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- From Guest Blogger Jeffrey Harrington – The Outside Plant Puzzle: Pre and Post Build Process
- Customer-Centric Culture
- Google’s Plan for Fiber-Optic Networks
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2010
From Guest Blogger Jeffrey Harrington – The Outside Plant Puzzle: Pre and Post Build Process
My title, Outside Plant Manager, might immediately bring to mind thoughts of pulling fiber through manholes and construction of plant up on telephone poles. Although I am on the construction side of the house here at Veroxity and am out in the field on a daily basis, much of what I do is more about the coordination, preparation, and maintenance that goes into the build rather than the actual build itself. I would argue that 80% of my team’s time is dedicated to these pre- and post-build phases while the other 20% is spent installing the fiber itself. Getting our fiber from point A to point Z is always going to be the name of the game but in order to do that, we have to hit every letter in between.
Relationship-building (with city officials, utilities, etc.), planning, permitting, surveying, and quality-control are all incredibly important pieces of the Outside Plant (OSP) puzzle. Getting the cable in the ground or on the pole is the easy part. Going through the tedious and pain-staking process of planning and permitting a route or working with impossibly long timelines that you have no control over is where it tends to get sticky.
Permitting and licensing has always played an integral role in fiber builds. But in a down economy with fewer licensors and increased competition, the timelines can be pretty daunting. The trick is to have alternative plans. Getting the customer up and running on schedule while abiding by every rule, regulation, and standard (and believe me, there are many!) is the end goal and in order to accomplish this, we usually need to adjust the original plans. For example, if it is going to take over a year to license a fiber-run aerially and the customer needs service in 8 months, then we have to find another way to get the job completed. Is an underground run an option? Can we construct our own conduit?
In addition, making sure every necessary detail has been carried out in all phases of the build process is essential to the success of each project. We are constantly looking for ways to expedite the entire construction process from start to finish. New and improved equipment, strategizing fiber routes around utility and city permitting timelines, and selecting contractors that are right for each specific job are all a part of this. Our project managers and field crews work tirelessly to support this methodology.
Don’t get me wrong; every now and then I definitely get my hands dirty. But it’s often with a pen as we painstakingly plan out the best ways for Veroxity to exceed our customers’ expectations.
Jeffrey Harrington
Outside Plant Manager
jharrington@veroxity.com
2010
Customer-Centric Culture
Customer service seems to come up quite frequently as something that sets organizations apart from their peers, whether it sets them ahead or behind the pack is a different story. There is not a company on the planet that wants to have, or be known to have, sub-par customer service, but there is a lot of it out there. How did we let the importance of the age-old adage, “the customer is always right” slip through the cracks?
I believe that customer service, especially for telecommunications providers, needs to be more of a value set or culture that is instilled within a company’s core. Employees need to genuinely believe in it. From my experience, organizations either have this true value set or they don’t, and it becomes apparent it’s either one or the other pretty quickly in most cases. Immediately upon entering a phone conversation as a customer, I can tell if I am the entity that is indeed ‘always right’ or if I am simply a burden amongst a sea of similar burdens that someone must take on during their work day.
In my opinion, we need to get back down to basics. Nothing works perfectly 100% of the time, we all know that. But what a difference it makes to know that in the event that something does go wrong, you can expect a fully qualified, living human being to pick up your call rather than a recording that is “sorry, but didn’t get that … please state the reason for your call today.” We have all been there, and never want to go back.
We’ve heard it a million times, and as cliché as it sounds, it is the truth. The customer is always right. They can make or break an organization. Technology today allows an unsatisfied customer to broadcast their opinion and experience to the world with the click of a button. As a service provider you need to be more than just a self-proclaimed, well-oiled customer service machine; because in the end, if the customer doesn’t believe it, you simply have a menu of services with nothing behind them.
Filed under: Customer Service, General
Tagged: customer-centric culture, telecommunications providers
2010
Google’s Plan for Fiber-Optic Networks
A couple of years ago when Google was reaching out to a number of different sources looking for dark fiber, the general public knew that something was coming out of it, we just didn’t know what. The recent news about Google’s plan to build a number of experimental, fiber-optic networks has created quite a buzz in the world of telecommunications and the questions are now beginning to resurface. It seems that Google is willing, ready, and able to try their hand at anything technology related. We have established that. I am sitting at my desk ‘Googling’ information about Google while talking on my Google Android cell phone. When these networks are complete will we be ‘Googling’ on an internet provided by Google-owned fiber? I am curious as to what their main intentions and goals are with the building of this network. At first glance it looked like they were simply trying to reduce network costs by in-sourcing it completely but now I am not so sure. Is this endeavor really meant to be geared toward the ‘500,000 people’ they mention or is this more of an enterprise business plan? To me, it seems as though it could end up being a cannibalistic product offering. They would have to be competing with the Verizon’s and AT&T’s of the world if they built this network. Regardless of their intentions, Google has proven itself time and again at being incredibly successful at everything they get their hands in and I have no doubt that they will accomplish whatever it is they are setting out to do. I look forward to seeing their influence reflected in the telecommunications space.
