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How a Leading US WISP Outgrew Its In-House OSS and Transformed Operations with Splynx

Wisper Internet, United States

About

Wisper Internet is a leading US Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) headquartered in Mascoutah, Illinois. Founded in 2003, Wisper was created to bridge the digital divide by delivering reliable internet access to underserved communities. Today, Wisper serves over 21,000 customers across the Midwest with a mix of next-generation fixed wireless and fiber solutions. The company operates with a team of 200+ professionals and has grown into one of the most recognized names in the U.S. WISP industry. Beyond delivering internet service, Wisper Internet works to support local communities by expanding access in underserved areas, investing in new technologies and advocating for better broadband infrastructure.

Wisper Internet Logo

Location

United States

Using Splynx since

2024

Wisper Internet team

Before Splynx

  • All-in-one in-house system became outdated and hard to support or integrate.
  • Billing and OSS were split, leading to workflow issues.
  • Agents had to jump between multiple systems to support customers.
  • No real customer portal, just basic payments.

With Splynx

  • Scalable, modular platform with open API and easy integrations.
  • A unified system that streamlines support and internal operations.
  • One platform with detailed reporting and customer activity trail.
  • Modern portal with full account access, real-time data, and flexible payment options.

Challenge: Outgrowing an in-house system that was a game-changer at the time

Wisper Internet has been delivering fixed wireless and fiber connectivity to underserved communities across the Midwest for over two decades. As one of the early players in the U.S. WISP space, the company built much of its technology infrastructure from the ground up.

Wisper’s in-house system served them well in the early years. It provided full control, custom workflows, and centralized everything from provisioning to customer management.

We were operating on a predominantly homegrown system, an all-in-one scenario. And when that was built at the time, it was definitely a game-changer. It encompassed so many features that were required in the industry.
Luke Phillips,
VP of Solutions and Innovation

But as the broadband industry evolved, new vendors appeared, and third-party platforms improved, Wisper’s tech foundation began to show its age.

Over time, the industry grew up, systems around us grew up, integration became a challenge, keeping the platform secure on modern integration standards, and modern database operations. And so we got ourselves into a corner where, essentially, we knew we needed to make a change. And we ended up in a stale situation, and we couldn’t integrate with all of the vendors who were offering us various integration options with their platforms.
Luke Phillips

Over time, Wisper’s once-efficient all-in-one solution became fragmented. The billing module had been offloaded to a separate system, while the original OSS remained in place. This dual-platform setup created real operational friction.

We had a split billing model: billing was done with an outside module, and the OSS was done on the homegrown system. Any customer-facing agent had to switch between panes of glass constantly.
Luke Phillips

The lack of a unified system with integrations not only slowed down internal workflows but also made training and onboarding new agents inefficient. Staff were required to learn multiple tools, increasing time, workload, and the risk of errors.

Wisper’s leadership knew a major transformation was needed. But let’s be honest – one of the hardest parts wasn’t just technical.

It was “THE CHANGE ASPECT” itself.  Sound familiar?

  • What will your customers think when you suddenly introduce something new after they have run the same system for a long time?
  • Will your team adopt it easily?
  • How long will it take to retrain staff, adopt workflows (if needed), and get everyone comfortable again?
Everybody’s averse to change differently. It’s always a risk.
Luke Phillips

And perhaps the biggest question of all: how do you make the transition smooth, with the right partner who actually supports you through it?

For ISPs facing these same questions, Splynx provides a step-by-step guide on switching ISP billing and OSS software.

Finding the right fit: A partner that could help Wisper Internet scale without breaking the bank

Once they decided to move on from their in-house system, Wisper’s team didn’t jump straight into Splynx. They did what any experienced provider would — they looked far and wide.

  • What else was out there?
  • Were there better, all-in-one platforms?
  • Could someone else offer the depth and flexibility they needed?
We actually looked at a number of different billing and OSS/BSS platforms, and some of them ticked 99% of the boxes right out of the box.
Luke Phillips

But there was a catch – the cost. Many platforms were priced per subscriber, per admin, per mobile app user… and when scaled to Wisper’s size, the numbers didn’t add up.

You’ve got to have a very big wallet, and it quickly became cost-prohibitive.
Luke Phillips

Then, during a conference, Luke Phillips, VP of Solutions and Innovation at Wisper Internet, sat down with Alex Vishnyakov, Splynx CEO, and instead of the usual demo or sales pitch, they had a real conversation: about scalability, about vendor lock-in, about the reality of running a growing ISP without blowing up your tech budget.

I said, “Tell me how big we can actually get on your system.” And Alex gave me scenarios of how Splynx scaled. I gave him our vision. That’s where it started.
Luke Phillips

For Wisper, it wasn’t just about features — it was about flexibility and future-proofing.

Could this system grow with them?

Would they be able to build on it, customize it, and make it theirs?

The answer was YES.

From there, Splynx quickly distinguished itself as the platform that could meet Wisper’s scalability needs while keeping costs realistic. The open API, strong data access capabilities, and flexible deployment were key differentiators.

Your API was the first selling point. We like to be self-sufficient. We want access to the data. We want to push it into Power BI, Grafana, Tableau. Not just use the built-in reports.
Luke Phillips

Implementation: Phased rollout and deep collaboration

No matter how confident you are in the platform, the first move is always the hardest. Wisper chose to begin with a phased rollout. Rather than migrate everything at once, they decided to start by moving just the billing functionality.

