What is an IP Address?

Everyone’s talking IP (Internet Protocol) so I tossed it out as a topic to consider, “ Why not have a discussion about IP Addresses, how business continues to change, and how everything requires an IP Address?”


Great idea, Amy. Put a few sentences together and it will all make sense to the general public, right? It really isn’t that simple.

What is an IP Address? An IP Address is a number used to identify all information technology hardware (printers, routers, etc) allowing that hardware to communicate with other hardware on a computer network.

Think of it as houses on a street. Who are the people in your neighborhood? Each house has a separate address and the correct mailing address is required in order for that house to accept mail. In the IP world, the “houses” are the hardware and the “neighborhood” is the network. IP Addresses are either Public (outside of your network) or Private (inside your network).

Now that we’ve established the neighborhood, let’s talk about Dynamic IP Addresses versus Static IP Addresses. A Static IP Address never changes. (This makes sense and works with my house and neighborhood example.)

A Dynamic IP Address, however, could change at any time. This address is merely assigned from a pool of IP addresses allocated by your ISP (Internet Service Provider) or DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) Server. Think of it like we think of zip codes. One of our employees, Steve Dietterle said he remembered getting mail addressed to Steve Dietterle, Herscher Illinois. His postmaster acted as a DNS server to route the mail to him.

Look for future posts where we talk about classes, versions, and the other components that may be linked to your IP Addresses.

Welcome to the neighborhood!

This was Amy Hershman’s last conversation with Bill Taylor and Steve Dietterle.

Keys and Tapes? What is this 1995? Part 2

As promised here is Part 2 of our discussion on video surveillance and door access. Last post we discussed door access and Taylored Systems’ partnership with Amano. Today we will discuss Axis Communications and their video surveillance products.

Axis is a Swedish-based company, operating worldwide with offices in more than 20 countries. They are the global market leader in network video, driving the ongoing shift from analog to digital video surveillance. Like I said before it’s an exciting time in the world of video surveillance. The shift into IP and digital video has opened up many new doors and has made video surveillance an affordable protection for any and all companies. With the video now being digital it allows for a more reliable method of storage using a DVR and hard disks rather than tapes and VCRs.

The technology has moved away from being just for security and is being used for a multitude of other applications. We have had clients use video recordings to develop “how to” and “how not to” videos for new employee trainings. Other clients record their sales meetings for ongoing training to better their sales staff. We have had clients use the video to settle workman’s comp. claims. Video is being used to settle disputes or incidents that happen in an area a manager cannot see. We have a client who will record all cars entering and exiting their car wash to help with liability claims from damages. The technology has been widely popular in the retail and bar/restaurant industry. Not only for loss prevention by customers but also as loss prevention from employees. Having a camera focusing on the point of sale has helped many businesses weed out untrustworthy employees. There is integration where the point of sale system superimposes all register transaction data onto corresponding video, allowing management to verify cashier activity. Also providing on-screen alarms of suspicious transactions. Integration, like with door access, is one huge benefit to moving from an analog video system to an IP system. The more technologies you have on the network the more you can use them in conjunction with one another. 

As with all IP technologies, IP video surveillance allows for remote management, reporting, and maintenance. It brings the on going costs to an affordable level and allows all business the opportunity use the technology to their benefit. As with anything there are concerns. Bandwidth requirements are a major concern with transferring video. Video requires a significant amount of bandwidth and the better quality of images and refresh rates you want, the more bandwidth you will need. If you have questions just ask…

This was Michael Martin's last conversation with Bill Taylor and Dean Reskevich

Keys and Tapes? What is this, 1995? Pt1

A few months ago Taylored Systems partnered with Amano Security Systems and Axis Communications to provide our customers more options for the growing need of door access and video surveillance products. We also determined after a request for more info on door access technology from our previous post that we should address this topic in a little more detail and add in the video surveillance aspect.

In the last five years, here in Indianapolis, we noticed virtually every new construction project has required either door access, or video surveillance, or both. The interest for these two technologies has increased due to various reasons; mostly technology convergence and upgrades. Our explanation will be done in a two part posting with today’s touching on door access and a video surveillance follow up in a few days.

Door access utilizes IP technology to allow more flexibility controlling enterprise locations. Before these devices were IP capable, if someone had multiple locations all of the changes would need to be done on each site. Today networking the systems together can result in one administrator for any and all locations, no matter their location. As we discussed before it is also reducing the cost of installation by limiting the necessary wiring and cabling, and because these devices are residing on a company’s network it allows for integration with other components and easier use. This provides more in-depth functionality including:

· Triggering cameras to focus on a particular event

· Associate an event with an image database to determine if the fob/card holder is the correct user

· Ability to provide temporary fobs/cards that only allow access to certain doors at certain times (i.e. schools that have different groups that meet after-hours, UPS or other deliveries, cleaning services, etc)

· Deactivated or “flagged” cards/fobs triggering events to show the person by camera or notify necessary individuals

· If a door is held open the access system can trigger an alarm notification

· Integration with HV/AC and machine controls to keep all notifications coming from one location

· Notification by virtually any form of communication including text message, email, Tweet, SMS, phone call, etc.

· Storage of information on the hardware level- SMS modems inside the units allow for redundancy. If the network fails the notifications can still go out

Taylored Systems saw adding Amano to our product line as a better way to provide our customers an all inclusive solution ranging virtually all aspects of technology for a business large or small. Our customer’s demands and suggestions are always leading us into another realm of technology…so keep the suggestions coming and thank you!

This was Michael Martin's latest conversation with Bill Taylor and Dean Reskevich. Please stay tuned for Pt 2.

Made in America?

The other day I was watching part of Rocky IV on TV and seeing Apollo Creed’s entrance into the ring for his fatal exhibition bout with the visiting Russian champ, Ivan Drago, sent a huge patriotic surge into my mind. I guess it’s something about James Brown’s rendition of “Living in America” and Apollo’s famous stars and stripes trunks with his Uncle Sam hat that got me thinking.

(see what I mean)

We all know the terrible state of the American and world economy. We know the horrible state the American automotive industry is in, and that more and more jobs are lost by outsourcing to other areas of the world, but let’s look at what can be done to help. In an industry of technology and electronics how can Taylored Systems provide an American made solution to do our part to keep this country moving forward? I thought there is no way that is possible. I was completely wrong.

When I did some research, I found virtually every product we carry has an option that is American made, if not every option. One of the phone systems we carry is assembled in California. Another phone system and our data equipment are assembled in Alabama. Both of the overhead paging products we provide are American made. The voice and data structured cabling we provide is made here in America. The cable management is made in the Chicago area. The door access products we use are made in our neighboring state, Ohio.

