Starting point, your sites and current setup

• How many remote sites or mobile assets are you trying to connect today? Options: 1-5, 6-20, 21-100, 100+
• Which site types best describe those assets? Options: Fixed remote site (mine, oil and gas), Maritime vessel, Aeronautical/aircraft, Temporary or disaster response camp, Over-the-road or convoy, Other
• Describe the current connectivity at those sites, including any satellite, cellular, microwave, or temporary links.
• When was the last time one of these sites lost connectivity long enough to interrupt operations, and what operational impacts followed?
• Which internal teams will operate and monitor the service day to day? Options: Network engineering, IT operations, Security/infosec, Field operations, Marine or flight operations, Third-party NOC, Other
• Who is the technical owner for IP addressing, firewall changes, and network configuration for these sites?
• Estimate the number of concurrent users or priority devices at a peak remote site. Options: Under 5, 5-20, 21-100, 100-500, 500+

Where outages actually hurt the business

• If a critical remote link failed for a day, what measurable damage would you record in revenue, safety margin, or mission delay?
• How often do outages trigger an escalation to your operations center or executive leadership? Options: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Rarely
• Name the business processes or safety systems that stop working when a remote link goes down.
• Tell me about the most recent outage that mattered, who had to make the recovery decisions, and how long it took to restore usable service.
• What single site failure, constraint, or regulatory issue would make you pause or cancel a satellite rollout immediately?

Hard practical constraints you must clear before a field team arrives

• List the permits, spectrum filings, or local approvals needed before a field team can perform installation at a typical site.
• Who on your team owns site access, right of entry, and any required security clearances?
• How quickly can your team provide as-built site drawings, point of entry power diagrams, and approved antenna mounting plans? Options: Within 3 business days, Within 1-2 weeks, Within 3-4 weeks, Longer than 4 weeks
• Are integrations required with your existing NOC, monitoring, or security stack, and do you have APIs or support contacts for them? Options: Yes, APIs available, Yes, will provide manual integration, No integrations required, Unclear, need to confirm
• Identify the single missing resource, permit, or approval that would stop a deployment on day one.

What else are you comparing this to

• Tell me which incumbent service, external vendor option, or internal build you are currently leaning toward and why that choice feels safe.
• List the external vendors, incumbent services, or internal builds you have evaluated so far. Options: Incumbent managed satellite provider, Regional telecom with microwave/cellular backhaul, In-house satellite solution, Hybrid terrestrial plus temporary satellite, Other
• For any option you would stay with, what would have to be true about its performance, coverage, or commercial terms for you to avoid switching?
• Has anyone on your team proposed solving this without an external vendor, and who would lead that internal effort? Options: Yes, network engineering, Yes, field ops, No internal proposal, Unsure
• What contractual, performance, or timeline gap in your current option would force you to re-open procurement today?

The performance envelope that matters to your operations

• Given your mission, what latency, jitter, or packet loss ceiling would make voice, command and control, or real-time telemetry unusable?
• Specify the minimum guaranteed throughput per site during peak hours, and the expected burst profile you need. Options: <1 Mbps, 1-5 Mbps, 5-20 Mbps, 20-100 Mbps, >100 Mbps
• Identify the critical applications you run at remote sites and for each give acceptable packet loss, latency, and jitter. Options: VoIP/Push-to-Talk, Real-time telemetry/SCADA, Video surveillance, Crew internet and email, Bulk data replication, Other
• How often do you expect automatic failover to an alternate link, and what is an acceptable switchover time? Options: Seconds, Under 1 minute, 1-5 minutes, 5-30 minutes, Longer than 30 minutes
• Point to any geographic areas, beam footprints, or weather conditions where even short outages would be unacceptable.
• If the proposed service could not meet your latency target in certain regions, would that rule out using satellite for those sites or require a hybrid design? Options: Rule out satellite for those sites, Require hybrid design, Accept degraded latency with compensations, Need to evaluate case by case

