April 15, 2010
Over the weekend the remaining Network Operations Center “NOC” was moved from the first floor of the 92 Broad street address. We are now fully operational at 1070 State Route 34 in Matawan NJ. The remaining aspects went very well with no surprises. We like well thought out plans and careful thought. We did the same for ourselves as the many clients we complete similar moves and build-outs for each year. Come over and take a peek.
Half of the NOC desks were already in place but y0u can see here, this Wright Line technical furniture was one of the pieces that needed to be moved. This is a seat pod for 4 technicians, and another 2 on the other side of the room. We have the capacity to fit a total of 10 technicians in our current configuration. We’re ready for the growth. Our current business model also consists of remote and off-site technicians and engineers, limiting the need for a loaded office. This model helps us respond quickly in the field. As you may know 96% of all of AMRCON NOC/Help Desk trouble tickets are closed remotely, meaning without dispatching a technician on-site. This drastically improves the speed in which you receive support and virtually eliminates downtime. When we do need to dispatch on-site, we have someone close by to provide the service or we can dispatch from our NJ HQ. As you can image, the more we can do remotely, you benefit. Since we can speed up the response and resolution times without the need to wait for someone to show up on-site, we also reduce our overhead costs. When our costs can be reduced, these savings are passed to our clients. This is one of the many reasons why AMRCON’s Managed Service called ODS or On Demand Support, is so popular. We can reduce your budget and provide better support. It’s a win-win no matter how you look at it. The next benefit is flat rate IT. AMRCON’s ODS services are provided at a flat monthly subscription rate, so we’re ensuring everything is working efficiently, but just in case something goes bump in the night, you have no additional cost. It’s the best of both worlds, more efficient than hiring your own staff and certainly more cost effective.
Did you know that as CEO I’ve at one point or another worked each and every position at AMRCON? So even when it comes to being able to complete the task of re-cabling, installing, and configuring as simple or as complex a project as our NOC, I’m in there getting my hands dirty and keeping up with my engineering know how. As CEO of AMRCON I thinks its important to know as much as I can about each job, I believe it to provide and edge in leadership, management, and training. These elements are just a few I take very seriously, but at the same time I can’t lie, it’s fun. I love what I do, being involved is just another perk. My clients are generally surprised that I still enjoy doing my own business development, but I just can’t see myself entrusting it to anyone else. Building relationships with our clients is the first step, but it’s my past and present engineering experience that keeps me with an edge in the conference room. I can sell the company but also answer the technical questions. Doesn’t everyone do that? More an more I’ve been told it was the reason why some chose AMRCON, I’m going to keep it that way.
Neatness always counts. So I explained quite a bit in this blog. You probably noticed the pitch in the beginning on our NOC and what separates us. Then I spoke about business development and some of our processes. I smothered it with the status of our move but when it comes down to it we also deliver. Here are a few shots of the beginnings of our new data center. We practice what we preach. We color code and keep things neat everywhere. IT is a very precise field, the way it looks should be as well for many reasons. First you can create a difficult time for troubleshooting, safety concerns and even misconfiguration when things are not in order. Now imagine you have everything right but you have to come back 2 years later to troubleshoot. If you’re not neat and organized, how do you think that would turn out?
Many of us are still trying to catch up from the 36 hour straight work weekend, not to mention 16 hours days thereafter. So I hope everyone can follow my random thoughts. I can assure you however that the new office is ready to go and in fact has been fully operational this entire week. Feel free to stop by and check us out. We’re not to faraway from the rest of our furniture delivery and remaining technical enhancements, but I’ll chat about those later. For now thank you for listening. Dee Rudko – CEO
March 16, 2010
Wright Line has been a partner of AMRCON since it’s beginning. In fact I have been working with them in other businesses since 1998. Their furniture technology and lifetime guarantee were among 2 of the top reasons they were our first choice. So let me take you through a brief history. In 1999 the company that I was with purchased data center, office furniture and advanced network operation center furnishings, which were employed for several years. The solutions were second to none. It went through aggressive daily use and maintained perfect utilization and appearance. In 2008 the original company was absorbed by a company that decided to close that office. AMRCON purchased the furnishings and shipped them to Keyport, were they were redeployed into our NOC, back office and other areas. We needed very little refitting and Wright Line was happy to provide new CAD drawings on how they could be redistributed. If you’ve visited the office over the past 2 years you would have seen the solutions. Now that AMRCON is moving, Wright Line has agreed to assist us in new designs to refit the furniture once again and make certain that we are getting the maximum out of our assets.
This will now be the 3rd home for some of these pieces. The point is that even when items were damaged in shipping Wright Line was there. Even when we needed new pieces to fit new configurations, Wright Line still produced the parts. Even when we needed to purchase new solutions to add to our office and match to existing aspects, Wright Line was able to provide the solutions. We’ve always been able to get parts quickly, service to assist us in reassembly and getting new CAD drawings to get an idea of how things were going to look. The bottom line is AMRCON has a personal story to share here. We have a proven track record with an investment originally made over 10 years ago, still innovative, still providing a great solution for years to come. What do you look for in a furniture solutions provider? Are you working direct with a manufacturer or a broker/dealer? There is a difference I invite you to contact our representative with any questions at anytime Dennis Kilgariff dennis.kilgariff@wrightline.com or 215-778-5483.
So here is a peek at what AMRCON will be deploying in the new site, click on any of the drawings found on this page. Take a look around and let us know if you have any questions. These drawings and more will be available in the new office, where each CAD drawing will be posted on the corresponding walls. We will have before and after shots to give you an idea how you might be able to use Wright Line in the future.
March 9, 2010
Much of our build-out project is well underway. In fact the planning for our project started months ago, I wanted to mention that in case we make everything look too easy and very fast. Proper project management is a skill in its self. We are proud to have several members of our staff that have worked on countless projects far more detailed and larger than our humble move. The new space is a 2600 square foot operation from our current 1400 square feet.
All of the engineering changes have taken place and the walls are all set in place. Painting the office took place just this week. Some minor electrical changes took place, but a few other changes are required as well later on. A few walls were removed to make room for our Network Operations Center, where we will be able to comfortably double the amount of technical staff over the upcoming years. As you can see here to the left, our reception area received some extra attention. Just today our sign vendor met with us to properly plan our needs and moving of our current neon signs to the new location. Our carpet will be down in the next 10 days, where we can then begin some of our physical move and technical aspects.
Next week we expect to have our security design plans complete, including our locksmith needs. Our video surveillance and alarm needs to follow. Our primary Internet lines will be 
installed towards the end of the week which gives our new office life. Shortly thereafter our back up lines and remaining communications aspects will be completed. Our furniture requirements are pending approval this week. Our conference room plans for a combination conference room, training area and webinar stage will be ready to install. We really can’t wait for the use we’ll get out of that.
On the back end our administrative staff are really excited since it seems we will be ahead of schedule and they are the first to move. However they are very busy planning some of our events based around our big move. They include our next training day for our Agent Program and Level 2 Consultants Program. We’re excited that we will have such a perfect room outfitted for them. The next is our grand opening month of discounting to help promote our new walk-in area as well as new Managed Service client discounts. We will follow with an official ribbon cutting and evening grand opening event for our fellow partners, vendors, clients, friends and family.
More updates to come, stay tuned. Dee Rudko, CEO
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