Technocom Blog

Ever Wonder What Your Golf Course Looks Like from different Lies?

Golf courses have numerous assets which can be targets for theft and vandalism, including the clubhouse, parking lots, greens, cart rental areas, storage sheds, and maintenance shops. Golf course theft and vandalism is on the rise, and no facility is immune. Don’t wait for it to come to your course. Watch over your property with a UGuardU Video Surveillance System from Technocom.

The UGuardU system can also improve customer service. Visitors to Nehalem Glen Golf Course often tell staff how much they appreciate checking the publicly accessible camera to view weather and see how crowded the course is. Check it out yourself. Go to www.uguardu.com and click on View Demo. Installation of a UGuardU Video Surveillance System may even reduce your liability insurance premiums.

A variety of cameras are available. Small cameras can be discreetly placed in aesthetically sensitive areas, rugged cameras protected from dust and water placed outdoors. Motion sensitive cameras can send a text message or email alert to a cellular device. High definition units can capture facial images and license plate numbers. Pan Zoom Tilt cameras enable views to be changed remotely.

Cameras can be powered over standard Ethernet cable. Video data is securely stored on a server, and can be easily transferred to external media. View cameras in real time anywhere an internet connection is available, including iPhone, Blackberry and Android devices.

Contact Technocom for additional information, to schedule a meeting with a UGuardU representative, or to arrange a demonstration.

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Technocom Sponsors George Fox University Summit

Technocom has always prided itself with giving back to the communities who support us. We are pleased to announce that next month, we will be the chief sponsor for the George Fox University Technology Summit taking place prior to the University’s annual Golf Tournament. The event is being held at the The Reserve Golf Club in Aloha, Oregon on Thursday, July 14th with the summit taking place in the morning from 8:30am to 11:15am.

George Fox University is a customer of Technocom’s and has been using our UGuardU video capture security software on their campus for over a year now. Additionally, an engineering student from the school provided us with some great feedback on the development of the product that has been quite useful in the growth of UGuardU servers. Thus, this seems like a perfect opportunity to give back.

Any proceeds from our Technology Summit will go to the Department of Math, Computer Science and Engineering at George Fox University. George Fox is a leading private university in Newberg, Oregon and is ranked in the Top 3 Christian colleges in the nation by Forbes magazine.

Featured presenters are Rich Karlson, the CEO of FreeWire Broadband introducing us the “Smartspot”, Pavel Macholda, the Software Designer behind UGuardU speaking on “Linux Software”; and Gary Spivey the Head of the Department of Math, Computer Science and Engineering for George Fox University talking about “Servant Engineering.”

Cost to attend this limited seat special event is a $200 dollar donation to George Fox University Department of Math, Computer Science and Engineering (without golf) OR free entry for one when purchasing a foursome to play in the George Fox Golf Tournament that will start immediately following the Technology Summit ($1,250). The seats are limited to the first 20 for the summit as George Fox insists that smaller class sizes are the only way to learn!!!

I hope you will consider attending both of these great events! We hope for it to be extremely informative as well as a great opportunity to do some networking with folks in the technology industry and with the university. Please submit your RSVP immediately to Evangeline Pattison with George Fox University at epattison@georgefox.edu. For more information regarding the Golf Tournament please visit golf.georgefox.edu

Thanks and see you there!!

Written by: Patrick McCloskey

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Technocom Partners with Central Station Monitoring for Alarm Monitoring Services

Central Station Monitoring is a full-service intrusion and fire alarm central station. In 1996 CSM received its first UL UUFX Certification. CSM decided to begin offering its UL®-listed central station services to alarm dealers looking for an alternative to the ever-changing national monitoring scene.

Our SQL-based MAStermind Monitoring automation system is fast, secure, and redundant; running on multi-processor servers. When you use our MASweb or MobileLink remote administration, you have the ability to view live account history from your jobsite or office location. You can view a list of reports, place a system in test, and make changes over the web.