What a successful pilot must prove

• What single measurable failure in a pilot would make you stop the project immediately?
• Define the pilot scope, including number of sites, terminal class, and representative traffic mix.
• Provide the KPIs you will track during the pilot and the exact thresholds that would constitute a pass. Options: Throughput, Latency and jitter, Packet loss, Mean time to repair, Provisioning lead time, Operational readiness
• Name the person or role who will sign off on pilot success and state the target approval timeframe after pilot completion.
• Do you require performance testing under adverse weather, while in motion, or with multicast and broadcast traffic as part of acceptance? Options: Yes, weather testing required, Yes, mobility testing required, Yes, multicast/broadcast testing required, No, standard conditions sufficient, Unsure
• If the pilot meets metrics but procurement cannot commit funds within your target window, what is the fallback plan? Options: Pause and renegotiate later, Use a short-term bridge contract, Escalate to executive sponsor, Project stalls

Who must agree and how deals actually get signed

• Point to the roles that must approve this purchase and the order in which they will review contracts. Options: Network engineering, Operations, Security/infosec, Procurement, Legal, Finance, Executive sponsor
• Provide the procurement milestones and expected signoff timelines, including security and legal review durations. Options: 2-4 weeks, 1-2 months, 2-3 months, Longer than 3 months
• Select the cost model your finance team prefers for this solution. Options: Operational expense monthly subscription, Capital expenditure purchase, Hybrid (term + consumption), Undecided
• How many budget cycles away is the necessary funding if signoff slips past this quarter? Options: Within this quarter, 1 budget cycle, 2 budget cycles, 3+ cycles
• Specify any procurement conditions, such as minimum contract length or multi-vendor requirements, that would prevent a quick path from pilot to production.
• If procurement requires a long RFP or multi-vendor evaluation, will that timeline kill the project or can you run the pilot in parallel? Options: It will kill the project, Pilot can run in parallel, Depends on vendor terms, Unsure

If the pilot proves the numbers, when can you move

• If we agreed pilot parameters today, what is your minimum acceptable timeline to move a successful pilot into production? Options: Immediately after pilot, 2-4 weeks, 1-2 months, 3+ months
• Share your target go-live date and any immovable blackout windows we should plan around.
• Describe the teams that require onboarding, the preferred training format, and the estimated headcount for each. Options: Hands-on field training, Remote instructor led, Recorded modules and docs, Train-the-trainer
• What risks do you foresee during handover that need named owners, SLAs, and escalation paths to address them?
• How soon can you mobilize a site contact, site access, and power/environment verification after contract signature? Options: Within 48 hours, 3-7 days, 1-2 weeks, Longer than 2 weeks
• If we meet your pilot thresholds, what is the earliest date your procurement and legal teams can sign a purchase order and commit resources?

• Solution Experience Session

• Confirm the current state and its cost to you
• You confirm a shared statement of the current connectivity gaps and their operational cost for the priority sites.
• Provide a site-by-site sizing and provisional pricing proposal based on the validated scenarios
• Run Site Scenario 1: throughput and latency proof
• You confirm that the demonstrated throughput, latency, and availability outcomes meet the operational needs for the walked-through sites.
• Deliver a proposed pilot test plan and acceptance criteria for the validated sites
• Run Site Scenario 2: availability and failover proof
• Collect and share measured bandwidth and latency baselines from three priority sites to validate assumptions
• You agree on the specific evidence and pilot acceptance tests remaining before procurement.
• Confirm the list of stakeholders and decision timeline for pilot approval and procurement
• Operational workflow walkthrough
• Validate that this matches what you need
• Agree next evidence and pilot acceptance tests

• Solution Experience Session
• Solution Experience Deck
• Solution Brief

• meeting
• slides
• document

• Provision Dedicated Satellite Bandwidth
• Activate Shared Contention Bandwidth Plan
• Ship and Provision VSAT Terminal
• On-site Antenna Installation and Alignment
• Commissioning and Acceptance Testing
• Remote Network Activation and Optimization
• Configure IP Routing and QoS for VoIP
• 24/7 Network Operations and Fault Monitoring
• SLA-backed Availability and Escalation Handling
• Portal Access and Real-time Usage Dashboard
• Priority Restoration and Emergency Capacity
• Multi-orbit Routing and Latency Optimization
• Stabilized Maritime Antenna Installation
• Aeronautical Inflight Antenna Installation