Okay, okay, I know where you are going with your argument. Yes the circuit boards and the majority of the pieces that make these electronics work are not American made. There is no disputing of that. However with these products being assembled in the United States they are American made. Also, and more importantly they are providing Americans with jobs to put these electronics together. These jobs are forming the equipment necessary to power other businesses. Those businesses are hiring other American workers to accomplish their goals as a business. Those businesses are providing goods and services for the American people and people of the world. It is a process that is never ending. We don’t need this to be an economics class, we all know how this works.

Everything and everyone is connected. The more we help one another, the more we help ourselves. Figure out what you can do to help. Here at Taylored Systems, we will continue to do our part.

Remote IP is the Answer

Following Michael’s previous blog regarding IP Technology, Bill was discussing how back in the days before remote IP was available if his employees got sick, a spouse or child got sick, an employee took maternity leave, or had surgery, he was short handed at Taylored Systems due to their absence. Today using this same scenario he has the availability of Remote IP in the home to connect his employees so that they can work while recuperating from surgery, staying home with sick kids, are on maternity leave, or recovering from H1N1 and not infecting his other employees or customers.

Remote IP has advanced to the point where if the employee has no IP or Softphone in their home, one can be sent UPS to them, and as long as the individual’s home network is broadband the preprogrammed IP phone can just be hooked up. With certain phone systems like the Zultys which Taylored Systems uses, employees can bind to their home phone or the MXIE built-in Softphone, and when customer calls come into the workplace they are transferred to the employee at home as a seamless call.

Employees using this new IP Technology are now able to work from home when off due to illness, recuperating from surgery, maternity leave, or the sickness of a spouse or child. Through the use of VPN (Virtual Private Network) employees can also access the network files on the company’s server, or by using a Remote Desktop from their home computer they can connect to their work computer and it would be the same as if they were at Taylored Systems.

Remote IP Technology is the answer for any business that needs to be kept running during a pandemic where people need to stay home so they don’t infect or get infected by others, or merely when someone is recovering from surgery but is still capable of doing work from home. We no longer need to feel that work can’t get done due to a depleted workforce from pandemics, surgery, or other illnesses. Thanks to VPN or Remote Desktop employees have the capability to work from their home computers, and IP Phones will continue to connect them to their workplace as if they actually were at the office. With this technology available to everyone, no business should be under the weather due to their workforce being depleted by pandemics, or any other illness.

Due to the commotion with H1N1 and the anticipated problem it may cause this winter, perhaps now would be a good time to determine if your phone system is capable of IP Technology, or what it would take to make your system capable.

Mary Couch’s conversation with Bill Taylor

IP technology- Saves money and makes life easier so why aren’t we all using it????

The other day I was reading a side article by Cliff Kuang in the September issue of WIRED magazine titled: When will international phone calls be free? The article caught my attention and spawned some thinking. I posed this question to Bill to gain his thoughts too. The article explained that with the surge in cell phones and voice-over-IP technology in the recent past, it’s not as far off as one might believe. Eventually, long distance will be wrapped into your 4G data plan and treated as though you are sending the calls from an IP source to another IP source (think Skype to Skype currently). So I started to think about how we currently use IP technology, what it has done, and what it can do.

Currently we use IP technology in our personal lives as well as in business. When you pick up the Hofner styled “Rock Band” bass guitar to play the McCartney parts for the new Beatles edition and sign on to join a “Rock Band” John Lennon anywhere in the world, IP technology is being used. When you watch TV on your computer using Hulu or even on your flat panel through AT&T Uverse, you are using IP to receive that signal. When you download a book from Amazon to your Kindle, you are using IP technology. When you check your Gmail from any computer in the world, you are using IP and cloud computing (we will talk about that technology on a later date).

IP technology can offer tremendous effeciencies and help in day to day business; increasing productivity and decreasing costs by:

Using one centralized voicemail and/or phone system or linking multiple smaller systems together

• Enterprise wide voicemail messages
• Much easier Unified messaging,
• Enterprise-wide presence management
• Enterprise-wide call transfer
• Enterprise-wide 3 or 4 digit dialing

Remote or Home offices

• Before IP when a company had worker working from their home it required; phone service, fax machine, and a computer. There was a delay from the time the employee received the bills and they were paid to when the accounting department would then reimburse the employee and also the amount of work on the accounting department to keep track of everything.
• Now with IP a company can provide a laptop with a softphone or a laptop with a physical IP phone. They can work in an internet reimbursement program into the salary and it helps ease the pain and lighten the work for all parties involved.

IP technology can also be used in the office to reduce traveling expenses and costs of dial tone and internet:

• Video conferencing
• Web conferencing
• Dynamic Internet and Dial tone- this is sending your voice and data over one circuit to reduce line costs and share unused idle bandwidth.

Although IP technology provides benefits to us in our personal life and business life, there are concerns. There are quality issues with companies offering free Long Distance if these products because are going out over the public internet and not a carrier network. IP based calling that does not have Quality of Service (QOS allows for the correct voice packets to be delivered in the order they should be and have priority over the data packets) may result in dropped calls, jitter, and poor call quality. When looking at your business does it make sense to risk talking with your multi-million dollar European account over these types of services to save a few bucks on long distance? I doubt it. But can you talk to your friends and family from overseas using these services at home, why not? Do you still need to have face to face meetings rather than video or web conferencing, if it’s an important enough meeting? ABSOULTELY! However there are major benefits. So the question is “How can technology improve my business or my personal life? How can I use it in my environment?” Chances are there is a technology that can help in whatever you are trying to accomplish.

This was Michael Martin's latest conversation with Bill Taylor

Technology and Workplace Wellness – Easing the Strain

Have you ever considered how technology can help improve office wellness?

We recently invited a company into our office to complete an ergonomic assessment. Initially, we braced ourselves for a hefty price tag of adjustments and a laundry list of purchases to help ease the discomfort some employees were experiencing. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that we had minimal adjustments to make and were reminded of how important it is to use technology to aid us in our workplace wellness.

One change for us was making sure that employees who are on the phone a lot use wireless telephone headsets. I’m not talking about the headsets you might be thinking of…the big, clunky, over the head ones with cords that tangled and limited your mobility. There was a day here at Taylored Systems when, prior to selling a telephone headset we’d ask , “Do you want an over the ear or over the head piece,” or “ Would you prefer a one-ear or two-ear piece headset”? And don’t even think about those headsets being wireless…these had a limited radius of mobility!

Today, thanks to blue tooth technology and the types of ear pieces prevalent with iPods and cell phones, most people have come to expect and enjoy the small size and excellent quality that is also available with business phone compatible head and ear pieces.

You may recall a scene from the movie Black Sheep where Chris Farley’s character is making campaign calls and he straps the phone receiver to his head using a sweatband in order to have his hands free to work. Now it’s easier – no sweat band (or sweat) required. In fact, we’ve seen business telephones adapt by providing “blue tooth integration”. This technology allows you to “pair” a standard Bluetooth headset with your office phone, so you can seamlessly answer, originate, and terminate phone calls directly from the headset. It provides the standard headset features with the mobility of Bluetooth.

