Well, Labor Day marks the end of summer and the beginning of the back-to-school season. And while we may get preoccupied with planning one last getaway before the end of summer, or making sure we force our kids to try on another pair of jeans (just to fully cement those childhood memories), this is also a great opportunity to make sure that, after a long summer, you have all the supplies and materials you need for work…call it a back-to-work season.

Take a moment to look at all your vendors and outsourced services. When do the contracts expire? Will they be automatically renewed? If I don’t want contracts renewed, when do I have to let the vendor know that? Am I getting the customer service I need? Are these still the products that I need, or have business changes like growth, downsizing or a shift in business changed my needs? Are there new services and technologies that my business could benefit from?

Many of your vendors, including TelePacific, can help you review your current services to see if they’re still aligned with your business needs. We can help you realize savings while finding the products and services that can help increase your business’ efficiency and effectiveness.

Back-to-work season is also a great time to make sure your vendors have your most updated account information. Many services, such as phone services, have laws that regulate who from the customer side can update information, change services, amend contracts, etc. This is a good time to get in touch with your providers and confirm the information is still valid, or update it if any changes have occurred over the previous year. It’s much easier and less stressful to deal with it now, rather than deal with it in the middle of a crisis when you find out that because of outdated contact files, you’re not authorized to access your account.

Take a few moments to review and evaluate your services and providers, and update your contact and authorization information now, and you’ll be all set for the coming new business year. With the extra time and hassle you save from doing this early, you’ll have plenty of time to sharpen all your pencils and plastic wrap your books.

TelePacific Mobile is available this month. The first data cards and MiFi hotspots to allow high-speed, 3G wireless access anywhere users can get cellular service are shipping momentarily. Up to five devices can be connected to a hotspot, so users can create a mini-office anywhere they are: the pool, a picnic table in the park or even their conference room so everyone can chat and work together. Or if a customer is a road warrior or one-person show, a data card may be the right choice: either the one with optional data storage or the one that works in either a PC card or ExpressCard slot. Either way, summer fun can be theirs while still being “plugged in” (wirelessly, of course).

You’ve heard about the upcoming mobile additions but I’ll note them here too. This fall, we’re introducing voice products (like Blackberry devices) to make it even easier for users to stay connected on their own terms. And we’ll roll out wireless failover to ensure access to mission-critical applications…and ensure customers have peace of mind (even when they’re working by the pool).

The Telepartner site, The Brain and your Telepartner manager have the details you’ll need to help your customers be successful while still enjoying summer—all thanks to TelePacific Mobile. And the nice summer weather, and fun activities, and vacations…okay, it’s not all thanks to TelePacific Mobile but some of it is!

 Have a good day at work!

That’s right, TelePacific was ranked 84^th on the list by gross dollars of growth. Growing a company in this economy isn’t easy. Growing it by 64 percent over the last three years and making it on this prestigious list four years in a row–that just means that we’re doing a lot of things right.

Our accolades don’t stop there. Out of the fastest growing companies, TelePacific was the second largest telecommunications company, based on revenue, and the telecommunications company with the fifth biggest growth in gross dollars. TelePacific was also the largest and fastest growing (in terms of revenue and gross dollars of growth respectively) telecommunications company headquartered in our service area.

I think that deserves some ice cream…with extra scoops.

While this accomplishment will definitely go on a plaque in our lobby, you have something to celebrate as well. As a TelePacific customer, you can rest assured that we’re not going anywhere. We’re stable, growing and positioned to make it through this economic climate and come out the other side even more competitive and still able to provide you the telecommunication services and products to help your business grow. Working together, there’s room for your company’s name and ours on one of Inc. Magazine’s upcoming lists.

We’re really looking forward to the show. It’s a great chance to catch up with old friends, meet new people, share news and see what’s going on in the world of telecom. And visiting our nation’s capitol is always fun—the history, the culture, the sights and sounds…love, love, love it!

But that’s just us. Will you be attending the show? What are you most looking forward to seeing, doing or learning? Is it a trip to one of the 19 Smithsonian museums for a new exhibit? Enjoying the fall colors? Learning more about product updates, introductions or future trends?

There’s so much to discover. Yeah, I think that’s a line from an ad campaign, but it works here too. We hope to see you from September 20-22 at Booth 3007 at the show. Stop by, check us out and hear what’s new. We’ll be talking about Ethernet over Copper, mobile services and who knows what else (maybe the chance to touch a rock from the Apollo 17 mission at the Air and Space Museum?). Whatever you do, and wherever you go when you’re here, it should be lots of fun!

Have a good day at work!