Provision Dedicated Satellite Bandwidth

• What dedicated throughput (download/upload) do you require per site and do you need a burstable peak? Options: 5/1 Mbps, 10/5 Mbps, 50/10 Mbps, Custom - specify
• Which orbital band is preferred for these sites to meet latency and rain-fade requirements? Options: Ka-band, Ku-band, L-band, No preference
• Who in your organization will approve committed capacity, multi-year commitments, and surge allocations?
• How should committed information rate (CIR) be modelled (strict CIR, CIR with overcommit buffer, or guaranteed plus burst)? Options: Strict CIR (no overcommit), CIR with overcommit buffer, Guaranteed baseline + metered burst
• When do you require dedicated bandwidth active at a new site after order confirmation? Options: <7 calendar days, 8-21 calendar days, 22-60 calendar days, Custom schedule
• Where will the service handoff point be placed at each site (terminal LAN, on-site router, NOC handoff IP)? Options: Terminal LAN interface, On-site router (customer-managed), Remote NOC handoff (public IP)

Activate Shared Contention Bandwidth Plan

• Do you intend to use a shared contention plan for cost efficiency or prefer dedicated links for specific sites? Options: Shared contention for cost, Dedicated links for all sites, Hybrid mix (specify per-site)
• Provide the expected number of concurrent active users or endpoints at peak for each site to size contention ratios. Options: 1-5, 6-25, 26-100, 100+
• List mission-critical application classes that must retain performance under contention (examples: SIP/VoIP, SCADA telemetry, live video).
• Specify the acceptable contention ratio per site or region (for example 1:4, 1:8) and whether burst policies are allowed. Options: 1:1 (no contention), 1:4, 1:8, 1:16, Custom
• Confirm whether you require burst capacity above contention baseline and how burst usage should be billed or throttled. Options: Allow bursts with metered billing, Allow bursts up to capped rate, No burst allowed
• Describe how you will validate user experience under contention during the pilot (iperf profiles, VoIP MOS calls, video streams).

Ship and Provision VSAT Terminal

• Estimate the quantity of VSAT terminals to be shipped and provisioned in the initial rollout. Options: 1, 2-5, 6-20, 21+
• Identify the terminal class required for each site (fixed large dish, fixed small dish, stabilized maritime, aeronautical-certified). Options: Fixed large dish (≥1.2 m), Fixed small dish (≤0.6 m), Stabilized maritime, Aeronautical-certified, Other - specify
• Will you require factory pre-provisioning of SIM/profiles, X.509 certificates, or device onboarding prior to shipment? Options: Full factory provisioning (SIM + certs), SIM only, No, configure on-site
• Are there export control, customs, or country-specific import permit numbers we must include on commercial paperwork for shipment? Options: Yes (provide permit numbers), No
• Please provide your preferred shipping method and delivery windows per site (door-to-door, port pickup, lead time).
• State spare-unit requirements and desired RMA timelines (for example 1 spare per 10 units, 48-hour RMA). Options: No spares, 1 spare per 10 units, 1 spare per site, Custom

On-site Antenna Installation and Alignment

• Outline site-access constraints that affect antenna installation (roof permits, crane lift, vessel berth windows).
• Indicate the expected mounting type for each site (roof mount, pole mount, ship superstructure). Options: Roof mount, Pole mount, Ship mount, Aircraft fuselage, Other
• Choose required alignment precision tolerance (azimuth/elevation) needed to meet the link budget and fade margins. Options: Standard ±0.5°, High precision ±0.1°, Custom - specify
• Select maximum allowed run length for RF feed (coax/fiber) from antenna to terminal for each installation. Options: <10 m, 10-50 m, 50-200 m, 200+ m
• Name required on-site safety approvals or permits needed before install (for example working at height permit, hot-work permit).
• Include any local RF exposure or spectrum constraints that might restrict antenna placement (local regulatory limits, nearby sensitive equipment). Options: No constraints, City RF limits, Near other antennas, Requires site-specific clearance

Commissioning and Acceptance Testing

• Attach the commissioning test plan that defines acceptance thresholds (sustained throughput target, max latency, allowable packet loss, and test procedures) for each site.
• Supply the list of measurement tools and measurement points you expect to be used during commissioning (iperf schedules, VoIP MOS test plan, SNMP counters, pcap capture locations).
• Flag any regulatory or safety test steps required before commissioning (for example frequency clearance, aviation ground tests, port authority checks).
• Note which party will execute acceptance testing and sign the acceptance certificate (your operations team, third-party tester, or joint acceptance). Options: Your operations team, Third-party tester, Joint acceptance, Other - specify
• Declare the numeric thresholds that define pass/fail for voice and telemetry (for example packet loss <1% and jitter <30 ms for VoIP). Options: Packet loss <1% / jitter <30 ms, Packet loss <0.5% / jitter <20 ms, Custom - specify
• Explain desired acceptance artifacts to be delivered after testing (pass/fail report, throughput graphs, pcap traces, signed certificate). Options: Pass/fail report + graphs, Full raw logs and pcap, Summary report + signed certificate

