|
|
|
|
AireSpring Appoints 20-Year TPx Executive as Director of Service Assurance
"We are very happy to welcome Greg as our new Director of Service Assurance," said Darren Sandford, Senior Vice President of Operations for AireSpring. "We are committed to the long-term relationships we build with partners and their customers. Greg's vast experience in managing complex technical installations and effectively leading broadly based teams of professionals will add tremendously to our record of success during this next period of growth for AireSpring." A long-time executive in telecom, Greg worked for 20 years at TPx, most recently serving as Senior Director, Reliability and Repair Operations Center, Premier and Wholesale. His role included developing a one-stop repair shop for their hosted PBX solution. Previously, he worked for TCG, which was acquired by AT&T, as a Field Operations Supervisor in the Dallas area. Greg's dynamic leadership will prove a valuable resource in fulfilling the AireSpring commitment to our long-term relationships with our partners and their customers. |
|
Former Verizon Client Executive Appointed as AireSpring Southeast Channel Manager
Most recently, Jesse served as a client executive for Verizon Business Markets, building the partner portfolio and managing business continuity solutions. He joined Verizon after serving as business development partner manager for Peak 10 and ViaWest, a multinational data center and hybrid IT provider. He began his telecom career with Windstream as a major account executive before moving on to ComSolv, where he was a communications and cloud consultant, growing partner relationships in new enterprise and mid-market accounts. "Jesse brings on board a deep commitment to serving the channel as well as a true understanding of the customer's perspective," stated Ron McNab, AireSpring Senior Vice President of Channel Sales. "Jesse can speak from direct experience about the lasting benefits of AireSpring's white glove concierge service and dedicated support for our partners." |
New Loop Provider SPECTRUM (Fiber) added to AireSpring IP Designation
AireSpring has announced the addition of Spectrum (Fiber) as a new Loop Provider to the AireSpring IP designation. This update further expands the growing array of fiber options available with AireSpring IP. Now, Spectrum/AireSpring IP offers AireSpring Network-based services that include Next Gen Network Based Firewall, Multi-Cloud Connect and NetBond. Lowered costs for many speeds will be part of the new service, and a wide array of AireSpring connectivity types are available for Spectrum/AireSpring IP, including prioritized IP. New Loop Provider AT&T AireSpring IP Announced for MPLS
AireSpring has added the Loop Provider AT&T/AireSpring IP to our lineup of product updates. This means a cost reduction for certain speeds when quoting MPLS. The new pricing is available for important AireSpring access products including internet, wholesale DIA, managed connectivity with QoS, SD-WAN and Managed Failover (certain limitations may apply). Now, customers can seamlessly extend their reach with the performance and security of networking leaders. Explore the full range of access options available in our QuoteSpring™ online quoting tool. Please contact your AireSpring Channel Manager for more information about all pricing and about updating current QuoteSpring quotes. AireSpring Releases New Updated
The AireSpring Advantage includes a unique Dedicated Escalation List that extends all the way up to our CEO! While we always strive to resolve issues before escalation is necessary, we intend to demonstrate our dedication to excellence by providing the contact information of our senior management team who will work to ensure that any matter is quickly resolved. Click here to download the most recent version of the Dedicated Escalation List. |
AireSpring is excited to announce the appointment of Greg Haines, a 20-year veteran of TPX, as its new Director of Service Assurance. Greg will focus his over 20 years of combined channel partner and customer care knowledge on fulfilling AireSpring’s 100% commitment to partner and customer support, at the same time ensuring that customers enjoy the full benefit of our white glove service. He will m
AireSpring is very pleased to announce the appointment of Jesse Michael as its Atlanta-based Channel Manager, expanding our partner presence in this key U.S. market. Jesse brings with him a 15-year background in telecom, where he has amassed a winning record in channel and direct sales. His experience serving agents, VARs, MSPs and customers will be an important resource in AireSpring's growing footprint across the Southeast region. He is uniquely qualified to support our solid commitment to serving the channel, while drawing on a true understanding of the customer's viewpoint.
|
Get A Sweet Advantage with AireSpring
|
|
|
 |
IT EXPO Hear Mike Chase (aka Dr. Cloud) AireSpring SVP Solutions Engineering |
|
|
|
 |
TELARUS INNOVATION CONFERENCES Virginia/Washington DC Atlanta, GA Portland, OR Houston, TX |
|
|
|
 |
INTELYSIS SUPERNINE CONVERGENCE JW Marriott Nashville, TN March 10-13, 2019 |
|
|
|
 |
MICROCORP SD-WAN SUMMIT |
|
|
|
 |
CHANNEL PARTNERS CONFERENCE & EXPO |
|
|
|
|
Welcome to the latest edition in our series of profiles, shining the spotlight on AireSpring’s amazing partners. This month, we’re speaking with Elizabeth Cortez, Channel Manager with MyTelecomm/Powered by Green Razor Communications Hello Elizabeth, thank you for agreeing to speak with us today. To begin, please tell us a little about yourself and your professional background.