When you think about it, credit cards give you enough to love and hate about them without adding more to it. You know, things like the worries of identity theft and the stress of handling people’s sensitive private information…much less being subjected to stringent rules and regulations regarding how to handle information gathered through credit card transactions.

The Payment Card Industry (PCI) has developed strict and comprehensive standards, called PCI Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) that help protect customer account data. Complying with these standards is not the easiest thing…they cover a multitude of requirements and elements, including the need to build and maintain a secure network, protect cardholder data, manage potential vulnerabilities, implement access control measures and more. Failing to comply can be costly and extremely detrimental to your business’ ability to conduct credit card transactions. Regardless of the challenges you may face implementing these regulations, they are important safeguards to help protect your customers. And compliance can save you the even costlier experience of misplacing customer credit card data and the damage that can cause to both your bottom line and your company’s brand equity.

With TelePacific’s OneSecure, we can help you manage a number of the PCI DSS requirements and give you the confidence of knowing that your customers’ data, as well as your company’s reputation and bottom line, are safe from identity thieves. In addition to providing SPAM filtering and VPN services, OneSecure can provide firewall protection, intrusion detection and prevention, vulnerability scanning, system virus and spyware protection and other services that are critical to PCI DSS compliance. All these services are conveniently packaged in OneSecure, which means you also get the great customer service and responsiveness for which TelePacific is known.

So let us help you get a handle on those requirements, reduce your stress and concentrate on keeping those credit card machines swiping cards and making sales. You’re going to need those when you have to pay those high credit card fees.

Sorry about that. I’m writing and posting this blog entry from the coffee shop around the corner from my office. No, it’s not one of those trendy coffee shops with free Wi-Fi but the coffee is good, so I like to come here. It’s peaceful, there’s none of that artsy acoustic whining music playing, the aroma of the coffee beans is energizing and with TelePacific mobile services, I can be as productive here as in the office…even more, with that extra shot of espresso that I’m waiting for.

Working on the road, at a hotel, client’s office or even my favorite spot, the coffee shop, is easier than you might expect. I carry around this little device called a MiFi that automatically creates a wireless hotspot wherever I am. That means that I can connect my laptop to the MiFi in the same way I would connect to any wireless network. Nice and easy. And what’s even better is that I can connect up to five different devices to the same MiFi. So right now I’m sitting here typing away on my Internet-connected laptop and my cell phone is also connected to my MiFi wireless, so I can check email there or take a break and play with some of my cool new phone apps. And if I run into a coworker or friend at the coffee shop, they can sit down and connect to my MiFi, and I’ll still have room for more connections. It’s perfect for small workgroups, setting up temporary work sites or mobile command centers—and my coffee shop trips could be called by any one of those names.

And if you don’t want to carry around a MiFi device, which is extremely portable and smaller than a deck of cards, or if you don’t feel like sharing your connection, there are other options as well. TelePacific also offers a USB drive and an AirCard. The USB drive easily plugs in to any available USB port on your laptop, allowing you to connect to the Internet. Plus it has a microSD slot, allowing you to store up to eight gigabytes of data right on the USB drive. So you can load up your presentation on this puppy, go to a client’s office, connect online and run your presentation…all from this little device. The AirCard allows you to install the card right into your computer, so you’re not fussing with carrying extra devices around. It installs automatically and gives you the peace of mind of knowing that whenever and wherever you have that laptop with you, you have the Internet on the go.

Those are some pretty good options that work for almost every situation. And deciding on which one works for you is as personal and customizable as your favorite coffee drink.

Speaking of which…I need a refill, so I should wrap up this post. So what if the coffee shop isn’t trendy? My work style and wireless options more than make up for it and I am a proud trendsetter.

One idea is even to go back to school. Why should kids have all the fun? Because really, learning and expanding your horizons is fun. Why not re-learn world history? It might come in handy on that trip to Europe when you win the Summer Sales Contest. Or dive into economics so you can make educated judgments when economists “predict” the length of our economic downturn.

But if actually going back to school seems like too much work, or is too expensive right now, you might want to check out TelePacific University. We’ve developed specialized courses to either introduce you to TelePacific products and services you aren’t familiar with, or to help you build your contacts and business. Most courses are online and can be taken at your own pace.

You can even catch up on Brown Bag sessions you may have missed. There’s everything from presentations by product managers to best practices to networking tips to competitive positioning. And there’s a special Telepartner QuickStart program to get new Telepartners, or new employees at your company, up to speed quickly so they can start producing.

Check out TelePacific University today. If you don’t have a login or password, request one from your agent manager. And check out other resources, especially free or low-cost ones, to build your brainpower…work related or not!

Have a good day at work!