Remote Network Activation and Optimization

• Verify the required remote provisioning lead time and activation SLA for terminal profile activation. Options: <24 hours, 24-72 hours, 4-10 business days
• Submit the IP addressing plan for the terminal (static public IP, private with NAT, DHCP) and any required routing prefixes. Options: Static public IP, Private RFC1918 with NAT, DHCP on-site
• Enter any required BGP peering details or routing policy constraints for NOC handoff (ASNs, prefix filters, MED/LOCAL_PREF rules).
• Upload authentication artifacts needed for zero-touch or remote provisioning (SSH keys, API credentials, certificates) or state if you will supply them later.
• Approve expected post-activation optimization tasks (beam tuning, adaptive coding adjustments, QoS shaping) and indicate priority. Options: Beam tuning, Adaptive coding, Traffic shaping/QoS, All of the above
• Accept whether you require scheduled periodic optimization windows and indicate frequency (for example monthly, quarterly). Options: One-time only, Monthly, Quarterly, As-needed

Configure IP Routing and QoS for VoIP

• Assign the DSCP/traffic class markings you will use to prioritize SIP and RTP over the satellite link (for example EF, CS5). Options: EF (Expedited Forwarding), CS5/CS6, AF41, Custom - specify
• Set maximum CIR and policing thresholds for VoIP per site to prevent oversubscription during contention. Options: 128 kbps, 256 kbps, 512 kbps, Custom - specify
• Schedule a VoIP test-call plan to validate end-to-end MOS during commissioning and list expected codecs to test.
• Measure the codec mix and typical frame sizes on your fleet (G.711, G.729, Opus) and provide counts or percentages. Options: G.711 dominant, G.729 dominant, Mixed - provide details
• Report which mitigation techniques you require to meet voice quality over satellite (jitter buffer, forward error correction, packet duplication). Options: Jitter buffer, Forward error correction, Packet duplication, None, Combination
• Allocate who will perform SIP trunk integration and numbering plan updates for each site. Options: Your telecom team, Third-party SIP provider, We will handle integration

24/7 Network Operations and Fault Monitoring

• What monitoring thresholds should trigger an automated incident (carrier loss, BER threshold, sustained latency spike)? Options: Carrier loss, BER above threshold, Latency above threshold, Custom - specify
• Which escalation path do you prefer for critical outages (direct phone + portal ticket, portal ticket only, email + SMS)? Options: Direct phone then portal, Portal ticket then email, Email and SMS simultaneously
• Who should be the primary on-call contact for operational escalations and provide 24/7 reachability details?
• How should on-call rotations be shared between your team and the operations center for hybrid support models? Options: We provide primary on-call, Shared rotation, Operations center primary with our backup
• When do you require scheduled status updates during a prolonged incident (for example hourly, every 4 hours)? Options: Hourly, Every 4 hours, Daily
• Where should operational logs, monitoring dashboards, and post-incident artifacts be archived and for how long for compliance? Options: NOC archive 1 year, Shared portal 2 years, Your SIEM

SLA-backed Availability and Escalation Handling

• Do you require site-level SLAs, region-level SLAs, or both for availability targets? Options: Site-level SLA, Region-level SLA, Both
• Provide the remediation model you expect for SLA breaches (service credits, priority restoration, on-site dispatch). Options: Service credits, Priority restoration, On-site dispatch, Custom - specify
• List MTTR targets you expect for critical and non-critical outages (for example Critical <4 hours, Non-critical <24 hours). Options: Critical <4 hours, Critical <8 hours, Non-critical <24 hours, Custom - specify
• Specify the uptime measurement window that should be used for SLA calculations (monthly, 30-day rolling, annual). Options: Monthly, 30-day rolling, Annual
• Confirm whether on-site field dispatch must be included in the SLA for hardware failures or if remote replacement is acceptable. Options: Dispatch included, Remote support + RMA only, Dispatch with additional charge
• Describe the evidence you will accept to prove SLA performance or a breach (NOC logs, pcap traces, third-party uptime report).

