Beechwood Data Systems

Beechwood Data Systems is a Clark, New Jersey-based software company that develops integration and data exchange software for telecommunications operators, enabling different computer systems owned by telecom clients to interoperate and swap data seamlessly. Founded in the early 1980s and incorporated in 1987 by Donald Rankin and Paul Hummel — both former Bell Labs consultants — the company built its business on the opportunities created by the 1984 AT&T divestiture, providing software used in systems that process orders and bill for services such as call waiting. The company grew from a startup above a founder's garage in Shrewsbury to a 30,000 sq. ft. operation in Clark serving major regional Bell Operating Companies.