About

We think that our philosophy and our history have a lot to do with what sets CDG apart from other billing and data management companies.

At CDG, we believe in doing right by people. We take great pride in being responsive to our customers and assisting them with knowledge, technology and timely service. But more than simply responding to existing needs, we do our best to anticipate emerging ones.

Our Experience

• We've performed Telephone billing since 1970.
• We've billed CABS since Day One! CDG CABS produced the first invoice received by AT&T on behalf of Alltel in January, 1984.
• We meet the most current CABS Billing Output Specifications (C/BOS) standards and have been C/BOS compliant since 1987.
• We process CABS messages in all 50 states and produce telecommunications billing to 45 clients nationwide.
• Our 90+ CABS clients represent the largest national carriers, established and emerging CLECs, and traditional ILECs.
• We produce modern web-based billing with features to satisfy e-billing commerce, as well as embellished reporting and dashboards.

Our Commitment to Our Clients

• We assign dedicated support and implementation experts that start with you and stay with you.
• Our support and implementation staff have more than 100 years combined experience working in the industry.
• We offer instructional seminars at CDG's headquarters, client-site training, and online training customized for each company.
• We'll work with you to make sure that all aspects of your billing meet your needs before it goes out the door.

Our Story

Central Illinois Origins

Established in 1970 as a department within the Bank of Illinois, the organization initially devoted itself to two primary functions: data processing for the Bank of Illinois and subscriber bill processing for small, independent telephone companies.

In 1978 the organization participated in the AT&T subsidiary Advanced Mobile Phone Service Inc. (AMPS) trial for the initial cellular service in the United States performed by Ameritech Chicago for billing cellular usage and produced the first cellular billing for the industry.

When Bank Illinois Company (BIC) was incorporated in 1985 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bank of Illinois, their billing focus expanded to include the new cellular billing market.

Carrier Access Billing

In 1984, our company became one of a select few industry pioneers in the new field of Carrier Access Billing (CABS), by developing one of the first Carrier Access Billing systems after AT&T divesture and was the first company to submit a carrier access bill to AT&T Communications on behalf of Alltel Corporation Midwest Region. This was done in record time to fully satisfy all FCC, state regulatory bodies, NECA requirements and many other tariff requirements. Quite unique to the shifting telecommunications environment, some members of the original CABS development team remain with CDG and still act as stewards of this highly prized application.

The development of an industry compliant C/BOS carrier access bill for both bill data tape and paper formats was completed in 1988 and a year later CDG became the only independent software development vendor to sit on the C/BOS Technical Review Group, the group tasked with determining acceptable changes and their implementation in future C/BOS versions.

Hargray Communications

In 1990, the landline telephone and carrier access billing divisions of BIC were acquired by Hargray Communications Group of South Carolina, and it became Communications Data Group, Inc. (CDG). The new relationship with Hargary Communications provided CDG with a wealth of first-hand industry knowledge and the corporate culture of a family owned business. A telecommunications leader itself, Hargray enriched CDG with a traditional understanding of the thinking, needs and vision of telecommunications businesses. By fostering trust and supporting autonomy, Hargray Communications nurtured CDG to become a highly respected, expert billing enterprise adeptly successful at creating industry desired products and unparalleled service and support ethics.

Business Development

In 1992, CDG entered an agreement with IBM to perform annual disaster recovery testing, and the next year CDG acquired AT&T's MiniCABS customer base. We developed upgrades and maintained the software program until the application faced obsolescence with Y2K compliance. AT&T's endorsement of CDG serves as reinforcement of its credibility in the marketplace.

CDG relocated its offices in 1994 from downtown Champaign, IL, to its current site on Duncan Road. This expansion more appropriately housed a growing employee population, and CDG gained the opportunity to rebuild its computer center to be a "state of the art" facility with modern equipment, to launch new network facilities and to position the organization for future technology and business advancements.

In 2003, CDG completed the development of a new, highly efficient telecommunications billing system with the introduction of MBS. This entailed a complete re-engineering of the organization's data collection, bill calculation, customer care and operational software to provide a truly convergent billing solution.

New Ownership

In 2007, Bob LaBonté and Bill Oglesby acquired CDG from its parent company Hargray Communications Group. Mr. LaBonté and Mr. Oglesby, the former COO and CFO of the Hargray companies, were actively involved with CDG for many years and now serve as CDG Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, respectively.

CDG Today

CDG has updated the interfaces and increased the efficency of our MBS and CABS product lines. In 2010 CDG rebranded and launched a new website.