Telecom and Energy Expense Management

Fall has arrived!

2009-10-13T12:42:00.006-04:00

TeleBright has a New Partner!

2009-09-11T08:14:00.003-04:00

We are proud to announce our newest partner, Jeanette Green and team of UC-Green Communication Management. http://uc-green.com/aboutUs.html

TeleBright Partners with Arch Rock for Smart Metering

2009-04-20T09:45:00.002-04:00

TeleBright has partnered with Arch Rock Corporation for utility smart metering and environmental sensing technology. TeleBright selected Arch Rock for their innovative IPv6-based network of low-power wireless sensors.

“We recognized the difference with this company from the very first demonstration,” said Chet Thaker, TeleBright CEO. “They understand the issues with energy sub metering and their technology and products are very well suited to our needs. We are delighted to be teaming with such an industry-leading company committed to success. This partnership will fortify our mission with Energy Star”

“We are the first company to bring an IP-based low-powered wireless network to the energy measurement and verification scene”, said Roland Acra, Arch Rock CEO. “Analyzed, correlated energy usage data is available as soon as it is recorded. Facilities managers see detailed breakdowns of energy consumption from mains to branch circuits on a minute-by-minute basis. They can use the data to realize rapid payback by implementing energy reduction plans or boosting internal efficiency through departmental charge back reporting. We are confident our partnership with TeleBright will reinforce our abilities to provide extraordinary value.”

TeleBright Reflects on Technology Tax

2009-03-25T12:11:00.001-04:00

TeleBright, an award winning leader in Telecom Expense Management and Energy Efficiency Monitoring, looks back on the near miss of a Maryland Technology Tax one year ago. Although the economic climate has continued to drop, Maryland lawmakers have fortified a stronger relationship with technology companies in the state.

Based in Maryland, TeleBright was first in line to protest the 6% special technology tax that would begin in June of 2008 and continue for the next five years. The state of Maryland had a deficit and targeted the technology industry as part of the recovery solution. The estimated calculation for the new tax $200 million each year. After weeks of debate the state voted to repeal the tax and opted to apply a surcharge on millionaires in Maryland.

"We are elated at the news that the House has passed the repeal. We want to commend Governor O’Malley, Senate President Miller and Speaker Busch for tackling this difficult challenge head on," said Julie Coons, chief executive officer of the Tech Council of Maryland. "With technology jobs so vital to the state's economy, this move sends the right message that Maryland is good for business, particularly small and medium-sized growing businesses."
As a long term member of Tech Council of Maryland, TeleBright has first-hand knowledge of strength in numbers and the importance of being part of professional associations.

Related Story: The Washington Post: A Year After ‘Tech Tax’ Scare, Maryland Firms Follow Up With Lawmakers

TeleBright Expands in Recession

2009-03-16T08:19:00.001-04:00

TeleBright, an award winning leader in Telecom Expense Management, expands their TEM software. In the past year the company has been perfecting the ability to maximize client savings beyond telecom. TeleBright is addressing energy consumption, rates, and expenses. Clients are discovering why TeleBright can help them survive the economic meltdown.

TeleBright has relied heavily on listening to client surveys and individual communications. Account Coordinators share client frustrations during staff meetings and the development team has the opportunity to offer potential innovations. One overall client goal is the desire to control rising energy costs for their business. When budgets become constricted people review every option they have available to slash expenses.

During our planning sessions, we recognized the ongoing environmental concerns and the possibility that the same software platform could also address energy expenses and usage controls. As a certified Energy Star Partner, TeleBright software can flow through EPA’s Energy Star benchmark system. Along with a monthly Energy Star rating, businesses can establish goals to reduce their carbon footprint, obtain advice on their energy strategy, learn about usage spikes, and discover if they are actually being charged the correct amount for their energy consumption, at the correct rate. This enables clients to realize the same proactive alerts and savings in their energy expenses that they have experienced with telecom.

iPhone Improving Heart Health

2009-03-09T14:33:00.002-04:00

Isn't technology amazing, now you can use your iPhone as your heart monitor. Heart monitors have become popular for fitness in the past 10 years, but now you can actually use your iPhone to track your heart beats.
Michael C. Williams, founder and CEO of iTMP Technology, Inc. "We wanted to make the fitness tracking experience cool, fun, simple and custom."