I think the old adage is that you don’t know what you don’t know until you start digging around. We probably discovered a few processes and requirements that we didn’t know about upfront. And that was based on some of the questions that the Splynx team was asking us as part of that onboarding process. Overall, I’d say it was a very smooth transition, considering we didn’t take our existing systems and move them sort of lock, stock, and barrel in one movement into Splynx. We said, okay, we’re going to move just the billing component and figure out the structure of how we do that to make sure we don’t interrupt the business operations. So from that perspective, it was pretty smooth. And obviously, we’re expecting to continue to bring more and more processes and features sitting in the external systems over into the Splynx ecosystem.
Luke Phillips,
VP of Solutions and Innovation

During the initial integration phase, which focused on billing operations and payment processing, the Splynx team also delivered integration with the U.S. payment provider Paymentus.

This integration introduced omnichannel payment processing capabilities, including guest payment links that can be sent directly to customers via SMS. Customers can make instant payments without needing to log into the customer portal, significantly reducing friction in the payment process.

In addition, the integration supports IVR (Interactive Voice Response) functionality, allowing customers to call a dedicated phone line to check their account balance, make payments using a credit or debit card, and receive confirmations – all fully synced with Splynx in real time. These self-service tools help to reduce the load on call center staff and improve CX.

Worried about timezone differences with the Splynx support team?

Wisper Internet was too. But when things got serious, those concerns quickly faded.

Considering the time zone differences between the US and Europe, there was a concern upfront about how we are going to do this. There were some really long days during the integration and the manipulation of the data, but the team, our team, set alongside the Splynx guys to get that across. Anytime something has happened or we need an answer, we’ve got access to the team and they respond very quickly in terms of any issues that we raise.
Luke Phillips

Wisper’s team also emphasized the value of Splynx’s development responsiveness and willingness to build features in partnership – a key differentiator compared to other vendors.

One great thing is that when we come up with a new requirement or feature, sometimes the response is: ‘We can develop it for you in six weeks.’ Not many vendors give you that kind of timeline.
Luke Phillips

Timmothy Vermeulen, Information Systems Product Owner at Wisper Internet, also added:

With Splynx, it feels like they’re working with you. If a feature needs to happen faster, or the cost is too high, they find a way to make it work. There’s a sense of partnership, not just product delivery.
Timmothy Vermeulen,
Information Systems Product Owner

In addition to billing and payments, the first phase included integrating Preseem with Splynx to support network visibility and performance optimization.

Early results after phase one of Splynx implementation

Even though Wisper has completed only the first phase of its Splynx implementation – migrating billing – the impact has already been significant across multiple operational areas. With RADIUS and ticketing modules planned next, the early results are promising:

1. Operational visibility

One of the most noticeable improvements has been the ability to trace and resolve customer issues faster, thanks to detailed system data and complete account activity logs.

Customer complaints have improved noticeably. There’s a proper order trail now. When something goes wrong, we can see what the user did and explain it to the customer.
Timmothy Vermeulen

This visibility empowers agents to resolve problems immediately without callbacks or escalation.

Before, it was, “We’ll call you back once we know what’s happening.” Now it’s, ” Here’s what happened, here’s how we’re fixing it.” That’s a huge difference.
Timmothy Vermeulen

2. Billing automation

Wisper Internet activated approximately 90% of Splynx’s billing automation features, including recurring billing, auto-pay runs, invoice reminders, SMS/email scheduling, and more. These automations now run smoothly in the background, saving time while improving customer communication.

We’ve achieved good automation in almost every aspect. It saves time, but more importantly, it helps our agents look more professional to the customer.
Timmothy Vermeulen

3. Training & onboarding

Training new team members also became easier. Previously, training new staff meant introducing them to a bunch of different tools and platforms. With Splynx acting as the unified interface, onboarding is now faster, simpler, and more scalable.

Now, we’re not training across 10 different systems. We say, “Here’s your window to the world — Splynx.” It’s far less daunting.
Luke Phillips

4. Customer portal

On the customer side, Splynx enabled a leap forward. Wisper’s previous customer portal offered only the most basic functionality. With Splynx, customers now have access to a modern self-service interface where they can view their plans, usage, invoices, and make payments easily.

Our old portal looked like it belonged in the mid-90s. Now, customers can easily view services, monitor usage, and make payments.
Luke Phillips

5. Real-time insights and access to needed data

With the previous system, the Wisper Internet team relied on daily batches that got updated at night, which often meant that issues wouldn’t surface until the next day. Splynx introduced real-time data flows, allowing the Wisper team to detect problems and respond immediately.

Historically, we could have something go down. And it required somebody to run a report to figure out what was down because they did not know. We ended up with sort of daily batches that got updated during the night, and then you would see that something doesn’t look quite right the next day. Obviously, now being real-time definitely makes a difference. The efficiency the support team has, being able to help a customer out, seeing every aspect of their journey with Wisper, definitely helps the front-line, people on the forefront, and the customers on a daily basis. There’s nothing worse than a customer agent getting an upset customer on the phone, everything, everyone getting flustered, and scrambling around for data and checking the system. Now it’s a case of here’s my single portal, let’s figure it out and get this customer back into the happy seat.
Timmothy Vermeulen

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