Okay, I’m breaking into a nervous sweat just thinking about it. Fortunately, after hanging up on an important person during a three-way call attempt gone awry, many people learn to avoid this embarrassing and frustration situation. Not by learning how to actually use the three-way feature properly…we don’t all have the time or energy to get a Doctorate degree on the topic! But we can avoid it by finding better ways to handle the situation.

I’ve dealt with it by relying more on TelePacific’s Conference Central. Instead of trying to individually call everyone and suffering small cardiac arrests every time I cautiously wait to see if I actually succeeded in connecting each additional caller, I just send everyone an email with a phone number and meeting ID. They call that toll free number, enter the PIN and there I am waiting to start our call and not spending the next 20 minutes just trying to get everyone on the line. It’s easier for everyone and much less stressful for me.

I typically just include the call-in information on every meeting invitation that I send. That way it’s on everyone’s calendar and easy to access when it’s time to meet. And with Conference Central, it’s also easy to set up a conference call on the fly. There’s no need for reservations, so you can have everyone dial in immediately. And if some of the invitees can’t make the meeting, no sweat and no issues with subjecting the entire group to a voicemail or busy signal. You can record the call and email a link to the audio recording so that they can be in the loop and not miss a thing. It really is that simple.

You can set up Conference Central so that each employee has his or her own conference ID and PIN number, which is nice because then you don’t have to worry about whether or not there’s a conference line available. And because each call has a conference ID, you can track each call by person and project, so you can bill the call to a specific project or client if appropriate.

Conference Central is replete with cool features, like muting participants (you know you want this feature), hearing roll calls, locking the call, setting up passwords to join and more. But don’t worry about all the features turning your next call into another three-way calling fiasco. The features are easy to use and are just the icing on the cake. Conference Central is an effective, easy and affordable way to manage your multi-participant calls.

And if you never have to accidentally hang up on an important person (your boss, your largest client), isn’t it worth it.

I try not to talk too much about TelePacific products (at least without a tie-in to something else) but I can’t help myself this time—the news is too exciting to keep to myself. This month, TelePacific is launching TelePacific Mobile, an expansion into the wireless communications realm. If you’re a “TelePacific Insider” then you may have already heard some of the details…if not, I’ll lay them on you here.

Our first products are data cards and MiFi hotspots to allow high-speed, 3G wireless access anywhere users can get cellular service. Up to five devices can be connected to a hotspot, so you can create a mini-office at a job site or conference room. One device can connect to the data cards, and we offer two options: one with optional data storage and one that works in either a PC card or ExpressCard slot.

Later in the year, around the fall, we’ll make it even easier for users to stay connected on their own terms because we’re introducing voice products (like Blackberry devices) and mobile plans at varying price points. We’ll even introduce wireless failover to ensure access to mission-critical applications…and ensure customers can have peace of mind.

We believe this expanded service offering is a natural extension of our existing product and service offerings. Okay, that sounded pretty corporate but the message is the same—with these new mobile products, TelePacific can provide essentially every telecommunications service a small-to-medium-size business needs. We can provide you phone service, Internet service, data backup, security, VoIP, some cool integrated services, online account management and now wireless service. We will be a true one-stop shop with superior customer service and easy account management with one bill for all of your services.

So check it out! Contact your sales representative if you’re interested in more details. You must be a TelePacific customer with at least one of our existing services to join in on the TelePacific Mobile fun. We look forward to talking with you soon.

In case one of your brains has forgotten, The Brain is TelePacific’s online workflow improvement tool to help you do your job more efficiently. It was introduced in this blog a few months ago (remember? “The ‘go to’ place for TelePacific Grey Matter?”), so it seemed like a good time for an update. Have you checked it out recently? If not, you should!

There is a ton of useful information stored there. Everything from easily-customizable presentation templates to product information to competitive information to tips for keeping your brain sharp can be found in The Brain. Some of the recent popular content is about TelePacific Mobile, including questions from agents and answers from TelePacific; about the recent Ethernet product upgrades; and sample emails to help you communicate with your customers.

But The Brain needs your help to expand its capacity even more! We’ll keep updating it with product information and keep that RSS feed of industry news going; can you help by sharing your tips and tricks and materials that have worked—and by rating the materials that are in The Brain so we know what’s working for you? All of our brains working together should help keep us all fresh and current.

And speaking of current—what was in that multi-colored goo Dr. Necessiter kept the brains alive in? Did it have some kind of electrical current, even without wires? Whether you can answer that question or not, send us your brainy thoughts to improve The Brain. Or just let us know you like it as it is…we like feedback! Almost as much as we like brains.  

Have a good day at work!