SmartChoice launches SmartTile 2.0 to speed outage fixes

SmartChoice has launched SmartTile 2.0, a network monitoring and incident resolution platform that reduced ticket resolution times by 48% in early use, according to the company.

The product is designed for the work that follows detection of a network outage or service issue, including ticket creation, carrier contact, escalation and documentation. Many monitoring tools stop at generating an alert, leaving IT teams and managed service providers to complete the operational process manually, the company said.

In figures reported by SmartChoice, the platform was used across six production environments over a 60-day period covering 22,346 tickets. In that sample, average resolution time fell to 17.4 hours from 33.3 hours, while 21,476 tickets were closed, compared with 6,062 in the previous 60-day period.

SmartChoice said the system returned 130.8 employee hours by absorbing carrier hold and talk time, and opened 1,214 carrier tickets through carrier application programming interfaces and the company's AI voice agent, Joey. It described these as early results that may vary by environment and workflow.

How It Works

SmartTile 2.0 sits above existing technology systems as an automation layer rather than replacing them, according to SmartChoice. The platform provides a single view of devices, locations and circuits, and uses 30-second polling across APIs, ICMP and SNMP to identify potential outages.

Once an issue is detected, the system can validate the event, add site and device context, create an IT service management ticket and initiate a carrier case through an API or through Joey. It can also coordinate follow-up, escalation and communications, while documenting restoration details and service-level agreement evidence.

If an automated workflow does not resolve the issue, the case can be passed to SmartChoice's 24/7 network operations centre for human intervention. The platform keeps people involved in the process while reducing repetitive operational work, the company said.

The software integrates with IT service management platforms including ServiceNow, ConnectWise, Kaseya, NinjaOne and Zendesk, as well as carrier systems, network and device technologies, and IP-based physical security systems.

Customer Use

SmartTile was developed in response to customer requirements in complex, distributed environments, and the latest version adds a multi-tenant architecture intended to support growth across customer estates, SmartChoice said.

According to the company, its customer base spans healthcare, luxury retail, financial services, private equity, legal services, real estate, construction and the non-profit sector.

"IT teams don't need another platform that simply tells them something is wrong. They need technology that helps them do something about it," said Jarrett Wolfe, Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer of SmartChoice.

"We built SmartTile around the operational work our customers deal with every day, automating many of the steps between an alert and a resolution while keeping people at the centre of the process," Wolfe said.

One early user cited by the company was Ernest Health, where the platform has been used in a healthcare setting.

"Most monitoring platforms tell us when something is wrong. SmartTile 2.0 helps us act on it. It gives our team visibility across locations, reduces the manual work of managing incidents and helps move issues toward resolution. In a healthcare environment, where reliable technology is essential, that means our IT professionals can spend less time chasing updates and more time supporting the systems our clinicians and facilities depend on," said Christopher Diguette, Chief Information Officer and Chief Information Security Officer of Ernest Health.

SmartChoice executives said automating carrier interactions and routine first-line work was a central part of the product design.

"Every carrier call our engineers don't spend on hold is time back for real troubleshooting. Joey opens and chases routine carrier cases, SmartTile 2.0 confirms recovery through its own monitoring, and our engineers step in on the exceptions," said Basil Stepanov, Chief Technology Officer of SmartChoice.

"By automating repetitive and time-consuming Level 1 tasks, SmartTile 2.0 allows IT teams to focus their time and expertise where they can deliver greater value while the platform continues driving action toward resolution," Stepanov said.