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) say moderate exercise should give you 50 to 70% of a person's maximum heart rate. The SM Heart Link collects data from sensors and sends the information to your iPhone for tracking and display. The SM Heart Link can also track and store workouts, serve as your bike computer, and even submit your data to medical assessment websites.

Of course technology is not cheap. The module is $155, the assessments have a small fee, there is a cost for the sensors, the cost for the iPhone itself, but the applications are free.

At the end of the technology spectrum, you can take your pulse with your fingertips over your wrists to feel the radial artery and count the beats, after exercising. Old fashioned but believe it or not, it still works. The American Heart Association's (AHA) online cardiovascular center, Heart 360 (www.heart360.org), visitors can enter their information, log exercises, and keep a medication diary - for FREE. Heart rates can help people keep better track of their health and pay more attention to an often overlooked issue.

Whether you plug in your iPhone and provide your personal trainer with you every heart beat or you count your pulse with a pocket watch - the important thing is that you pay attention to your heart health.

How I reduced my home's kilowatt-hours

2008-07-29T12:47:00.000-04:00

If you've talked to me in the past two months you've already heard my success story of taking my home from 1200+ kilowatt-hours last June to just 200 kilowatt-hours this June.

Here's what I did:

Stopped using AC. Our family and pets are in the basement during the day with fans.
Reduced the use of the dryer. Clothes are hung in the yard to dry. Towels are in the dryer for 50% of the time and moved to the line outside to finish drying.
Turned off lights at night. The street lights outside light up our entire house.
Updated light bulbs.

My electric bill went from several hundred to just $36. It seems difficult to believe but I still have an extensive insulation project and I intend to start reducing my standby powered items by unplugging everything.

Your Carbon Footprint

2008-06-10T09:43:00.000-04:00

Have you taken a carbon footprint assessment of your life yet, or should you even care?

Whether you agree that global warming is real, can you really argue that we shouldn't reduce pollution levels to improve our air quality? Who doesn't want cleaner air to breath? I'm amazed at the amount of attention this issue has received and yet people aren't acting as if this is a state of emergency. People say they recycle at home but continue to toss cans and bottles in regular trash at work, at the gas station, at hotels, wherever which ultimately end up in our landfills.

I just got back from my first trip to Alaska. It was beautiful, but what I couldn't help but notice were the plastic bags floating around everywhere. I saw amazing wild animals with wonderful snow covered mountains in the background and trash right next to the plants moose were trying to eat. The roadways are lined with salt chemicals from the winter, about 3 feet wide and 5 inches deep. We hiked to a waterfall only to find some guy carving his name into a tree and dropping his beer can over the cliff. What happened to respecting nature?

For too long people have had an "I can afford it" mentality. It's not about being able to afford letting your car sit idle for 45 minutes or running your house AC when it's 70 degrees outside. It's about thinking beyond yourself.

You should care. Please take a carbon footprint assessment and see where you can make some improvements in your home, your travels, your food, and what you leave behind.

The Nature Conservancy carbon footprint calculator - http://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator/

Thank you!!

TeleBright Partnership with Energy Star®

2008-04-09T12:35:00.000-04:00

Patrick McGugan Interview with First Look Magazine

2008-04-07T11:26:00.000-04:00

In case you missed Patrick's Interview last week with First Look magazine, at CTIA Wireless 2008 - here's a link to the interview http://www.telebright.com/newsevents/firstlook08.aspx

Energy Star Partner

2008-04-03T10:01:00.000-04:00

We are officially a partner with Energy Star! Our press release will be out on Monday. Working with Energy Star is another step towards our overall action plan.