Portal Access and Real-time Usage Dashboard

• Estimate how many users require portal access and which role types (admin, ops, read-only) are needed. Options: 1-5, 6-20, 21-100, 100+
• Identify which default dashboards are required (throughput, latency, per-beam utilization, per-terminal status). Options: Throughput, Latency, Beam utilization, Terminal status, Other - specify
• Will you require API access to pull real-time metrics into your monitoring or SIEM systems? Options: Yes, full API access, Read-only API access, No API required
• Are there audit and log retention requirements for portal access and user actions (for example 1 year, 7 years)? Options: 1 year, 3 years, 7 years, Custom - specify
• Please provide preferred authentication method for portal users (SAML single sign-on, OAuth2, local accounts). Options: SAML single sign-on, OAuth2/OpenID Connect, Local accounts
• State threshold values that should trigger portal alerts (for example throughput > 80% of provisioned, latency > 250 ms).

• Master Services Agreement (MSA)
• Statement of Work (SOW)
• Service Order / Subscription Order Form
• Service Level Agreement (SLA)
• Equipment Supply & Lease Agreement
• Data Processing Agreement (DPA)
• Procurement & Security Approval Certification
• Regulatory & Spectrum Compliance Addendum

• Go-live Health Check (weeks 1-4)
• First Measurement Review (weeks 4-10)
• 90-day Acceptance Gate
• Quarterly Operational Review

• Schedule the next quarterly review and confirm required data handoffs two weeks prior.
• List and date remediation tasks required to meet Solution Scope targets and record verification criteria for each task.
• Update monitoring rules and alert recipients to reflect operational needs identified in the review.
• Restate acceptance criteria and numeric targets
• Produce a documented acceptance outcome for each acceptance criterion recorded in Solution Scope.
• Ensure there is a tracked remediation plan with deadlines for any non-passing items.
• Confirm incumbent decommission or formal retained-read-only status where applicable.
• Publish the acceptance record that lists pass/fail per criterion and the buyer's formal decision.
• Open remediation tickets for any failed criteria with resolution dates and verification steps.
• If replacing an incumbent, record the decommissioning plan and schedule archive/migration completion.
• SLA attainment and credits review
• Confirm quarterly SLA performance and whether any credits or corrective plans are required.
• Ensure the open-issue backlog is up to date and that high-severity items have committed resolution dates.
• Maintain a clear, shared channel and cadence for tracking enhancement requests and operational follow-through.
• Publish the quarterly SLA and operational trends report to the shared channel.
• Update the issue backlog with agreed priorities and resolution target dates.
• Re-confirm success criteria and ownership
• Confirm all deployed sites are reporting expected operational status and monitoring feeds are active.
• Produce a time-bound remediation list for any deployment defects or access issues.
• Agree the cadence and owner for the first measurement data handoff.
• Publish a go-live health report with terminal status, active alerts, and outstanding defects.
• Record remediation actions with target completion dates and circulate for confirmation.
• Confirm monitoring endpoints and dashboard access for the buyer's operational team.
• Present first-period performance data
• Determine which metrics are on track and which require remediation based on data vs targets recorded in Solution Scope.
• Document a prioritized remediation plan with dates to return out-of-target metrics to compliance.
• Confirm the planned date and requirements for the acceptance gate meeting or document an agreed extension if needed.
• Publish the measurement packet with raw telemetry, incident logs, and a gap analysis.
• Present outcome evidence against each criterion
• Operational trend analysis
• Deployment and commissioning validation
• Diagnose gaps and root causes
• Document pass or fail per criterion and record the acceptance decision
• Operations readiness and user onboarding signals
• Open issues and escalation path review
• Agree corrective actions and timelines
• Enhancement request triage and backlog
• Incumbent system wind-down confirmation
• Early telemetry and alert review
• Confirm monitoring thresholds and alerting
• Confirm readiness for acceptance gate
• Agree remediation plan for any failed items
• Confirm operational monitoring cadence and shared channel
• Open issues, blockers, and immediate remediation