The service & receivers available to you from CSM include:

Alarm Monitoring of All Major Formats
MAStermind Monitoring
MASweb Remote Administration
Elevator & Emergency Telephone Monitoring
Video Verification using GE ProSeries DVR format
Answering Service
DSC SurGard III Receiver
DSC GSM Cell and T-Link IP ready
Bosch 6600 Digital Receiver
AES Multinet 7705I Internet Radio Receiver
Bosch SafeCom Radio Receiver
VerSuS® Scan Alert Base10 Derived Channel Receiver

What makes CSM unique in the marketplace is its close association with the local telephone service provider, Reliance Connects. CSM is located within the telephone company’s Central Office, which provides greater control over power and telephone services.

The CSM UL® certificate number is S5636. This listing is in the UUFX category of Protective Signaling Services - Monitoring Company.

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Leads

As a sales manager, the most asked question I have for my account executives, AE’s, is…wait for it…what have you done for me lately.  It’s really easy to adapt that tone but when being realistic about where you get business it’s important to categorize your sources to better understand where it is most efficient for your AE’s to spend their time.

#1 should always be with your base customers.  This is where you will get 70% of your business, but you can’t expect them just to call in.  You have to proactively keep touching them to fend off the competitors that are always out there looking for new customers.

#2 relationship selling has always been something I look to in the type of sales model I present to my AE’s.  “GO SEE PEOPLE”.  A face to face is going to get you further in the door than a phone call.  If you have engaging people as AE’s then they make the selling experience so much better for the client.  It’s not just a cut and dried, these are the numbers, sign on the dotted line presentation.

#3 is a good lead source.  You had better have someone in your organization that belongs to a good leads group and is able to disseminate those leads to the sales group.  A warm lead, which is a name and a number and a referral and a scope of work and a date of implementation and, and, and.  The more information you can pass off the more your odds increase in getting an appointment.  All of your AE’s should have lead sources but it should be noted that an aggressive sales organization should have one individual who “knows everyone”!!

#4 is private sector bid jobs.  You WANT private sector jobs, they can lead to service order business, they pay on time, no prevailing wage, but unless you have a relationship, you will be usually be going up against someone who does.  Makes the sales experience a lot harder and a lot iffier!!!

#5 is my least favorite…public bid jobs.  You get to go after jobs that every low down, cheap as they come competitor you have, is going after too, but you have to look at these.  They will be larger and offer a longer time on site but the paperwork headaches are just that…headaches.

“SO WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY”  

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Live Christmas Trees, a living tradition

Christmas trees stand out as an ancient symbol, linking us to nature. For many years we have continued this tradition with cut Christmas trees. Recently, people have begun bringing living trees into their homes to decorate. It is a way to say they believe in the future and caring for the earth.

If you choose to decorate a live tree for the holidays, it is critical to note that the tree can be indoors for only seven days. In choosing a living Christmas tree, think first about how you would like to care for your tree in the seasons ahead. Are you planning to plant it in the ground this winter? Alternatively, would you like to keep it in the same container, bringing it back inside in future years? If you want to plant the tree this winter or spring, you may choose any kind of tree. However only certain kinds of trees will survive container life. The following paragraphs give more details to help you make your decision.

Dwarf conifers are well suited to containers because they grow so slowly. In addition, pines are especially suited to life in a container for several years. The following list provides some ideas for dwarf conifers and pines for long term container plants.

Chamecyparis obtusa ‘Gracilis’Grows 6-12”/ year. Matures at 30’ tall. Chamecyparis obt. ‘Compacta’3-6”/ year to 10’+. Cryptomeria japonica ‘Black Dragon’Slow growing to 8-10’ +, conical habit. Cryptomeria japonica ‘Elegans Compacta’Grows 3-6”/ year. Matures at 6-12’ tall. Picea glauca ‘Conica’, Dwarf Alberta spruceGrows 3-6”/ year. Matures at 8-12’ Picea sitchensis ‘Papoose’Dense, egg shaped shrub, grows 1-4”/ year. Pinus artistata, Bristlecone pineGrows 3-6”/ year. Matures at 10’+. Sciadopitys verticillata, Umbrella Pine. – Grows 6-12”/ year. Matures at 25’+. In addition, tropical evergreens such as Norfolk Island Pine can remain potted and indoors their whole life.

