"Everything was great up until November," says Steven Garabet, speaking of the whirlwind of events that culminated in the Froggy ISP offices being raided by the Federal police late last year. "They came in with gloves on trying to find anything to help in the investigation against Karl Suleman; nobody expects that kind of thing at work."

Having worked for Froggy for the last ten months, Garabet - along with the rest of the staff at its Liverpool call centre in Western Sydney - has experienced some serious fluctuations in office morale. While many managed to remain positive when ASIC first swooped on Karl Suleman Enterprises, it became more difficult to maintain a Polyanna attitude when ASIC applied for the ISP to be included in its proceedings.

Unsure whether the company was to be wound-up, or sold and broken-up, the Froggy call centre staff responded by simply buckling down and focussing on business.

-It was basically the team leaders and the staff keeping the centre operating," explains assistant call centre manager Salim Youssif. -It was hard not to pay attention to the news. Moral was at its lowest ebb. We just wanted to get through the day."

Youssif, who had already survived the sudden demise of boom-and-bust telco One Tel, admits to contemplating a career change.

-If it wasn't for my team members I wouldn't have stayed," Youssif said. -I wanted to get out of telco [industry]entirely."

Gemima Maugauao, who transferred from Froggy Mobiles to Froggy ISP, believes the crisis created a familial bond amongst the call centre workers, as they were increasingly forced to carry the company's operations on the back of their own enthusiasm.

-The bond amongst the workers is definitely very strong. We became like a family because we had to support each other," Maugauao said. -At first we didn't know what would happen. I felt really embarrassed when my family was watching the news and asking me what was going on. But we do have a lot of faith in the company and in each other and that's what got us through."

Out with the old...

After 22 years working in business planning for Lend Lease, including a five-year stint in Singapore, newly-appointed Froggy CEO Bruce Berry describes the attitude of the Froggy team as extraordinary.

-We have a team of young and enthusiastic people here. They are a very close knit group because they have been through so much together and kept the company operating even when everything seemed to be lost," Berry says. -Their attitude and commitment is exemplary. All they needed was a the right direction and we are committed to providing them with that the direction."

Clearly the Froggy team's enthusiasm for each other is on par with their enthusiasm for new owners Bluejoy, and it would appear that the feeling is entirely mutual.

-At the end of the day, any business comes down to an equation of cash in and cash out, but to do that you need to have sound technology and good people," Berry said. -The great thing is we have got the infrastructure to keep growing, a simple sound product, and most importantly very good people running that technology."

Ilker Teknikeller, network administrator for the Froggy call centre, says the same spirit of camaraderie that was so important during the difficult times, has been fostered by the new administration.

-The really high point of the last couple of months was when the new management came in," Teknikeller said. -Before we were just told to get on with our job as though things were normal, so we were trying really hard to be positive, and now it is really paying off. The company is much better organised, we feel like we are at the beginning of something entirely new, and something that will be able to keep on growing."

Ramsn Benjamin, customer service and tech team leader at the Liverpool call centre, says the change brought about by Bluejoy management was apparent from the first time new owners John Patterson and Timothy Berry visited the offices.

-When they arrived they came around and shook hands with everyone, I knew there wasn't going to be any more closed doors and hidden agendas," Benjamin said. -The company has changed totally. Before it was hard to have someone to look up to, now all of the issues are out in the open and we are even able to put forward our own ideas about the business."

Despite the -closed doors and hidden agendas", Benjamin's says his dedication to his workmates and customers carried him through.

-I can't say I've ever had a bad day at Froggy, I kept telling everyone things would be alright because I knew what was going on wasn't related to us and the way we worked," he says. -If you are negative people can hear it on the other side of the phone, and you need to reassure them. When ASIC came into the offices and the news started pulling us into the picture, I knew we could keep going if we had the right people running the company, and now we do."

The long haul...

After only a month in the job, Bruce Berry admits to facing a fairly steep learning curve. Despite bringing years of business experience to the role, he says he is a new comer to the ISP game.

-It is a very competitive industry, and we face a similar problem to mobile phone companies in terms of customer stickiness," Berry says. -People don't want to change ISPs unless they have to because it often implies changing their e-mail address and so forth."

For this reason, Berry believes the ISP sector requires a particularly creative approach to growing customer numbers.

-We are toying with a number of ideas, but we have yet to come up with a strategic plan," Berry says. -Timing is an issue, at this stage we are looking to capitalise on Froggy's assets and bed down our operations before making any changes."

In the short term however, Berry has moved to shore-up the company's existing offerings with the purchase of an IBM Netfinity 7000 server.

-I am fairly confident we have the IT and physical structures in place to grow substantially," Berry says, indicating the ISP now operates within an office space which formally held Karl Suleman Enterprises, Froggy Mobiles and the Froggy ISP call centre. -With this kind of infrastructure and a loyal customer base concentrated in this area there was never any question we would relocate."

This sentiment is also welcomed by Froggy ISP staff, whose enthusiasm partially stems from the fact that many live locally.

-It is important to have companies like this one in the Liverpool area," says Benjamin. -At one time we were one of the highest youth employers in the area, and now that the new owners have brought in changes that will allow us to grow I am looking forward to the time when we are again."

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