We recently worked with a customer who decided to swap out their cordless telephones for cordless headsets because they wanted the mobility and convenience of a headset with the quality of a business telephone system. It means increased productivity for employers and convenience for employees.

So what does this all mean for us and our ergonomic study? We purchased a few foot rests, adjusted a few monitors, and encouraged everyone to utilize a headset…and things are working great.

This was Amy Hershman’s last conversation with Bill Taylor and Steve McDonald.

THANK GOODNESS FOR DISASTER RECOVERY PLANS

While talking to Bill at Taylored Systems the other day, he commented “Thank Goodness for Disaster Recovery Plans.” I asked him why, and Bill replied that on Friday, July 24th at 3:30PM when he was out of the office, someone cut the AT&T fiber outside the building knocking out the Taylored Systems phone lines. Of course, with our Disaster Recovery Plan, it didn’t matter if he was at the office or not because he has a strong team that knows how to execute the recovery plan. We have multiple ways to reroute all the telephone traffic in this type of situation:

1] reroute our calls to SIP trunks that come in on separate circuits to the building,

2] forward our extensions to cell phones, or other phones outside the office building, or

3] forward our lines to the live answering service we use for after hours and weekends.

So at 3:30PM that Friday we elected to send calls from our customers to the live answering service as the most convenient and efficient solution, since we would have forwarded our lines to them within the next hour and a half as usual. We could still call out using the SIP trunks( which are live all the time), so work went on for the rest of the day. Even our router for the internet according to Mark Sassman, an IT staff member, did its job correctly. It appears that when the main T1 internet connection drops for about one and one-half minutes it fails over to an alternate fiber internet connection on another carrier. This allowed for our SIP phone lines to keep on working even though our main phone lines had been cut, and email continued to flow in over the alternate connection to the server. This was a great example of disaster recovery technology at work compared to years ago when we might not have been able to continue helping our customers.

Bill checked to see that everything was up and working properly in the interim, and returned to the office at 7:00PM that night to let the AT&T repairman in to test the circuit, which came back up at 8:30PM. By Monday everything was back to normal as if it had never occurred. A Disaster Recovery Plan is something that we here at Taylored Systems use, as well as advocate for our customers. Please feel free to comment on this posting with stories of how your plan has saved your organization or how not having a plan has made it difficult to continue.

This was Mary Couch's most recent conversation with Bill Taylor.

MOON LANDING – TECHNOLOGY THEN AND NOW

It has been 40 years since the historic Moon Landing on July 20, 1969 when 500 million people watched a live broadcast of Apollo 11 to see Neil Armstrong step off the “Eagle” onto the moon’s surface, and say “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

The inspiration provided by that goal is credited for laying the groundwork for a host of technologies that society depends on today. Consider the integrated circuit, commonly referred to as a computer chip. The Apollo Guidance Computer used for the Apollo program was the largest single consumer of integrated circuits between 1961 and 1965. NASA did not invent it, but did play a major role in making the integrated computer chip commercially viable in addition to encouraging the push toward the development of the personal computer, and sowing the seeds of the Internet.

The technologies that helped Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins reach the moon spurred the development of such products as wireless headsets, freeze-dried foods, cordless vacuum cleaners and bicycle helmets. They also used a digital technology to map the lunar surface that Estee Lauder later used to study high resolution images of human skin to design cosmetics. Whether you’re looking through a telescope, or looking through a microscope, the technology is the same.

Consider that 40 years ago computers were thought to be little more than “giant room-sized machines that were extremely large and power-hungry.” That image changed when NASA built a worldwide computer network to maintain communications with the astronauts. Microprocessors gained wide acceptance when they were introduced in the 1970s changing the perception of computing, proving that a computer could do something in the real world instead of a data-processing center.

In the 40 years since Bill Taylor and I watched the moon landing, NASA-related technology has come down to earth with hundreds of everyday products developed or modified using aerospace research from baby formula to swimsuits. The first things people think about are Tang, Teflon and Velcro. Actually none of these originated with the space program. Tang was developed in 1957 and John Glenn drank it while in orbit in 1962, upping its visibility and linking it to the space program. Teflon used for some heat shields and spacesuits, and Velcro used to keep equipment from floating around, have a role in the space program but originated well before NASA. However there are plenty of items widely in use with ties to the space program such as Global Communications and GPS systems, baby formula, scratch resistance lens for glasses, athletic fabrics and improved weather forecasting. Robotic tools on the space vehicles lead to artificial limbs, and the scanning system used by the astronauts lead to MRI, CAT SCAN and Ultra Sound machines.

Technology has advanced through the merits of the NASA Space Program from 40 years ago to more wireless applications in communications, laptop computers, GPS systems, digital imaging, and even better swimsuits and fabrics. I wonder what technology advancements we will see in the next 40 years as the NASA program continues and perhaps someday goes even further to travel to distant planets such as Mars.

Mary Couch’s conversation with Bill Taylor

Fiber Optics and 10 Gigabit Technology

Wired vs. Wireless, Power over Ethernet (PoE), PoE Plus, what’s next? Funny you should ask. As we continue our conversations on connectivity, it only makes sense that the next topic we explore is fiber.

You’ll notice we skipped the “copper” discussion. There was a point in time that copper was commonly used. The drawbacks to copper wiring were the distance limitations and the interference. Consumers wanted a clean, clear signal and found the solution in fiber.

Just for fun, I asked a few people, “What comes to mind when you think of fiber/ fiber optics?” For one person, it was the way fiber optics are used to create the magic at Disney from the glistening lights in the cement to the amazing shows. For another it was the little toy wands that you can get at a circus-like event that has strands of multi colored fiber optic lights. For me, I have the image of the fiber optic snowman that Hallmark has sold over the Holidays that can change colors and add a festive glow to the room.

In actuality, have you ever stopped to think about how fiber optics impacts your day to day activities? Imagine the hundreds of thousands of miles of fiber beneath the ground you are standing on. We use fiber to connect our buildings and communities. It is a framework in our society, weaving together campuses, businesses, and residential areas so all people can share and access the technology.

You may have heard the terms “single mode” and “multi mode” fiber.

Single Mode (more expensive) is typically used for “long haul” scenarios. This is considered the better choice for high precision needs. Electronics needed to support this fiber cost more, however the bandwidth quality is exceptional.

Multi Mode (less expensive) is typically used for communication over shorter distances, often over a campus or within a building. Electronics needed to support this fiber will cost less.
Technology will change. Business will evolve. People will adapt new methods to streamline processes. Files will continue to get larger, the cost of data storage will continue to decrease and we will rely on new technology to stay in the game.

The current “hot topic” now is 10 Gigabit. It warrants your attention. As the need for bandwidth to support video, voice and data networks increases, 10 Gigabit Fiber will provide the pipe large enough to accommodate these growing bandwidth needs. Be on the lookout for more to come on 10 Gigabit information and how it will impact your day to day activities and the very ground you are standing on today.