The classic Christmas trees such as Noble fir and Grand fir (Abies procera, Abies grandis) can only be used for one Christmas before they need to go directly into the ground. Minimize transplant shock by planting these trees before spring rolls into summer. Again, please keep in mind that these trees can grow very large (60-90’) and live for a hundred or more years.

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Cyber Monday! by Andy Cox

Gift list: Check. Web sites loaded: Check. Coffee: Always checked. All systems go for Cyber Monday.

If you’re opting out of the Black Friday 4 a.m. wake up calls, mall crowds and parking lots, but still after holiday bargains, the spike in online shopping the Monday after Thanksgiving – yes, Cyber Monday – probably represents you.  But instead of requiring you to get into your car and fighting crowds all day, Cyber Monday asks only one thing of you – an Internet connection. 

Obviously being a QWEST business partner, a fast and reliable Qwest High-Speed Internet® connection is our suggestion, but here are some other suggestions for your online shopping extravaganza: 

*           Safety first: protect against hackers and other schemes by securing your wireless settings and your firewall settings, updating your anti-virus and anti-malware software (Qwest High-Speed Internet customers receive anti-virus protection at no additional charge), going directly to official Web sites instead of clicking on links and only visiting Web sites you trust. Don’t forget to fully log off of secure sites.

*           Make your list and check it…well, you know: have your gift list written out in front of you and organize based on product type, like electronics, home furnishing, clothing, toys, etc., so you don’t have to jump back and forth between store Web sites.

*           Lock and load your Web sites: organize the Web sites you plan on visiting based on how you organize your gift list.

*           Pay to play: however you plan to pay for your purchases, whether credit card, debit card or gift cards, have them ready and in front of you. Be sure to check future statements for double or wrong charges.

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Brief History of UGuardU and new UGU VRS by Gabe Authier

I am reflecting on the last couple of years and see a lot of change in the security marketplace.  It was around January of 2009 when a bank in the Portland area came to Technocom and was looking for an easy way that they could monitor the growing amount of foreclosed homes.  Technocom wanted to come up with a way that we could harness the technology that was improving around Internet Protocol (IP) based surveillance cameras.  There was a void in the market that did not allow users to easily setup IP web based cameras and stream that video to an off-site location.  The hosted video concept would allow users a lower initial setup cost by not having to buy additional hardware to record this video locally.  It also allowed users an extra layer of security by having that video streamed back to a colocation data center.

The word started getting out in the marketplace about UGU.  We were seeing more and more applications across many industries.  We had an engineering firm come to us and they wanted to archive 2 years worth of a construction video.  This would only make sense for the customer if we sold them their own UGuardU server.  Hence, the UGuardU Video Recording Solution (UGU VRS) was born.

We have seen a wide range of applications for the UGuardU:

• Business and Home Security
• Farms and Nurseries
• Construction Management
• Manufacturing Plants and Factories
• Universities
• Retail

Some of the features incorporated with the UGU VRS:

• Built on secured Linux software platform

• Unlimited number of cameras (restricted only by the CPU power)
• Flexible storage configuration (allowing for addition of cameras)
• Built-in, customizable, password protected web site for viewing, replay and setup
• Simple year, month, day, and hour organization of video data folders
• Archive and backup to removable media and USB drives
• SMS or Email notification for motion or camera malfunctions

Take a look at our website www.uguardu.com to check out a live demo, an informative video, case studies, FAQs, and more…

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Attitude is everything by Cade Adamson

I came across this story a while back and it reminded me of the attitude of our sales management here at Technocom. This makes for a positive atmosphere to work in.  

“Jerry was the kind of guy you loved to hate. He was always in a good mood and had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, “If I were any better, I would be twins!”

He was a unique manager, there had been several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, “I don’t get it! You can’t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?”

Jerry replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.’ I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.”

“Yeah, right, it’s not that easy,” I protested.

“Yes it is,” Jerry said. “Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good or bad mood. The bottom line: It’s your choice how you live life.”

I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers.

While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.

I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, “If I were any better, I’d be twins. Wanna see my scars?”

I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place.

“The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door,” Jerry replied. “Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live.”

“Weren’t you scared? Did you lose consciousness?” I asked.