sales reps by caring about my customer, not just making the sale and walking away. I made sure I stayed in touch and developed a relationship with them. Resolving billing issues for some of the biggest accounts became a natural progression to earning their future business, and ultimately led me to achieve President’s Club in multiple years. I had some amazing managers that laid the groundwork for what it took to be self-disciplined and self-motivated in what most people find a difficult sell. What do you like about working with AireSpring?
submitting an order to Service Delivery and Repairs. If I need something, you are always very flexible and will work with me. This is why you get so much of my business—no one else makes things easier for me the way you do. Most importantly, AireSpring has a diverse set of managed services and products for our clients. In addition, Michael Nesci is an amazing Senior National Channel Manager and is always available when I need his help. He knows the AireSpring product line and wants to help you win the client over. Bigger is not always better and AireSpring treats everyone like they truly care about you and your client. The AireSpring employees have a “how can we make AireSpring better” attitude. The Order Department is available to review orders before submission, Service Delivery has project managers that are dedicated to multilocation deals, and they have an open line of communication with you throughout the entire order. Amy Gallardo really cares and goes the extra mile. I truly admire her and how she is quick to resolve anything you request. She does not pass you off, getting you stuck on a “hamster wheel.” I have never been stuck on hold with AireSpring for eternity or been transferred and hung up on at AireSpring. Finally, AireSpring treats their Agents fantastically well. They have great spiffs and incentives, and their pricing model is very competitive. What more can you ask for? What would you say is the secret to being a successful agent?
or think of other creative ways to get something done. Instead of telling someone what to do, ask questions and you get a better sense of how to move forward. Sometimes you need to go the extra mile and ask the right questions to move an item over a speed bump. I was lucky enough to have gotten amazing training at Kyocera and Ricoh and I read a lot of sales and motivational books. Two that stand out for me are Who Moved My Cheese? and The Little Red Book of Selling. Both of them had an impact on me, with lessons like questioning "why watch the news?" It is full of negativity and that doesn’t help you tailor your craft of selling. Invest in yourself, time is valuable. Why only have your name and phone number on your business card? If you are going to pass out a card, it should clearly say what you do—make it a marketing tool. Reading great sales books inspired the start of some good habits that have really paid off. Another one of my favorite sayings is “time kills deals.” Customers want a good turnaround time when they ask you for a solution. Once you meet with them and do discovery, you need to be able to come right back with a proposal. At AireSpring there is such an amazing back office, with agentStar.net and the instant quoting platform QuoteSpring™, that you don’t have to wait for pricing. I access QuoteSpring directly and run proposals for my clients. Partner with people who share your ethics. You have to do right by your clients, they are often your neighbors! Market yourself. My marketing background and creative side has helped me with reaching out to new prospects and current clients to always keep in touch. This is a numbers game. The more people you reach, the higher your percentage becomes of reaching a prospect that needs something. Finally, invest in a good CRM so you can track your business and prospects. What is the "next big thing" you think agents should be aware of in 2019? There is a lot of excitement building around the 5G rollout starting from top carriers. It’s hard to know what the impact will be, but clearly it will make everything faster with much less waiting time. It might help on the 4G failover question. Anyone carrying a mobile device will find it is awesome. At the same time, over-the-top (OTT) and value-added services are not slowing down. Consumer-driven data consumption fueled by the mobile and broadband services in the internet of things (IoT) has soared, putting unprecedented pressures on client networks. These devices will add financial and infrastructure pressure on client networks. A major concern will be security, including distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. As networks become increasingly software-defined, and as more companies experience attacks, their infrastructure is just as vulnerable as the information sent through the network. In light of all these factors, SD-WAN and the managed services AireSpring offers are a nice value add. What are some of your hobbies and interests outside of telecom?