This was Amy Hershman’s last conversation with Bill Taylor and Dean Reskevich

PoE Plus

Last installment of the blog we talked about Power over Ethernet technology. We discussed what it is, what is does, and how it works. Today, as promised, we will discuss the future of PoE technology, PoE +. PoE + is an improvement and more developed version of its predecessor, like the Playstation 3, Gen 3 iPhone, and Windows Vis…ehh Windows 7.

PoE currently is capable to deliver up to 12.95 watts to the powered device at a safe nominal 48 volts direct current over Cat5 cabling or higher. The IEEE recognized an opportunity to enhance the capabilities of PoE to deliver necessary power to devices that make sense to run on PoE but need more juice. PoE+ will deliver up to 29.5 watts to the powered device at a safe nominal 53 volts DC over Cat5e or higher rated cabling. But with PoE as with really any cabling you have done for a new install it should be Cat5e or higher.

PoE + will be a huge benefit to energy consumption and costs as well as helping move people into the next realm of technology easier and more efficiently. Here is a list of a few devices that will be able to be powered by PoE+:

• Laptop Computers and Thin Clients- Imagine the savings of one cable to the desktop, using your phone as a switch to connect your phone and computer back to the main server room. No more power bricks of any kind. Also using an IP phone and a virtualized desktop or cloud computing for true inter-enterprise ease of mobility.
• Security cameras with pan/tilt/zoom capabilities
• IP television
• Factory Automation
• WiMax transceivers providing wireless data over long distances
• Biometric sensors- With the ever constant development in security these types of sensors that were once a part only of Sci-fi movies are now becoming common place.
  

Now don’t rush out and expect to purchase devices that are PoE+ compatible. The technology is still in the development and testing stages however it is not as far off as one would believe. There are many parts of the equation that will have to work together for the release of the technology. The switch manufacturers need to make their devices send the power, the powered devices will need to make their equipment receive the power, and both will need to retro-fit existing equipment to accept the new technology. There has already been one issue that has been solved; sending so much power through the cabling was heating the cables to an unsafe level. Through their studies the IEEE has developed a standard to make sure the correct cables are used and installed properly for the specific devices being powered. As you are ready to move forward with the new technology make sure you are working with a BICSI certified installer and someone who understands the technology and what needs to be done. We would not want your cabling to burn down your business, but in the event it does…be proactive on how to recover. http://taylored.com/business-continuity

This was Michael Martin's latest conversation with Bill Taylor and Dean Reskevich.

PoE / Power over Ethernet

Do you think Alexander Graham Bell thought his “vocal telegraph” invention would ever be the source of new technologies over the last 100 years? Telephones have spurred numerous trends and inventions from voicemail to mobile devices to text messaging to voice documentation, just to name a few. One technology that came out of the IP version of telephones was Power over Ethernet (PoE) technology.

Traditional TDM or digital phones are connected back to a phone system using copper wiring. This copper wiring is used to send the digital signal from the port card in the TDM telephone system. This signal powers the telephone set and it’s LED lights. When using TCP/IP to send data and voice, as IP phones do, those signals cannot use the same pairs as power. When VoIP telephones, using TCP/IP to communicate, first came out there was a question of how do we power these new devices? One solution was to add a power brick to each phone and plug it into an outlet. This seemed a bit over-kill for power consumption as well as, “just one more thing to buy and worry about.” This is where PoE took shape. To solve the problem manufacturers began sending power over the unused wire pairs in the Ethernet cables.

Today most common PoE set ups are comprised of a PoE switch(es), powered by a centralized power unit. There is then an Ethernet cable running from the switch to the device that will be Powered over Ethernet. This allows for a couple newer developments into the IT and telecom world. We can now run one network for both voice and data using one cable, or run separate networks using one cable depending on your switch’s capability (there is then a patch cord from the phone to the computer connecting both back to the switch). With IP phones working so well over PoE and the culmination of both networks using only one cable it lead to a thought. If we can power these phones this way what else can we power this way and what benefits does it give?

PoE can currently be used for:
· IP telephones
· IP security cameras
· Wireless access points
· Radio frequency identification (RFID) tag readers
· Print servers
· Bar code scanners
· Building automation system; including thermostats, smoke detectors, alarm systems, security access, industrial clocks/timekeepers, and badge readers

Benefits of PoE:
· Lower install costs (those magic words again…lower costs)
· Going Green…reduction of costs as well as a reduction of energy consumption
· Space saver…consolidation of wiring saves precious space in ordinarily cramped and full data rooms

As with everything in the telecom and IT industry, PoE is going through an upgrade and change. Soon there will be a new form of PoE that will have increased power allowing us to power even more devices using PoE and open up many more opportunities for PoE benefits. Stay tuned, the next post will be on PoE+, the next generation of PoE.

This was Mike Martin's last conversation with Bill Taylor and Dean Reskevich

Wired vs Wireless Technology

At Taylored Systems the other morning, I had a discussion on wired vs. wireless technology with Bill and Dean Reskevich, our Vice President of Installations. Bill had thought that five to ten years ago wireless would have become more prevalent than wired, but he was wrong.

Even though wireless is a convenient way of accessing a network, or “the Internet,” allowing you the freedom to work anywhere, sometimes the use of an Ethernet cable makes more sense. With wireless you still have cables at the access points, there is a limited range of signal and speed decreases depending on your distance from the main source. Your signal can also be intercepted (low security), and signals are affected by other signals and radio waves.

However with a wired network the signals can’t be intercepted down the wire (high security), and have immensely high speeds depending on the cable and hardware. You can plug and play without messing around with settings, and most people feel they are in a comfort zone with the use of a wired solution over a wireless.

Dean stated that structured wiring (cabling) has come a long way from the use of locations with (4) cables (quads) to single runs which can support data & voice with VoIP Technology and from the migration from Cat-5 to Cat-5e to Cat-6 all the way to Augmented Cat-6 (Cat-6a) which gives you 10 Gig technology to your desktop. With the VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) technology, being wired is more cost effective than using wireless and a whole lot safer. Also with the PoE Switches (Power Over Ethernet) life just keeps getting better being wired instead of wireless.

Taylored Systems, a communications technology company based out of Noblesville, Indiana, uses a wired solution along with several wireless access points for laptop capability around the building. However , even though he uses a wireless laptop, Bill sometimes has to plug it in due to reliability issues.

Wireless can be indispensable when you need to locate a networked device in an area where running cable is not practical such as older homes, but a wired solution is still your best bet for more speed, reliability, security and less interference from other sources. Wireless Technology is being used more in Manufacturing and Warehousing as way to keep track of inventory and mobile employees. To me having an Ethernet cable to plug my computer into makes more sense especially if I am somewhere on vacation and the wireless keeps dropping my signal giving me a major headache, and not letting me get connected to my world.