Jerry continued, “The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, ‘He’s a dead man.’ I knew I needed to take action.”

“What did you do?” I asked.

“Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me,” said Jerry. “She asked if I was allergic to anything. ‘Yes,’ I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘Bullets!’ Over their laughter, I told them, “I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.”

Jerry lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. Attitude saved Jerry’s life. Attitude is everything.

-The author of the story is unknown

As businesses struggle and times become more difficult in these hard economic times, I realize the importance of having a positive attitude and the impact it has on those around.

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CAMPING TRIP DETROIT LAKE, OR 2010

It was the morning of Friday August 6th, 2010 when my Wife, Son (18 mths) Baylee (our puggle) and I had the truck loaded down and the North River Boat hooked up and headed down the highway to grab our choice camping spot.  After hitting loads of random traffic we finally arrived to Detroit Lake.  Upon arrival we discover after another hour of driving that every campground in the area had no spots to be found.  Wife is steaming mad that no reservations were made at the State Campground and kid is screaming at wanting to get out of truck (by now I’m in the doghouse with the evil-eye upon me).  After pleading with the State Park for suggestions, they tell me an RV Park just opened right above the hillside in town, perfect…  We get to the RV Park, nobody in site but an impressive find.  We meet the host, we are the first customer, he is shocked and gives us the best spot in the park, all spots are located right along the highway, the jake-brakes on the big rigs coming down the hill was music to our ears all day all night.  We get unpacked and head out on the lake to relax.  Making room in the boat for our son to run around while we went swimming in one of the coves, I put all the fishing poles on top of the cabin cover.  Our day is finished and heading back out to the main part of the lake is this horrible noise (like a cat’s nails ripping fabric) comes from above my head.  Like slow motion I watched $300 in fishing rods and reels sink 90ft to bottom of the lake.  Once back to camp and the in-laws show up with their just purchased 1-day fishing licenses they just bought in town are ready to hit the lake, “we got a problem”!!!  To the rescue comes my son’s Batman pole that I rigged up and headed out.  It worked like a champ with a little improvising.  The grandparents will never forget that fishing trip.  The next two days were spent cooking, cleaning, lighting fires morning and night and playing camp host to all.  Sunday comes and we all head back home to clean and unpack and have a bbq to celebrate Birthdays and Grandparents 60th wedding anniversary.  Flying all the way from Florida, Grandma and Grandpa head back home with a trip they will never forget.  I’m so glad this trip was over… 
 
P.S. I need a vacation…!!!

Written by: Scott Reetz

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Why use Technocom for your business communications?

Technocom is an agent for the leading phone and Internet providers including Qwest, Integra and Cbeyond. There are many advantages for using an agent to handle your carrier services; however, people are often confused on the role of an agent. An agent can do exactly what a direct sales representative for any service provider can do, while offering additional benefits. Here are the main benefits:

1. Commitment: An agent is committed to the customer’s satisfaction. When compared to direct sales, an agent is compensated on how long the customer uses a particular carrier whereas a direct rep is usually paid an upfront sum and there is no interaction after the sale is made. The responsibility of a direct rep is to add new sales while an agent’s responsibility is to maintain customers.
2. Knowledge and experience in the industry. An agent is usually more experienced in the communications field and can provide greater insight because they deal with several providers. Each phone and Internet service provider is different and it is important to match the customer with the service provider that best fits their needs.
3. Customer service: A quality agent will have an additional layer of support for their services. For example, at Technocom we have our own customer support team that can handle your service requests 24/7.
4. Working relationship: At Technocom, we pride ourselves on being a “total technology provider.” Our model is structured around keeping customers through quality customer service and product knowledge so that our customers will use us for all their voice and data cabling, phone system upgrades, security, and audio visual services for their business. Our goal is to help our customers grow and in return, we benefit from their success.
5. The ability to offer several quotes from multiple carriers. Because of our partnership with major carriers, we can offer options for our customers. As technology improves, the cost usually improves as well. We want to make sure you are getting the best deal available.

In conclusion, an agent like Technocom can not only save you money, but can provide additional customer support, maintain a strong working relationship, and be your single-source communications provider.

Written by: Jaret Martin

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