Elizabeth, thank you for taking time to talk with us today. |
|
|
|
At AireSpring, we know that it is our dedication to customer service that sets us apart, and customer service begins with great employees. Here is your chance to get to know another key member of the AireSpring team. This month we are talking with Grace Chu, UCaaS Design Manager. Hello Grace. To begin, please tell us about your professional background and how long you've been in the telecom industry. This is my 20th year in Telecom. I started my career in 1999 at Pacific Bell in the DSL Plant Control Office working as a Maintenance Administrator, so I was lucky to be immersed in the latest technology at the time. I learned about provisioning and system maintenance for DSL and analyzed test results as well as performing heavy customer contact to ensure any issues were resolved. My focus was on improving speed of delivery to the client and to interfacing with all involved in a project, including end users, distributors and vendors. Next, I went to Vital Link Business Systems, Inc., an application service provider (ASP) start-up where I was Broadband Services Manager. Our internet-based management software was designed for retail settings and multi-unit businesses. We placed cameras in SMBs, creating a need for and then installing DSL. I handled a lot of the provisioning for installations. After nearly four years there I went to work for Vercuity Solutions, Inc. (formerly MSS Group). They specialized in telecom expense management. As Project Manager, I oversaw high-priority projects that required complex levels of functional integration. I next moved on to Telekenex where I spent eight years, broadening my knowledge of telecom products and services, from Direct Internet Access and MPLS to VoIP and SIP. As a Project Manager, I had a hand in everything from order entry to implementation and training, acting as liaison between internal departments and carriers. It was a huge change and a bit intimidating, coming out of the ILEC environment to work for a CLEC like Telekenex. Eventually, Telekenex became a prime acquisition target, at first by TelePacific (TPx)—who tried but failed to acquire us—then by a venture capital firm who did complete the acquisition, rebranding the company as NetFortris. There, I oversaw our project management team, worked with provisioners on circuits and did communications with customers post-sale until the order was complete. I have done it all and have the background to understand all the moving parts that must come together for success. If you drop a circuit, for example, but you don’t have the IPs allocated, you have a problem. I learned a lot about transport and networking. I also did coaching and training as well as managing project managers, including conducting weekly team calls to review work in production. Tell us about your role at AireSpring and how long you’ve been with the As UCaaS Design Manager, I focus on the AirePBX product line. I understand all the issues our people deal with in every department. Because I have been on-site doing customer training and support in the past, even plugging in a circuit and trouble-shooting in the phone room, I’ve had exposure to all the moving parts and know what to do to resolve an issue or find the right resource. I build upon my experience and apply new knowledge to keep problems from developing, and quickly resolve them when they do. When I first started a year ago, I worked closely with Jesus Aguilar [AireSpring Network Operations Technician] when he was an implementation engineer. Now, I manage a growing UCaaS Design Team which ensures complete white glove service to customers. Together we’ve been able to streamline the order process for AirePBX, steadily improving the customer experience. What do you enjoy most about working with AireSpring? At AireSpring we can easily interact with others on our team and ask for a hand; that’s what I like about the environment here-everyone is willing to help one another. By contrast, at Telekenex there was less collaboration. AireSpring is a much bigger company where we have established teams who are handling their jobs professionally and can assist in out-of-the box requests when needed. Unlike some very large carriers that have a lot of red tape and hoops to jump through to get things done, or smaller companies where people are overworked wearing multiple hats, AireSpring projects are allocated efficiently across UCaaS design teams that specialize in AirePBX installs. AireSpring recognized the need for building up our team and that has been very exciting. My manager, Ralph Romero [Vice President of Service Delivery] is someone I worked with for about eight years at Telekenex. I knew coming into AireSpring that he was building a team of great people and I would get to be a part of that. We have all worked together to develop the product within the AireSpring model, that is “one size fits none.” Unlike other UCaaS providers, we don’t just box it and ship it, we design systems to fit the customer’s call flow—to either mimic or improve what they already have. We deliver the custom solution that fits what customers need and we generally have a tech go onsite to do the installation. I work to establish communication and a good relationship with the customers, and often get emails and calls from people after implementation to ask about services. At that point, I steer them to their account manager or project coordinator. We work with people in different roles at the customer end, ranging from an office manager to an IT manager, or it could be the company CIO or CTO, or the agent, all depending on the company configuration and size. Most of our customers are multi-location enterprises. We have our team of IT people on the phone with them, working through their needs. Whether a company has five sites or 1,000, they all get the same level of attention to their design needs. What are some of your hobbies or interests outside of the office?
With three boys ranging from four years old to 11 years old, my days are filled with many adventures and video games. I do make time for myself to attend Zumba class and meet with my fitness group once a week as well. We love doing road trips as a family, and our kids have been to Disneyland countless times. This past year we had a great time visiting Knotts Berry Farm and Universal Studios.
Grace, thank you for sharing your story with us! |
|
|
AireSpring is an award-winning provider of Managed Connectivity and Cloud Communications solutions providing fully managed and connected end-to-end, next-generation solutions for multi-location enterprise customers, including:
AireSpring's services are delivered over its revolutionary nationwide MPLS Mesh Network, providing customers a fully integrated, end-to-end solution from a single vendor.    |
|
||||||
