Wireless Replacing Wireline? Not So Fast…

With more than two months to go before the election, the pandering political rhetoric has already begun to assault us.  I figure that if it’s early August as I write this, things are going to be absolutely unbearable as we get closer to the election.  For all intents and purposes, New York isn’t even a state that’s in play—at least in the presidential contest.  But the real kicker for me is that I’ve been seeing some ads that address issues of Verizon and telecom policy. In Washington, seeing ads like this is not surprising, but in western New York, they are a bit more, um, unsettling.

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Cramming and Scamming…The Beat Goes On…

With spring come new leaves, flowers, and apparently bad guys.  On two different listservs of which I’m a member, numerous notes have been racing around about a new and nefarious scam that’s making its way to various end users of telecommunications services.

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Local (Residential) Landlines in Long Term Limbo?

It is no secret that many people have chosen to completely replace their landlines with wireless devices—and have done so for a number of very good reasons: Not only are wireless devices mobile, but you don’t have to worry about making any changes when you relocate to a new residence. And of course smart phones, in particular, are much more than just telephones: They’re capable of all sorts of sophisticated functions that the wired set at home just can’t perform. Although I have no plans to take similar action, I understand why people make this decision.

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Big Wireless Users Get Throttled

Generally speaking, the words “choking,” “throttling” and “squeezing” are not words that are typically associated with Telecommunications. However, one annoyed guy in California took on one of the largest providers and prevailed,  in a small, but meaningful way.  However, customers have also been put on notice that the day of the unlimited data plan is over, despite the status of an existing agreement for unlimited data.

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Dialing 911 from Inside Your Workspace - Are You Properly Prepared?

Periodically, I like to mention to those of my friends, clients and anyone else who I bump into, who work behind multi-line telephone systems (main listed number and numerous extensions in varying locations known as MLTS) about emergency information. As is the case with security systems, it is to be hoped that no one will ever need to dial 911 in the event of a medical or other emergency. But the fact remains that such calls DO need to be made, and when they do, time can absolutely be of the essence. A first responder has no more than 4 minutes to get to someone in cardiac or other medical distress.  Simply put, that’s not very much time.

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