Mary Couch’s conversation with Bill Taylor & Dean Reskevich

SIP here, SIP there, SIP everywhere

Last post we discussed a general overview of a newer technology that is taking our industry by storm, Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) trunks. Taylored Systems is using SIP trunks and we have found some great applications for the technology. We have also found some applications where it might not be the best fit. Like any newer technology there are some great benefits, but there are some issues that will need to be worked through. This is where your telecom and technology trusted advisor can step in and help sift through the acronyms and technical jargon to breakdown it down to a simple explanation to assist in making an educated decision.

Time for school….

Lesson 1- Advantages to SIP trunks over existing dial tone options

· Pay for what you use

o In a scenario where a company needs or wants Direct Inward Dial numbers (direct number rather than an being transferred to an extension), but does not need all 23 channels of a PRI (pronounced PRY) for dial tone they can use the number of SIP trunks they do need and still have the ability to give everyone a direct dial number in a more cost effective manner.

o There are some applications, depending on your SIP provider, where SIP trunks can be shared over multiple locations no matter where the locations are physically located. Also these trunks can be burstable, for instance if you have 40 SIP trunks for the entire company and someone needs a 41^st trunk to make a call, not a problem. If you go over your allotment the provider will give you the trunk for use at a per-minute rate. Very similar to cell phone minutes.

· Multi-device harware or no added hardware

o When using a traditional TDM phone system with a PRI or Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS lines) the hardware within the phone system to make these types of dial tone lines work can only be used for those lines. When using SIP trunks on a TDM phone system there is still hardware needed, but it will be an IP card. So rather than buying a card that will only be used for your type of dial tone, with an IP card you can run more than just your dial tone. An IP card, normally 16 or 24 ports, can be used for SIP trunks, IP phones, networking, ACD voice assistant ports, and voicemail.

o When using a pure IP phone system with a PRI or POTS lines you will need to add a PRI card or a card for the POTS lines. However when using SIP on a pure IP system there is no need for extra equipment…

• SIP is native to the newer pure IP phone systems
• A pure IP phone system is communicating within itself using SIP. When you bring in a SIP trunk and connect it to a SIP based system there are no conversions thus limiting the chance of voice quality issues. When you connect a digital signal, such as a PRI, or an analog signal, such as POTS lines to a SIP based system you will have conversions from digital or analog to SIP, possibly causing some quality issues. I enlisted some help around our office when coming up with real world analogies and received two great ones which lead me to mine. I couldn’t pick from the 3 so here they all are…

1. Communicating via SIP to SIP is like taking a direct flight rather than a flight with stops and layovers. When you convert signals on the phone system the voice packets are like your luggage, the more stops and the more times it changes hands the more likely your luggage will not end up in its originally designed destination.

2. With Star Trek buzz in the air with this summer’s release you can imagine the SIP to SIP is like being “beamed up.” Obviously when you’re talking about matter being transported you wouldn’t want any conversions and would want the same quality as you would with voice packets being transported.

3. The prior example made me think of the comedy styling’s of Mel Brooks. There is a scene in Spaceballs when President Skroob is beamed from one room to another and when he reaches the destination his head facing one way and the rest of his body facing the other way….we wouldn’t want that to happen to your voice packets. They don’t have the option to just walk over to the next room like he does.

• Reduce Long Distance costs (Yes those magic words “reduce costs”)
• When talking SIP to SIP you will eliminate long distance costs for internal communication without needing the phone systems to network or an MPLS or Point to Point connection.

Lesson 2- Issues to be aware of and talked about with your provider

• Bandwidth
• Do you have enough bandwidth to handle both voice and data traffic?
• Does your bandwidth have Quality of Service to the switch, or the ability for it to be added?
• Business essentials that do not work well with SIP
• Fax Machines, Alarms, 911
  • Currently fax machines struggle with SIP services or any type of dynamic product. With faxing becoming less and less prevalent in today’s business world this might not be a huge deal. Due to email and scanners the fax machine could very well become the next answering machine.
  • Alarm companies will still require a direct POTs line for their systems
  • 911 can be come an issue. Talk with your provider to make sure you will be set up so your location that 911 will read is your actual location.

We understand all of the acronyms and the technical jargon can be overwhelming. Basically as an end user you should take away that there are options out there. When your dial tone contract comes up for renewal or expiration, what you have might not be the best fit, even if it was 3 years ago. The rate of change in the telecom, business telephones, and dial tone industry is amazing. Make sure your trusted advisor is on top of the new technology and can give you an accurate assessment of needs and what will be the best fit. Here in Indianapolis we have a whole plethora of options and providers, make sure you get what you need in the most cost effective manner.

This was Michael Martin’s latest conversation with Bill Taylor.

Beware of SIP Impersonaters!

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a buzz word in today’s technology circles. SIP trunks work with your business phone system by utilizing your Ethernet or internet pipe. SIP rides on the same Internet Protocol (IP) that data does and allows both voice and data traffic to share the circuit.

The language can be a little confusing because you can have an IP phone system and not have SIP, yet you can have a TDM phone system and have SIP.

SIP is, however, important to research and consider. SIP trunks can present noteworthy cost-savings for businesses, reducing the need for local Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN) gateways, expensive Integrated Services Digital Network Basic Rate Interface (ISDN BRI’s) or Primary Rate Interfaces (PRIs). Sound too good to be true? It could be. You could find yourself in a situation where you think you are buying the latest technology, but if that technology is not up to current standards you may not be able to achieve what you are hoping to.

There are some core questions you should ask if considering the use of SIP trunks:

1. Is the SIP carrier credible? There are many people selling SIP technology without Quality of Service (QoS) on the circuit. Since SIP rides on the data path, you need the control to keep the voice as priority or voice quality could be impacted. (Imagine if your business telephone calls sounded like you were talking on a cell phone in an area with poor cell reception…)


2. Can the SIP trunks be connected directly into your phone system or is additional hardware required to convert it? Anytime more hardware is concerned you should be asking about cost and if you are risking voice quality.


3. Does your business require faxing capabilities? SIP faxing isn’t always reliable and it may mean you need to keep a Plain Old Telephone System (POTS) line for faxing.


4. What is your business environment like? Do you have multiple sites? For example, if your main office is located in Indianapolis and your secondary offices are located in Fort Wayne, Reno, and /or Biloxi, each location can utilize the same SIP trunks regardless of where the call is placed.


5. Is your business seasonal? SIP trunks allow you to “burst” or expand during your seasonal times and only pay for what you need during those times instead of paying for costly terms on larger circuits.

What additional risks or considerations are important as you review Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and SIP?

• Most SIP providers want you to keep a POTS line as a backup so you have a priority line for 911 calls, so don’t expect to cancel all your lines.


• If your internet goes down, you lose both voice and data. However, if you purchase your SIP trunks through a major carrier, they will publish their commitment to your up time and what point they will reimburse you for lost business.

