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Volume 12 Number 2
Summer 2004
* National Incident Management System (NIMS)
* Dallas Implements Pilot DHS Program
E-Conferencing
Move over NetMeeting…WebMeet is here to stay.
Here at Forum Communications, we believe in what we sell. We Have Several GREAT Reasons! Every member of our sales and support teams participate in daily and weekly conference calls for training, pre-installation, planning, troubleshooting and demonstrations. We host international conference calls and design team meetings, some are instant meetings to verify status on a project, or they may last hours using WebMeet for web collaboration.
With the latest release of our WebMeet Collaboration Software, we are now hosting web conferences using Forum’s WebMeet product. WebMeet can be used side-by-side with any of our audio conference systems for data sharing, white-boarding, instant messaging and desktop application sharing.
Forum's new WebMeet collaboration software can be purchased as a stand alone product. If you are already using the Confer III product and want the most affordable web conferencing solution AND security, this is an ideal fit for your budget. WebMeet can be installed on a local server and logged in through user’s ID. Participants can use the two technologies side-by-side, calling into the Confer III for audio and logging in to WebMeet with an internet connection. You can also partner the WebMeet sharing with our Consortium system for high-level management functions and reporting capabilities.
Forum conferencing experts can schedule an interactive demonstration and executive briefing with your demo version of WebMeet software. Contact Forum Communications or call us at 972-680-0700 to reserve a time, date and password for your next web conference.
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User Tip of the Month
Getting maximum mileage from your Forum Conference Solutions is easy. Watch your mail box or call us NOW! to update your support warranty and review your conferencing needs. Forum is implementing a Warranty Reminder Program to help assure continuous service. The Confer and Consortium systems are so reliable that there are rarely any problems, but so critical that our customers do not want to be without them! Our Warranty programs include Advanced Replacement benefits.
If you have a Consortium, you can purchase annual remote support. Once a year it is also essential to review your training needs and return on investment for hardware/software upgrades. New functions and technology keep your Consortium running at maximum efficiency. Training helps your key personnel understand and implement management functions, automatic reports and reminder emails. As conference traffic grows, ask for pricing for our “Spares Kit.”
Ready to bring your web conferencing in-house? Ask for a demonstration of WebMeet.
The Confer family, including the Confer III, Confer ECS and Confer ALERT provide sophistication and functions not available on earlier Confer systems, like remote administration, ConferWeb and ConferView controls, blast dial capability, GUI interface and more. We can assist you in an annual review of conferencing uses and help develop a migration plan to meet your changing needs. Support and upgrade packages are affordable and available through your Forum dealer or Forum Communications.
(Top)Dealer Corner - What has made you successful in the past?
Back to Basics
Relationship Building drives your business. Staying in touch with industry contacts is critical to stay on top of project planning, budgeting and deadlines. Personnel changes may require you to develop new relationships, but keep networking AND keep educating your prime contacts.
Time is a precious commodity, as you truly partner with your industry contacts to share information about trends in the marketplace, new technology, and help them increase their efficiency.
Customer Service and professionalism provide added value.
Don’t tell the customer how valuable they are, show them! Keep it
simple and remember honesty is more important than flattery!
Emergency Telecommuting
Lawmakers in Washington D.C. are working to create a telework demonstration
program to ensure government workflow in case of emergency.
Hearings hosted by the Government Reform Committee are looking at “identifying
work processes that should be addressed during an extended emergency situation.”
A pilot program would last for about one month. The bill, HR 4797, was referred
to the Government Reform Committee. It just goes to show how critical telecommunications
and teleconferencing have become!
National Incident Management System (NIMS)
The Department of Homeland Security has worked with Federal agencies, states, cities, counties, townships and first responders from all levels to establish standardized incident management processes, protocols, and procedures. With responders using the same standardized procedures, they will be able to place full emphasis on incident management when a homeland security incident occurs. In addition, efficiency at every level is enhanced since all of the Nation's emergency teams and authorities are using a common language and set of procedures.
While the NIMS programs are being developed, common ground and information sharing is essential, making instant conferencing and "crash" systems like the Confer ECS and Confer ALERT more important than ever. Because the Confer and Consortium products from Forum Communications can be used for regular teleconferencing as well as emergency calls, they are easily cost justified and support multiple functions and call groups.
