we'll start analyzing the data. Our 
findings will be reported in this Newsletter as well as on the digex 
newsgroups and the MotD (Message of the Day). 

Continued work with Bell Atlantic. We are looking at capacity issues with 
Bell Atlantic which may be affecting Baltimore customers. Currently the 
898 hunt group appears to suffer much more greatly from drops than our 
847 group does, despite the fact both groups use the same modems and 
are located in the same room, attached to identical equipment. 


DIGEX - Recent Growth and Projects

Many customers have commented about the many projects and programs DIGEX
has become involved in recently. These include winning the major portion of
the contract for the University of Maryland System, installing an Internet
node in Tblisi, Georgia - part of the former Soviet Union, and the Molson 
Ice Beach Party held on the Arctic Circle in Tuktoyaktuk, Canada. Most 
recently, DIGEX brought the Securities and Exchange Commission onto the 
World Wide Web.  The site is now available to the public, at no cost, at 
the following World  Wide Web address: http://www.sec.gov, and brings 
DIGEX to prominence as "the world's premier Internet service carrier for 
open access of financial information on publicly traded companies worth 
trillions of dollars", according to Bill Goldstein, Federal Account 
Manager for DIGEX. 

Some of you have voiced concern that with all these other projects going, 
DIGEX might be leaving its original Dial-up customers on the back burner. 
DIGEX has not lost its commitment to the Dial-up customer and will continue 
to support existing and new customers to the best of its abilities. 

As we grow, we will expand our service offerings and areas of coverage and
thereby provide even better service availability and support. As Maryland's
oldest and largest full service ISP one of our goals is to provide a 
consistent, high level of service and support to our customers and 
demonstrate that it is possible to make the dream of a small business 
come true. We have come this far with your help and support. Its been a 
wild ride, folks and this is just the beginning. 

*NEXT ISSUE - Updates on New Projects and the growth of DIGEX 

DIGEX - On the Road

Look for DIGEX folk in their Anytime - Anywhere Tee Shirts at the following
events! (Well, maybe suits...) 

 
October 3-4     Philadelphia I-TEC show 
                Philadelphia Convention Center

October 8-9     Maryland Chamber of Commerce Show       
                Sheraton, Ocean City MD

October 11-12   Pittsburgh I-TEC show   
                David Lawrence Convention Center

October 12      Doug Humphrey speaking at CPCUG Internet SIG 
                NIH, evening

October 13      Opening of "Strange Days" @ Sony Centerplex 8
                                        Calverton, MD

DIGEX - Resource Archive

We are in the final phases of implementing the DIGEX Resource Archive - look
at the MotD for further updates, or send e-mail to "help". 

DIGEX - Expansion

Pittsburgh, PA. - On September 15, 1995, DIGEX, opened a major point of
presence in downtown Pittsburgh. DIGEX is now able to offer the highest 
quality, best cost Internet connectivity in the city. 

DIGEX is planning to kick off its push into the Pittsburgh market by 
offering a free Internet business seminar; "Helping Businesses Cut Through
the Internet Hype". The seminar will be held October 11, 1995 at 8:00AM at
the David Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh. It's being 
held in conjunction with the ITEC Exposition and Technical Conference. 

Doug Humphrey, DIGEX President, CEO and founder, will speak at the
conference. 

DIGEX will be offering all traditional leased line, frame relay, SMDS, and 
FNS connections as well as a wide variety of dial up shell, PPP and SLIP 
choices. For more information, Send mail to pitt@digex.net or call
1-800-99DIGEX. 

Tappahannock, VA 

In an example of the kind of determination that can make anything happen, 
the people of the small town of Tappahannock, VA contacted DIGEX to ask us 
to bring Internet to their town. We told them that if they could get 80 
people to agree to sign up, we'd do it. They said "thanks" and disappeared 
for a few months. When they called us back they had over 100 people on their
list! 

During the week of September 18, DIGEX installed a 20 line POP (Point of
Presence) in the Essex County Public Library in Tappahannock. Shortly
thereafter, customers were able to dial in and set up their accounts on the
Internet. 

DIGEX applauds the determination and perseverance of Bess Haile and Pearce
Gardner whose efforts made this possible! 

DIGEX "September" Sale Extended

DIGEX has decided to extend the September Sale offer through the month of
October. We understand that many customers in Baltimore are interested in the
sale but wish to see the problem of dropped connects resolved prior to signing
up for a yearly account. Accordingly, we have extended our sale pricing on Ba
sic and Full Shell and Personal IP services through the end of October. You 
don't have to be a Baltimore customer to sign up for this offer, it is 
available throughout our service area. 

DIGEX - Education

DIGEX EDUCATION UPDATE 

DIGEX Education, a relatively new department here, is offering several 
courses in Internet and Web applications this quarter. Topics include 
Search Engines,
HTML, Server Management, Customer Web Forms, Leased Line Management,
Unix and Network Security and Domain Name Service & Sendmail. To register, or
to receive a full course catalog, point your Web browser at
http://www.digex.net/services/education, or call our registration line at
1-800-99DIGEX. 

DIGEX - People, Animals, Toys

As promised, all the "fluff" is at the end! This section is devoted to 
giving you the kind of information about DIGEX that won't show up on a 
Quarterly Report - And we hope to add pictures and links to the WWW 
version of this newsletter that will make it more fun. Every issue will 
highlight one or two individuals here, and maybe a bird, too. 

For the first issue, it is only fair to spotlight Fearless Leader Doug 
Humphrey.  Since we have two Dougs here at DIGEX, Humphrey is often 
referred to as Fearless or Fearless Leader, really - we aren't kidding! 

Doug started DIGEX in his basement as the fulfillment of a lifetime dream to
have a company named "Digex" and more importantly, to make the Internet
available to people like himself who could no longer get access through 
school or work. With the help of longtime friend, Mike Doughney (heh... we 
have FIVE Mikes now....), Doug started the company with a 2400 baud UUCP 
connection!  With the upgrade of that service first to SLIP and later to 
T1 and higher speed connections, DIGEX added "real time" Internet 
Services, and hasn't stopped growing since. 

Doug got married this past April in a thankfully brief ceremony, followed 
by a long party, at the Rockville Civic Center Mansion, and still lives 
in his long time home in Greenbelt. He is 35 years old, a fan of loud 
music and fine dining, especially sushi. He and his wife, Lisa Losito, keep 
two cockatoos - an Umbrella or White Cockatoo - Shiro Tori, the DIGEX 
Joss Specialist, and Luna, or Luna-bird, a Goffin's Cockatoo. No kids, 
but with two "birdos" - who needs kids?  The birds often visit the office,
and have won the hearts of most of the staff. A few stalwarts still hold
out against their charm, but it won't be long. 

Doug continues to be President and CEO of DIGEX, while spending a great 
deal of time on the road at shows and conferences as well. He is also 
kept busy as the head of the New Product Development Group, where he 
can continue to excercise the creative imagination that brought DIGEX
into being. 

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