So, what does all of this mean? It is OK to get “jiggy” about new technology, but be cautious to ensure you are asking the right questions and involving trusted resources to ensure you are protecting your business and your investment.

This was Amy Hershman's latest conversation with Bill Taylor.Thank you and kind regards.

Spinning Our Web On the Internet

Recently Bill decided to take a walk down memory lane via the internet by checking out a link called http://www.archive.org/ and used the “Way Back Machine” to check out his website and see how it has changed through the years. Bill discovered that it was October of 1994 when he began the first Taylored Systems website, and it was a far cry from what technology is capable of at this time. Back then websites were just beginning to become popular on the internet for companies. In the following years Taylored Systems began to make some changes to the website starting in 1998 with the last major change in 2006.

Bill along with his Marketing Team recently decided to make some new changes to the website and depict not only who we are, but what we do in the community. They worked on making it more customer friendly and incorporated the knowledge from the minds of the Taylored Systems employees to provide helpful and pertinent information in a format that was easily understood. The final product was very professional and will be another avenue for customers to communicate with Taylored Systems.

Last week Taylored Systems launched this new and improved website complete with the capability for customers to now submit a service request, or ask for a quote online. In addition to a new “look”, the website has new features and functionality. We are able to make changes, add items, create new pages, and update information instead of having another company do it for us which is very cost effective. We have also increased the amount of information available to our customers – whether through the frequently asked questions and glossary, or just in general knowledge of our products and services. Our Taylored Systems glossary assists with the foreign language of telecommunications. If you know a term you hear often, you can search for it, and the search will identify where that term is used throughout the website. This increases the customer’s knowledge of what they are using, and what it is called which is always helpful on a service call.

Down the road Bill and the Taylored Systems Marketing Team is looking at perhaps incorporating an interactive telephone demonstration, or film clip taking the website to another level. With the constant change in technology, who knows what the future will bring us, or what our website will look like, or be capable of in the coming years.

We would like to thank Foundry Advertising Company for all their help and assistance in the website redevelopment. Foundry is an ad company headquartered here in Indianapolis, specializing in jargon-free advice and guidence in building your brand. Please contact Foundry - foundryadco.com


Mary Couch’s conversation with Bill Taylor.

Keyless to Success

“Rib eyes, New York Strips, Filets!” exclaimed a man with a Midwestern draw. This man was not a butcher in a butcher shop or a barker in a meat market, but a guy standing in the Taylored Systems sales department hawking meat out of his refrigerated truck. The peddler walked in the front door to sell his goods. Bill looked up from his desk, scratched his head in confusion, and escorted the gentleman to the door, past the “No Soliciting” sign. Bill could respect the salesmen’s drive but was concerned with the security of his building.

Bill had been planning and designing a new Taylored Systems office building. Incidentally, the office move happened the weekend following the attacks on September 11th. With the question of access to our building, coupled with the concern for security that was in all of our minds, we needed to monitor who could gain access to our building.

In 2001, door access technology was simple and easy. A key fob or card waved in front of a reader device sent a signal to the electronic lock giving it authorization to open. A controller in the data room controlled access to the doors and locks. Multiple wires run from this controller to each door allowing the system to work. We receive reports of which key fob or card was swiped, by whom, at what time. Our employees can access their offices any time to work.

Door access technology has changed and now integrates with phone systems. One product we carry has the ability to add door access readers and key fobs or cards with the phone system expense. An employee waves their fob or card in front of the reader to signal the phone system and trigger the reporting feature to mark that user as “In” for a time clock function. It can also mark the employee as “In” for their Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) agent seat or trigger their Do Not Disturb (DND) setting. This works the opposite way at the end of the day to mark them as “Out” for their time clock, ACD, and DND.

Today we use Internet Protocol (IP) for everything technology related. We send voice over the IP (VoIP), use IP to stream images from our security cameras, use IP telephones to work remotely in a seamless fashion.. IP can also control door access, allowing easier management with one centralized computer to monitor and change settings on all locks in either your home or remote locations. IP also allows for easier cabling and door access devices can work in tandem with IP security cameras. When a fob or card is waved, it sends a signal to your camera triggering it to focus on the door.

Wireless capabilities are moving into door access technology. Rather than cabling from the locks back, a wireless access point near the door can use wireless technology to connect to the network and carry the signal as IP to the locking device and the central controller.

Some may think door access is only for the large corporations. There are many benefits that can be used for businesses of all sizes. Do your research and consult a trusted advisor before ruling out or jumping in.

This was Michael Martin’s latest conversation with Bill Taylor.

It's Madness!!

It’s madness I tell you! Basketball madness, that is. Today, we are down to 64 teams in the NCAA March Madness Tournament. Bill has watched more basketball in the last week than in the last month and we get a little competitive this time of year.

Interestingly enough, we all root for different teams. We have the ultimate “fan of fans” when it comes to Purdue sports, Bonnie Dolick. Whether basketball or football; she’s sure to be there to support her team. When it comes to our Leadership Team, Amy Hart-Ramey is a Butler grad and roots for her Bulldogs. Bill likes to cheer for the Boilermakers…he is so excited to watch them in the NCAA and enjoyed watching them last weekend. Dean Reskevich roots for Indiana while Steve McDonald cheers for Iowa. (Bill gets great joy in reminding them that their two teams are the only Big Ten schools not in the post season.) As for me, I sit back and take it all in.

In the midst of all this basketball madness, the most fun we’ve had in the past week around basketball has been watching the events at the Noblesville Boys and Girls Club where Taylored Systems sponsors a team. This year, our sponsored team is made up of 3rd grade boys. Monday night started the beginning of the playoffs and the Taylored Systems team took on an undefeated team. One of our employees, Nikki Bohannon from our NOC has a son playing on the team. Bill was there to cheer on the team for their 5:45 game and they WON! The win meant they played again at 7:45 and Bill had to stay and see what was happening, it was so fun to watch these kids play ball! And, guess what…Taylored System’s sponsored team won again!

The excitement is growing as this Monday the Taylored Team with Nikki’s son as a player will face off against the opposing team with Amy Hart-Ramey’s son as a player. So much excitement we can hardly stand it.

Want to know what is so cool about this? There are no endorsements or big contract negotiations tied around these games. It is genuine, fun, good spirited competition. These kids are there to learn how to play the game, show good sportsmanship, and have fun. There is one boy on the team who wears braces on his legs. He isn’t the fastest player, but he has the right mindset and his team rallies around him. He recently scored his first 2 points and the crowd erupted to celebrate his relentless pursuit. It was a “goose bump” moment.

Whether the fastest player or not, all kids get the chance to play…and isn’t that what it is all about? It is fun to know that the same level of excitement and enthusiasm that erupts annually around “March Madness” is alive in our communities with the activities and events our kids are participating in. It is pretty neat to be a part of that.

This was Amy Hershman's latest conversation with Bill Taylor.
Thank you and kind regards.

