Wu Yee Childrens Services is a 32 year old provider of early education and health care to economically challenged children in San Francisco. For Wu Yee - every dollar counts. In January 2008, Wu Yee asked Synertel to help with a broken 16 year old phone system. We were glad to help.
Within a few months, Wu Yee had shared some larger challenges which were distracting staff from being able to focus on client services. The DSL based Wide Area Network linking 6 sites was painfully slow. Entering daily attendance for just 1 class could take a teacher half an hour. Staff was mobile between offices and programs - but their files and permissions did not follow them. The organization was hobbled by a failing mail server & spam filter. Email was so unreliable that it required twice-daily manual intervention from the sole IT staff member in order to have messages reach staff. This was a major impediment to daily workflow! Wu Yee's e-threat resources lagged significantly behind current phishing, virus, and malbot attacks. And there was no organization-wide tool or system for performing and managing backups.
Synertel analyzed Wu Yee's IT and telecom spending - both telephony and internet costs, as well as time spent 'bailing the leaky canoe' every day. We found that Wu Yee qualified for $3K of monthly subsidy from the California Teleconnect Fund -- and that Wu Yee could enjoy a managed Wide Area Network that would be 9-10 times faster for no more than they were already spending!
Synertel designed a comprehensive network upgrade, providing
- Managed and monitored network 24 x 7
- a terminal server to provide a consistent, secure computer desktop experience to roving and remote staff
- Positive sender-verification spam control - eliminating the need for IT staff to sort thru filtered messages
- Voice Over IP (VOIP) linking all sites. Staff can direct dial anyone at any location, and calls can be transferred anywhere - both on campus or to external numbers.
- A new email server, 200 times more powerful of the old one - with redundant disks
- Active threat detection for viruses, phishing attacks, keystroke loggers, and other threats arriving in email or from web pages.
- SSL VPN for secure remote access to traveling staff from any PC or Mac, anywhere!
- Automatic monitoring of *every* device on the network - PCs, servers, printers, switches - for problems such as missing patches, viruses, low toner, paper jams, low disk space, high temperature - hundreds of things that if not detected, can lead to operational failure.
- Asset detection and tracking - critical for satisfying funders that equipment can be found.
- a Web-based ticketing system for users and IT to request help, track problems, and spot trends.
Best of all - Wu Yee will spend no more over 3 years for all these improvements than they were already spending for the prior shaky infrastructure!
Thank you, Wu Yee, for entrusting us with improving IT and telephony for your staff and clients!
For a complimentary assessment of your organization's IT and Telecom spending and resources, call Ben Stiegler at 415 746 1811 or email ben@synertel.com 
CONVERGED COMMUNICATIONS & IT SOLUTIONS
If Synertel hasn't performed a Connectivity Cost Benefit audit for your organization in the last 18 months -- or if you have significantly changed head counts, shifted balance between telecommuters and in-office staff, or made other significant changes - give us a call. We'll be glad to do a complimentary Connectivity Cost Benefit Audit and discuss the results with you! Most sites we audit end up saving 20-30% on telecom and IT operating costs -- and often gain better fail-safe and disaster recovery tools as well!
There's a new trend in providing email service for your customers and staff: Host it outside your company! Why? Studies show that Hosted Exchange is more cost effective, delivers greater uptime, and removes a significant support and maintenance burden from small company IT staffs -- if you even have an IT staff!. If your company has 200 or fewer email accounts - Synertel Hosted Exchange is what you are looking for!
Most of us at Synertel enjoy a cool drink of sparkling water. We found that we were 'recycling' dozens of plastic bottles every month. Then we thought about the energy used to carbonate the water, seal it in small bottles, truck it to the store where we purchased it -- and transport it to our office. Water is heavy - and it was being moved around a lot.
Effective December 1st, 2008, please send all payments to our new lockbox - Synertel, PO Box 1400, Suisun City CA 94585-4400.