The NIMS outlines five functional areas for unified incident management (command, operations, planning, logistics and administration). The program requires standardized communications for more effective incident response. Preparedness measures include planning, training, public education and outreach to assure uniform response. Providing a consistent message to the community falls under the Joint Information System and Centers. To maintain and refine procedures and upgrade best practices the NIMS Integration Center will provide strategic direction and long term communications with public and private authorities to unify the response community as never before.
For more information, go to http://www.dhs.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/NIMS-90-web.pdf
Expanding Our Reach...
Forum Communications continues to expand industry awareness of the timely emergency response solutions and enterprise conferencing solutions we are developing. Forum’s emergency response applications have been advertised in Signal Magazine, Nuclear News and Telecom Reseller.
In addition to providing outstanding support to our dealer network, Forum
is partnering with AFCEA (Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association)
and NENA (National Emergency Numbers Association) to promote emergency communication
solutions for national and regional government agencies.
Low Tech vs. High Tech
Soft Tech vs. High Touch, Protection vs. ProActive...
Security issues are a very hot concern everywhere. Not every Safety Program includes a comprehensive plan. For example, a recent 250 page government report included 70 pages on protective personnel gear (from body armor and eye protection to non-flammable underwear), but only a handful of pages on emergency communications.
Network Security programs are supposed to provide additional confidence for IT and IS managers. But one big question remains, are you still using a service bureau for your conference calls? Like any other call center, your calls are being monitored for quality control. Your proprietary information can be exposed.
How do you protect your conference calls? Purchase your own system from your Forum dealer or call Forum Communications at 972-680-0700, or ask about our affordable U-HOST program (with one monthly charge, unlimited usage and a system you control).
Forum's systems let you consider options for size, features, management functions, budget and easy migration. Contact Forum Communications for a demonstration.
(Top)Dallas Implements Pilot DHS Program
The Homeland Security Information Network – Critical Infrastructure (HSIN-CI) Pilot Program is an unclassified network, which immediately provides the Department’s Homeland Security Operations Center with one-stop 24/7 access to a broad spectrum of industries, agencies and critical infrastructure across both the public and private sectors. This conduit for two-way information sharing provides the Department with an expanding base of locally knowledgeable experts and delivers real-time access to needed information. The pilot program was initiated in Dallas in June 2004, modeled after the FBI Dallas Emergency Response Network and will be implemented in Seattle, Indianapolis and Atlanta soon.
(Top)Seize the Future...
With changes happening so quickly, keeping up with the relevant technology is taking more of everyone’s resources. For the last 50 years Science Fiction writers have focused more on science, less on fiction: nano-technology, space travel, artificial intelligence are just a few examples. Ideas that were Science FICTION 20 years ago are yesterday’s news!
Management and technology studies say that the most critical human virtue is adaptability; even Darwin said that in 1859. Adaptability and curiosity drive our human desire for advancement!
If you remember 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, you might think that author Jules Verne invented the submarine in 1870, before the submergible technology became commonplace during the World Wars. The submarine was actually invented several centuries earlier by Leonardo DaVinci. Back then it took a lot longer for us to put our ideas into action!
This new Millennium is moving faster than the last one. Instant communications feed us worldwide changes at lightning speed! Sometimes, we have to slow down and look back as well as forward, after all, we have progressed from complete illiteracy to computer-literacy, from invention of the printing press to widespread use of the internet in only 500 years!
VoIP continues to grow, but new articles surface about its stability and questions arise about compatibility among VoIP manufacturers. Our government (i.e., the Department of Homeland Security) is working to find and implement technology for one massive portal of real-time information. Corporate grid software strives to standardize and access resources between departmental “silos” in our corporate networks. These technologies are at their early adaptor stages with light years to move forward.
What is the next generation technology? Where will we be in the next 50, or 100 years? Is there life beyond the internet? Will we spend more on outer space or internet space? We already have videophone wristwatches and big brother satellite spy gear. We are not likely to see intergalactic long distance rates. But we should continue to see more universal acceptance of our existing technology, including teleconferencing, instant messaging and web conferencing. We are seeing more needs for connectivity within our fellow human beings.
If they were alive today, Maestro DaVinci and Mr. Verne would clearly be considered “Early Adaptors.” What would they say about where our technology is going?
It’s about time!
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