Being Connected Wherever You Go In Indiana Or Around The World!

There was a time before the advancement of technology when your cell phone was similar to your home phone, mainly for just getting calls. Well, all that changed with the newest phones having the addition of cameras, email, and web browsing on the internet, and even though Bill has owned Taylored Systems, a telecommunication company, and enjoyed the benefits of the newest technology innovations, he still was using a traditional cell phone along with a device to get emails away from the office, and didn’t think he was missing anything while his sales personnel and management team were using the new Blackberry.

Progress arrived, and Bill embraced the new era of the Blackberry. After several weeks he stated it made his life easier. He has one voice mailbox for all his messages, whether you call his direct number, Taylored Systems main office number and are transferred to his voicemail , or you call his cell phone, all go to the same voice mailbox on our Toshiba phone system in the office. Through the unified messaging if you leave a voice mail our Toshiba system automatically sends that voice mail as a .wav file to email which can be retrieved the same as his other e-mails on his Blackberry, and in most cases it shows Bill the phone number so he knows who sent it. He can select it, and hear the voice mail wherever he is either through a headset, or by holding his Blackberry to his ear. This is an improvement over having to call back into the office to retrieve his voice mail, and listen to it. Bill also found that he could send the voice mail traditionally to someone else, or as an email.

As Bill continued to experiment with his new techno toy, he discovered that someone could fax something to him and it comes in as a .tiff file which he can open and read, and then forward on to someone else. Bill says that this Blackberry is now his office wherever he may go during the day or night, and because it is connected to our Toshiba system he has only one voice mailbox. Now when he is at home, at work, or driving the tractor at his farm in North Central Indiana, he can still have full office capabilities in the palm of his hand. While most had already gone the route of the Blackberry, Bill had been staying away from that technology, but now feels it’s the greatest advancement since it connects him through his office phone system. With the wonders of our modern technology, I along with Bill can only guess what new innovations his cell phone will be capable of in the future.

Mary Couch’s Conversation with Bill Taylor

A farmer and a CEO

“I work for a farmer who also happens to be a CEO. “
That’s what I often say when people ask me about the owner of the company I work for. Sound crazy to you? It makes perfect sense to me. Bill Taylor farms with his dad and brother in North Central Indiana and also owns Taylored Systems, a successful technology communications company.
The way I see it, farmers, by nature, have unbelievable persistence. They stay committed to their objective…I will raise a crop, I will sell it, and I will make sure there a little something left over as a result of my hard work. Successful farmers keep moving forward. They avoid the mindset to “park the tractor” when things look bad, because that would not help them with a successful harvest.
The same is true for us in business. Everywhere you turn, conversation seems to involve a discussion about our current economic state. It is no different in our world, but we are intentionally making a choice that will help our employees, our business, and our economy.
We just held our annual all employee meeting where we reviewed 2008, and it was a good year. (Not a GREAT year, but a good year). And as a result of that year, all employees were able to receive a small bonus for their continued effort, hard work, and commitment to the company. We are in the process of hiring new employees and as a result will need to purchase a new fleet vehicle. Instead of one, we decided to purchase two vehicles, to help replace one of our older ones.
Last week our President signed a new stimulus package and we hoped it would mean good things for the economy. The same day, the market dropped 300 points and commodities tanked. By all historical economic indicators, it may be a little while until we pull out of the “economic situation”, but we have to keep moving forward. We have to remain positive, and we have to keep those tractors moving.
We will do our part to buy goods and services that will help us achieve our goals and refuse to let the nervousness around us stop us from making sound business decisions that will help us in our 3, 5, and 10 year business plan. You have a choice to make too. Are you going to complain about the situation and “park your tractor” or are you going to keep industry alive; keep buying, shopping, hiring, and persistently pursuing your objectives? We hope you’ll join us.
This was Amy Hershman’s latest conversation with Bill Taylor.
Thank you and kind regards.

What Is Your Next Move?

A disaster rips through your town, power is out, businesses are closed, families are shaken, homes are destroyed, and a sense of worry is all around. This happens all the time all over the United States. Recently the floods in Iowa, tornados in Indiana, hurricanes on the coasts, and fires in California have made people think; if that is happening there it could easily happen here. Worrying about your own family’s safety is one thing, but if you are a business owner or manager you have the families of your employees on your mind as well.

When Bill Taylor took a trip to Cedar Rapids, Iowa last summer to visit a partner company, he saw that worry first hand when the company he was visiting had to evacuate their location due to rising waters. He began thinking in his mind. It was the same thought process many business owners face…what would I do if that happened where I operate my business?????????

When Bill asked himself if his current disaster plan was going to ensure the 40 people he employs would be able to continue to work and provide for their families even in the event of a disaster, the answer was not as clear as he would have liked.

At that time Taylored Systems was doing back ups on discs and tapes; and then physically moving these items to off site locations. So he began to think through scenarios to determine if his plans were where they needed to be.

Scenario 1:
The building we operate in is fine, but a server has crashed. How do I fix it? Where do I get parts quickly? How long will I be down?

Scenario 2:
Our building is damaged, computers and servers are operational, but the company needs to move to a secondary location. How long will it take to move all the equipment? What can we leave behind and still be operational?

Scenario 3:
Our building is damaged or demolished; computers and servers are destroyed or not operational. What the @$*% do I do???

Bill then asked himself two questions…what can I add to increase flexibility into my disaster recovery plans? And whatever I find that works, will I be comfortable telling this story and suggesting it to friends, customers, etc????

When looking at those two questions coupled with the 3 scenarios one product was found that answered everything. Back-up Disaster Recovery (BDR), is a device that resides in our computer room that backs up our drives on the servers in 15 minute increments. Each evening it compiles a composite of changes made and sends that back up to two offsite locations, virtually. The BDR does not only make the back-ups and storage of those back-ups easier and more manageable it also allows for recalling that data in a much easier fashion.
For instance, a few days ago our accounting department was working on an important Excel file. Throughout the morning one person had made multiple changes to the spreadsheet. In the afternoon, after the file had been shared through the department it was noticed that there had been a formula error at some point and the spreadsheet was now useless. Bothered with the idea of having to recreate this file and spend days redoing work that had already been done they thought there has to be a different way. With the implementation of our BDR there was another way. Within minutes we were able to go back to the time period of when the file was known to be correct, pinpoint the most recent correct version of file, restore the file allowing the accounting department to continue on their work at hand rather than recreating the important document. This saved us countless hours of extra work, which we all know SAVING TIME means SAVING MONEY.

Back-up Disaster Recovery can also work as a virtual server, and this is how Bill saw the BDR as a way to accomplish all of his scenarios.

Scenario 1:
The building we operate in is fine, but a server has crashed. How do I fix it? Where do I get parts quickly? How long will I be down?

