ISE magazine’s monthly columnists combine over 100 years of industry experience providing readers with the most up-to-date information regarding engineering and deployment of broadband networks. From the outside plant to the latest in network transformations, our columnists address the issues with expert experience.
Think you have network challenges today?
Ignore the HUMAN NETWORK and you’ll have more on your plate than you can handle. That’s why ISE Columnists cover the human network here to motivate, inspire and help you prioritize what truly matters during network evolution: YOUR TEAMS!
Editor’s Note by Sharon Vollman
Sharon Vollman is Editorial Director of ISE Magazine. She oversees the strategic direction and content for ISE Magazine. She also leads the educational content development for ISE EXPO. Vollman has created educational partnerships with the major communications and entertainment providers including AT&T, Verizon, CenturyLink, Frontier Communications and Cincinnati Bell. She has covered the telecom industry since 1996. Prior to that, she worked in advertising with Ogilvy & Mather and CME. Vollman has a bachelor’s degree in Journalism/Advertising from the University of Iowa. Email: [email protected]
Copper Expert by Don McCarty
Don is the Copper Expert columnist for ISE magazine, providing tutorials and valuable training information for the telecom professionals and techs in the field. Don McCarty’s expertise spans over 43 years. Through McCarty Products, he provides on-site training for field technicians, engineers, training personnel and managers of CLECs and ILECs as well as executives and managers of major equipment providers. In his courses, he and his trainers discusses technical issues around cable fault locating in a digital world. McCarty also trains power company technicians and consults with managers about noise problems that occur in the gray area of responsibility between the telcos and the power providers.
McCarty Products is an industry-leading training and consulting organization for troubleshooting and maintaining telephone cable in a digital world. Their comprehensive outside plant training courses combined with training products provide telcos with excellent support to help them increase effectiveness of telephone repair technicians and managers while maximizing their investment test equipment.
McCarty Products, Inc. | Email: [email protected] | www.mccartyinc.com
Network Transformation Insights by Tom Maguire
Until his retirement in January of 2017; Tom Maguire was the senior vice president of Verizon’s wireline National Operations Support team, a role he assumed in February of 2011. In this capacity Maguire was responsible for improving overall customer satisfaction, driving productivity and reducing operational expense. His scope of responsibility included field installation and repair, construction, network operations and wireline engineering
Maguire also worked closely with Verizon’s IT, Fleet, Sourcing, Legal/Regulatory and HR organizations to drive customer focus and efficiency across Verizon’s processes and systems. An example of this; in November 2011 Maguire initiated a program to migrate customers from the copper network to newer alternatives, including Verizon’s state-of-the-art FTTH network.
These migrations saved the company more than 2.5M field service calls, significantly reducing
operational costs while improving customer service. In addition, his work on the industry’s first, recently patented customer-managed battery backup unit improves the customer experience by delivering state-of-the-art backup capabilities. This BBU also met the FCC’s stringent backup requirements two years before their deadline.
To share topic ideas, questions or comments, please email: [email protected].
And follow him on Twitter: @TheTomMaguire
Know How Network by Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM, PMP, PMI-ACP, RYT
Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM, PMP, PMI-ACP, RYT, is an entrepreneurial powerhouse with a penchant for making success easy, fun, and fast. She is the founder of Cheetah Learning, the author of the Cheetah Success Series, and a prolific blogger whose mission is to bring Project Management (PM) to the masses. Cheetah Learning is a virtual company with 100 employees, contractors, and licensees worldwide. To date, more than 50,000 people have become "Cheetahs" using Cheetah Learning’s innovative PM and accelerated learning techniques.
Michelle also developed the Cheetah Certified Project Manager (CCPM) program based on Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality profiling to help students master how to use their unique strengths for learning, doing projects, and negotiating. Michelle is recognized by the Project Management Institute as one of the 25 Most Influential Women in Project Management in the world.
For more information, visit www.cheetahlearning.com.
To read Michelle’s business-oriented blogs, please visit Cheetah Learning Blog at http://www.michellelabrosseblogs.com/
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichelleChiefCheetah/posts/956956998493883
Read her columns here in ISE magazine at https://isemag.com/author/michellelabrosse/
THE UN-COMFORT ZONE by Robert Wilson
THE UN-COMFORT ZONE with Robert Wilson is a monthly column that explores the many aspects of motivation from inspiring others (employees, customers, volunteers, even family members), to self-motivation – which is especially important in today’s economy. Everyone, at some time or another, needs to motivate themselves or others. THE UN-COMFORT ZONE talks about how motivation works and how to apply it in a variety of situations.
Robert Evans Wilson, Jr. is an author, humorist-speaker and innovation consultant. He works with companies that want to be more competitive and with people who want to think like innovators. Robert is the author of …and Never Coming Back, a psychological thriller-novel about a motion picture director; the inspirational book, Wisdom in the Weirdest Places; and The Annoying Ghost Kid, a humorous children’s book about dealing with a bully.
For more information on Robert, please visit www.jumpstartyourmeeting.com.