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Trade Show Season
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Join Alliance at the TeleStrategies Revenue Assurance show March 16-17 and at CTIA Wireless March 23-25 in Las Vegas. Thanks to everyone who responded to our trade show survey and earned a Starbucks gift card. Email us today if you still want to respond.
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Industry Insight: iPad |
| Apple's newly announced iPad raises questions to keep us wondering in the two months leading up to commercial launch. How will it affect AT&T's network? What deals can media companies strike and who will benefit? Is it all a big letdown? |
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Need a Laugh?
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In the depths of winter, a trip to summery Australian sounds inviting. Check out these humorous Australian tourism questions.
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Free Webinars |
Look for your invitation this month to our next webinar on project management.
Did you miss our sessions on requirements, testing or Revenue Assurance? Download a free recorded webinar on our web site.
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Please contact us any time with questions, feedback, or just to exchange ideas about telecom industry issues. You can reach us at 847-782-1500 or info@atswireless.com. For the latest information, visit us at www.atswireless.com.
Sincerely,
Richard McFarlane
Alliance Telecom Solutions |
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Message from Richard McFarlane, President
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Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch?
Last fall Alliance started a program to develop a series of webinars on topics our clients have indicated as priorities. Our director of Marketing, Jean
Lawrence, is leading this effort to leverage the expertise resident in our
consultants.
We will continue this effort in 2010 with a focus on
functional areas such as Customer Experience and Revenue Assurance. We will also share our experience on
good methodology in Project Management, Quality Assurance and Quality
Requirements development. These Webinars are offered free of charge to
everyone.
In addition, we are offering
to customize any of these sessions for our clients and present them on site or
in a private Webinar for your company.
The free lunch comes in when we provide the program at your location as what we call a Food for Thought session. Alliance will provide both the presentation
and the lunch to encourage participation. We have offered several Food for Thought sessions in recent months and our clients have found them to be helpful training for their staff.
If you are interested in a customized session on the above topics or
another topic of more interest to you, please email Jean.
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Meet Our Staff: Lawrence Chestnut
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Featured Consultant: Lawrence Chestnut, Senior Project Manger and Solutions Architect
Lawrence has 15 years of telecom experience, specializing in OSS/BSS.
TT: How did you get into telecom?
LC: I joined the telecom community in
1995 when GSM mobile telecommunications was in its infancy and LHS's BSCS was
the billing system of choice if you were going to get into GSM
telecommunications. I was
one of the first eight employees of LHS when the German-based company opened
operations in the United States.
My first client was PacBell Communications, one of the biggest markets
for telecommunications in the country.
TT: You recently assumed the role of Solutions Architect at Alliance. Please explain your view of your duties from the client's perspective.
LC: Well, this is a new position and I look forward to developing new programs to support Alliance clients. The sales team will identify business or technology issues of concern to them within our clients or perspective clients. As Solutions Architect I will work with our Account Managers to create solutions and proposals for our clients (e.g. Project Management direction, CRM specific help, ERP management, requirements gathering, etc.). In this regard I will speak the language of the customer on a more detailed specific business challenge level. If I communicate effectively the client(s) should say "Hah, that person (and thus Alliance Telecom Solutions) understands our challenges and has some idea on how to solve them." I plan to actively participate in these projects on-site. Another aspect of the role will be to develop Case Studies and Webinars to deliver value to the telecom community on an ongoing basis. That is how I see the role I will play at Alliance.
TT: What is your subject matter expertise?
LC: I
started out a front-end
Customer Relations Subject Matter Expert.
I worked closely with the end users (Customer Service Reps) of the
billing system to insure that the front-end of the billing system did what the company
needed it to do. I trained end
users, I worked applications support issues, and I conducted every kind of
testing imaginable.
TT: What do you feel is the biggest contribution you've made to a client?
LC : I
measure success when I am
able to save a company time and/or money.
After working with BSCS I became a telecom billing system professional
promoting a 'simplified solution to setting up a billing systems'. I started working in the Middle East
and Africa during a time when capital was in short demand but the need for
mobile telecommunications was high.
My biggest contribution to a client was preventing them from spending an
outrageous amount of money to create rate plans by bringing the creation
process in house.
TT: What is one of the most interesting projects you've worked on?
LC:
Working in Baghdad, Iraq
setting up Geneva billing and Oracle ERP systems was my most interesting
project. Besides being in a conflict country with limited mobility, I had to
learn how to install software, run UNIX scripts, and work the business as a
Business Analyst, all because it was so difficult to get resources in country.
TT: What is your favorite city/country to work in?
LC: I have
always have a soft spot in
my heart for the Netherlands, particularly my adopted home Den Haag. I consider the Dutch people to be the
friendliest I ever met. I often
tell folks that after living and working in Paris and London, places with great
monuments, that the Netherlands' greatest monument is its people.
TT: What do you like best about working with Alliance?
LC:
I am on my fourth assignment
with Alliance. In every one of them the President of Alliance came to meet me
(no matter where the assignment was), shook my hand and asked how he could make
the work I do better. That's
service you do not get any more, anywhere.
TT: What hobbies do you enjoy in your free time?
LC: I
write. I write novels,
screenplays, short stories and even dabble in poetry. I have a book coming out
in March or April and another one in the works. I am a photographer and when pressed can make a mean dish.
But I have to be pressed.
To request Lawrence for your next project or to view his full profile, please visit our web site.
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