Answer:
BDR becomes the virtual server. It takes the back-ups that it knows and operates just as your server would based on the information it has. While you are working to fix the issue that has caused the server to fail, instead of hours or days of downtime, the BDR takes over and allows you to effectively and in a timely manner operate your business.

This moves us out of break/fix mode to a truly managed service where the customer does not call us to say they have a down server, we will call you to let you know the problem has been monitored and the procedure is in place or has been completed to switch over to the BDR until the issue is resolved.

Scenario 2:
Building is damaged, computers and servers are operational, but the company needs to move to a secondary location. How long will it take to move all the equipment? What can we leave behind and still be operational?

Answer:
Rather than moving your entire IT room to begin functioning in your new location you can move the BDR, put it in virtual mode. Your latest back-up will be your benchmark and as long as there is an internet connection the BDR can continue to backup and send the data to the offsite locations for safe storage. Since it is only backing up changes and not rewriting the whole back up it allows for this to be done on a DSL or a slower form of broadband.

Scenario 3:
Building is damaged or demolished; computers and servers are destroyed or not operational. What the @$*% do I do???

Answer:
You need to spend your time and resources taking care of your other pressing issues. Your data will be safe. Within 24 hours of contacting us, a new BDR with the base image and incremental back-ups from the last back up will be shipped to your new location to be used as a virtual server. When your replacement server is received and ready to be used the BDR allows for a much more time efficient way providing the necessary data to build the server and get your company in full operation.

So what is your plan today?? Have you even thought about it? What will you do in the event of any of these scenarios or disasters that affect others on a daily basis? Do you want to be the one saying “I wish I had done that before this happened,” I do not know why you would.
When faced with the question why put money into something that may or may not be needed, ask yourself these questions as well.

Can I put a price on regret?
What is all my data worth to my business?
How long can I be out of business?
Even though my insurance covers my equipment, how much lost revenue can I deal with while I wait on the insurance company to clear my claim?
How much time am I willing to spend after the claim rebuilding what I had?

Think about the families you are responsible for, do you want to explain to an employee’s child why their parent has not worked and what you could have done to avoid that???????

This is Michael Martin's latest conversation with Bill Taylor.

DISASTER RECOVERY - PART 1 (Insurance Safeguard)

In the early days of 1982 when we first began Taylored Systems, it was a simple process to have a disaster recovery plan. Back then, you only had to worry about phone lines, and phone systems. If you were a small or medium sized business there was no voice mail or ACD (Automated Call Distribution). Exchange servers and internet came along a few years later. If anything you had a single standalone PC, and not everyone had a computer. In those days sales of fax machines were the going rage, and we spent several years selling them. There was only one phone company, Indiana Bell. If the phone lines went down we would contact someone at their home office to get help as call forwarding was just becoming popular, and if the phone systems went down we had spares in our warehouse to correct any problem.

In those simpler days most people did not expect you to return a call immediately, if you got back to them in the same day they were lucky. Now days when people call they expect either an immediate call back, or an email answer. Technology has come to a point where we live for immediate gratification in everything that we do, and because of this we are concerned about not only our phone lines and phone systems, but our internet connections, fax machines, voice mail, unified messaging, routers, Ethernet switches, exchange servers and regular servers. Should any of these go down or out, we would feel as if we were back in the dark ages using only candles for illumination, and the pony express for message delivery.

Taylored Systems has an existing Disaster Recovery Plan in place to keep us going in case of an emergency. Under our plan we have a T1 that provides our internet and phone line service, and a separate circuit that we share with other companies on a different server as backup, we also have a Toshiba CIX670 in our warehouse to replace the one in use. We do tape backups every night and change them every morning, and each week they are taken off premise for safety. Tapes are now becoming a thing of the past. Now we are transitioning into a BDR-Computer (Backup Disaster Recovery) to securely transfer our data and be within a short reach in the event we need a recovery.

With disasters like Katrina, the floods in Indiana that occurred last summer, and tornados almost every summer, we just need to be aware that anything can happen and we all need an insurance safeguard to keep our business running smoothly. Even though we were not in the midst of a natural disaster we have had to use our redundancy plan due to an outage. We simply logged into a website, and plugged our phones into our back up SIP trunks which kept us in business during the three hours the lines were down. With products like the BDR and a PLAN, it is now just as simple to manage all of our complex technologies as it was to manage the few pieces of equipment we started with in the early days.


Mary Couch’s conversation with Bill Taylor

Should a recession stop progress???

The answer to that question is NO! Recessions post WWII are measured by the unemployment rate. According to the U.S. Department of Labor the unemployment rate as of November 2008 is 6.7% and rising. Analysts predict that it will reach close to 8% before we see a turn around. Compare the 6.7%-8% to the average of 2007 and 2006, 4.6%; yes we are in a horrible downslide like a child who fell off his sled halfway down the hill. However there should be an opportunity seen in the downslide, an opportunity to examine a current place and find where one can become more efficient. Also we are not as bad off as we have been in the recent past…

In 1980-1985 the United States had a similar unemployment issue. The average of those six years was 8.1%. In the years between 1980 and 1985 we saw the rate rise from 7.1% in 1980 and top out at 9.7% in 1982 before finally beginning a descending swing in 1985 with the rate back to 7.2% and falling. During a recession with an unemployment rate the highest it had been since 1948, when the Department of Labor started measuring recessions based on unemployment, one would not find that as the best time to start a new business. However, in 1982, a young Bill Taylor DID start a new business, his FIRST business. The thought of a recession and unemployment never crossed his mind. He saw an opportunity to accomplish a goal and he went for it, in true American fashion.

The point of comparison is that even in today’s slow economy people should not stop what they are doing and hold steady. We should continue to look for opportunities and take care of our needs. The longer we stay stagnate waiting for things to change, we miss these opportunities, and those who did not tread water move directly past us taking our dream.

There will always be needs. Those needs will force struggling markets to regain their position and move the economy back to where it will continue to grow. Growth is something we have seen, even in the recession. Our structured cabling department has continued to grow. Our nurse call products for the healthcare industry have continued to grow. The necessity and growth for more bandwidth, and the decreasing cost of internet connectivity has coupled into a tremendous opportunity for companies to gain the bandwidth needed to do more efficient applications. Some of those applications we are seeing include online billing, online banking, online records, distance learning, hosted computer services, hosted phone systems, IP based video surveillance, government applications, hospitality industry providing internet to guests. These are a few areas that are continually growing and not standing still waiting. If they aren’t standing still why are you??????

Luckily here in the Midwest we have not seen the downturn as predominately as other areas of the country, so maybe it is easier for us to be optimistic about the future. Our message is to keep looking, find new ways to become efficient, use technology to your benefit, and create opportunities for yourself and others. Like the child who lost his sled we will inevitably try to sled again, lets just hope next time it’s a smaller hill, and we have breaks so we can stop and get back to the top more quickly without falling.

This was Michael Martin's latest conversation with Bill Taylor.

Thanks