Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Always in Touch

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2003 21:22:52 -0500

11/04/05

Always in Touch
Say you want to page someone on the shop floor... in Europe -- not a 
problem, these days
Tracey Drury
Business First

When Rich Products Corp. executives stage an event, it's not unusual 
for someone to realize they need someone or something on the one end 
of the Buffalo campus when they're across the street in a different 
building. 

But rather than run across the street or find a phone, the exec 
needs only to reach down to her belt and grab a TalkAbout Motorola 
walkie-talkie unit. 

The units are just one weapon in Rich's arsenal of 
telecommunications tools that make running a multi-million dollar 
company go smoother, said Peter Ciotta, director for public 
relations. 

"Those are very efficient tools for meetings, conferences and 
special event teams who have the responsibility of coordinating and 
implementing a large-scale event," he said. 

Long gone are the days when a staff member returns to his desk to 
find a stack of pink message sheets. For people who need to be 
reached immediately, even voice mail is unacceptable. New technology 
allows people to be reached anywhere, anytime. 

Telecom toolbox 
At Rich Products, the IT staff makes several options available to 
staff: 

Call forwarding from desk phones to mobile and cell phones 
TalkAbout walkie-talkie units 
Wireless phones tied into the network in place of desktop units 
Two-way transmitter headphone systems so users can hear each other 
during tours in the manufacturing plants. 
Pagers 
"Here at Rich Products, our IT group and telecom team has done a 
tremendous job staying on the cutting edge of communication tools," 
Ciotta said. "We have everything from local to satellite capability 
that literally would allow someone to be paged anywhere in the 
world." 

For a company with facilities in over 85 countries, that's vital. 

"When you're talking about some of our managers and sales execs, 
that's a tremendous tool to know with confidence they can be 
anywhere and be contacted by either a pager or cell phone," Ciotta 
said. "I placed a call last week to one of our execs in Germany. 
It's still a little mindblowing you can pick up the phone, dial a 
simple local number as you would normally and that call would reach 
someone in Europe." 

Connecting users 
Large companies aren't the only ones that benefit from such 
telecommunications tools. Nextel Partners recently announced a 
partnership with SUNY Morrisville that included equipping every 
student with a Nextel phone. The phones take the place of individual 
phones in student dorms and provide unlimited local service. 
Students can also opt to purchase packages of long distance airtime. 

John W. Danforth Co. uses Nextel phones to manage projects at 
multiple company sites and at job sites. The phones are used in the 
office and allow users to call individuals or groups of people, as 
well as send e-mail text messages to select users. 

The pagers and early cell phone systems 10 years ago were replaced 
with two-way radios, which led to the implementation of a Nextel 
system. Emmett Reilly, president of the Tonawanda company, said the 
new system also gives users a way to make phone calls that were not 
possible with two-way radios. 

"It's more private than a two-way radio," he said. "We're on company-
wide so when you called someone (with the two-ways), everyone hears 
it." 

Smaller organizations benefit from newer technology. Hopevale Inc., 
a nonprofit organization in Hamburg that includes dorms and a school 
for troubled youth, replaced its two-way radios this year with 60 
Motorola TalkAbout units. 

Providing a lifeline 
Mark O'Brien, executive director, said the walkie talkies are 
a "lifeline" for staff. 

"We use it to transmit information, to check on the status of 
residents, announce events, announce when the store is opening and 
closing, call kids out for programs and call for assistance," he 
said. 

It's also a lot cheaper to replace the units if they are dropped, 
get lost or broken. The two-ways cost about $400 apiece, whereas the 
TalkAbouts cost about $40. There's also no airtime charge for the 
units. 

"They're inexpensive and more user-friendly. They're also smaller 
and less cumbersome," he said. "The only other thing we could do is 
do the landline phone system and it would not cover all the 
contingencies, whether it's responding to a crisis or protecting a 
child. It would not do what this system does for us." 

Ciotta of Rich Products agreed that though staying on top of 
telecommunications includes making the investment in the newest 
technology, it's worth it. 

"Customer service is the ballgame for us, so that investment in 
communications technology to enable our people to respond to the 
customer is hugely worth the investment," he said. "The ability to 
be reached to answer an important customer's question or need is 
what drives this kind of investment." 

http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories/2003/11/03/focus1.html

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