Filed under: Carrier, Enterprise, General, Uncategorized
Tagged: experimental fiber networks, Fiber network expertise, Fiber-optic networks
2009
Veroxity Named an Inc. Fastest Growing Company
Our latest news…Veroxity has been named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies in America. We have landed at #1816 out of the 5000 and are also #56 for the Telelcommunications industry and #61 for Boston-based companies. We attribute our 175% growth to our dedicated team, our great clients and our quality of service/support.
Read the press release: Veroxity Technology Partners® Named an Inc. Fastest Growing Company
Cheers,
Renay
2009
Social Media for the Telecom Industry
I read a great post yesterday out on the Dark Fiber Resource blog entitled, “Using Social Media Effectively in Telecom and Colocation.”
In it, Michael Murphy talks about the benefits that social media has for the Telecom industry. Too often, more traditional industries are concerned with negative feedback and comments, thinking that by blogging, Tweeting, etc. they will open themselves up to a heap of trouble. I could not disagree more. As Michael mentions, opening up the dialog between you and your customers brings trust, better customer relations and product improvements. It leads to transparency which is something that is very important to this industry.
I would also encourage Telecom organizations to look at which social media technologies their customers and prospects care about. Do they follow Twitter? Which blogs do they read? What organizations and online communities do they belong to? These are all key pieces of the social media puzzle.
Cheers,
Renay
2009
Telecom Haze
Well here goes! My first blog entry in my first blog!
Telecom is an industry riddled with obscure acronyms and ambiguous terminology. For years, friends or family have asked what I do for work. Years ago, I would try explaining it, but only saw confusion on their faces. Now, I resort to just saying “I work for the phone company” and not elaborating any further.
It is truly amazing how little a majority of people know what goes into placing a phone call, surfing the internet, or sending a text message. On an hourly basis, most people utilize some form of telecommunications, without any idea of what is occurring. This in itself is not unique. Most don’t understand the inner workings of their automobiles or their computers. The big difference is that each of those industries has a common terminology. Ford and Chevrolet both call an engine, an engine. Dell and Compaq both call a processor, a processor. Telecom by contrast takes great pride in finding ways to give one thing multiple names, as well as, using a single term to describe multiple things. Is it a T3 or a DS3, a local loop or last-mile circuit, a fiber ring or a fiber loop? Ethernet is a Layer 1 Media and a Layer 2 Signalling Standard. MPLS is a Protocol and a Service.
My personal theory is telecom personnel have convoluted the terminology on purpose in order to make what they do sound more interesting! If telecom simplified it’s language rather than overcomplicating it, our clients and those who do not have formal training in the telecom world will actually understand it better, giving them increased insight into what we do; and perhaps making it possible for me to explain what I do.
2009
Welcome to the Veroxity Blog!
Who is Veroxity? Veroxity is in the business of delivering flexible, scalable data and Internet connectivity. What sets us apart is that we are a one-stop shop for your data communications needs and work with you to customize your solutions. When you sign on with us, you are not simply placing “an order” for service; you are signing on with a partner who will provide detailed engineering and fiber network expertise.
What is the Veroxity blog? This is a forum for our technical and operations staff to keep you up-to-date and inform you of the latest trends and technologies involved in data networking. We would love to get your comments and thoughts on these and other topics that you might be interested in.
Who are the readers of this blog? Enterprise IT infrastructure professionals, engineers, those responsible for IT within their small to medium-sized companies, carrier partners and anyone else who is interested in the world of communications services.
Are you interested in other resources that we offer? Visit: www.veroxity.com/community to sign up and view case studies, articles, papers, etc. We also send out newsletters so we would be happy to add you to our mailing list. We promise not to overload you with email; we respect your privacy and understand that you want information that will make your job easier so that is what we promise to provide.
As the Director of Marketing here at Veroxity, I welcome your thoughts, comments, topics and inquiries. Please email me directly at: rpicard@veroxity.com or give us a call: 617.848.3000.
Cheers,
Renay Picard
Filed under: General
Tagged: Data Networking, Fiber network expertise, Internet connectivity