Green Idea - Cleaning Up After Your Pet

2008-04-02T14:56:00.000-04:00

Seriously, why are you packaging up your dog's waste in plastic for the next 1000 years? As your dog gets into position, drop a newspaper. It will never hit your neighbor's grass. It's free, easy, and bio-degradable. A ton of additional ideas at: http://www.947theglobe.com/pages/264770.php

Plastic bags can be recycled at food stores.

Telecommuting and Seeing Green

2008-04-01T15:15:00.000-04:00

As more and more organizations struggle with the economy and global competition many are asking – how can we continue to enhance our business and survive? Re-evaluate the way you do business. What would have the largest impact on your budget, recruitment, retention, business continuity, office requirements, a reduction of gasoline usage, and more importantly the environment we hope to leave for future generations? A local company in our tri-state area shared their results from a 2 year telework transformation, in a recent Tech Council of Maryland meeting.

The company made a decision to change the way they do business and this decision was made by the entire company. Management formed policies and procedures in advance of any changes. All candidates were given the option of working from home or the office. Some individuals opted for the office and certain positions were simply not conducive for teleworking. As managers reviewed their candidates one issue was apparent, if you have good people this will work. If you don’t have good people this will never work.

Each candidate was provided a phone which cost the company $400 per person. Each person was required to have a high speed connection and a computer. These items were not provided by the company. Each candidate needed a designated location in their home that would allow for a quiet background free of children and pet sounds. The phones are operated by a main switchboard and extensions are seamless to anyone in or out of the office. Outbound calls also appear as they are coming from the main office not remote locations.

U.S. mail is time and date stamped, scanned and sent to designated staff member for sorting. Previous client paper files are being maintained but all new client information is fully electronic. Printer and postage costs have gone down considerably, along with all advertising on paper.

Offering teleworking options has improved recruitment efforts. A large percentage of the work force is looking for businesses that offer solutions to the environment conditions and various flexible working options. Teleworking is a differentiation for a company over traditional firms.

The biggest issue for the staff is the lack of face time with each another. 75% of the staff is now full time teleworking, but they make time on occasional mornings to phone conference with their groups just to catch up on their personal life. Turnover for the company has been reduced by 22%.

Teleworking improves business continuity, there is no such thing as a snow day, traffic disasters, blackouts, or protests. The business is always open because outside of the area, people don’t really want to hear about the local issues, they just want to do business when they contact you. The business has actually seen an increase in productivity. The staff is more willing to respond to client issues during off hours or weekends because they don’t have to deal with a commute, which saves them hours of wasted time in their vehicles each week.

This company was able to relocate to smaller offices after the transformation. They moved from 12,000 sq ft to 4,200 sq ft which includes several visitor workstation spaces. This change has resulted in the organization saving $400,000 a year.

Everyone loves to complain about the gasoline prices but very little is said about our constant demand. Converting 75% of the workers has resulted in a decrease of 14,865 vehicle trips over 2 years.

Overall Benefits to the Environment

Decreased air pollutants – “If 10% of the nation’s workforce telecommuted one day per week this would avoid the frustration of driving 24.4 million miles, we’d breathe air with 12,963 tons less air pollution, and we’d conserve more than 1.2 million gallons of fuel each week.” – Carol Browner, former administrator of the EPA.
Reduced traffic congestion – reduced need for roadway construction repair.
Safer roads – 350 lives were saved per year through reduced highway deaths as a result of telecommuting – Reason Public Policy Institute, January 2000
Fewer latch-key kids and safer neighborhoods.
Reduced consumption of fossil fuels

Overall Benefits to the Employer

Reduced real estate cost
Increased productivity – 10% - 26%
Reduced absenteeism
Increased moral and employee satisfaction – 10% over that of non-teleworkers
Reduced turnover and retention costs
Increased competitiveness – extended customer service hours, flexible recruitment tolls, global hiring pool, decreased overhead, improved technology and communication
Improved customer service – employee morale has been shown to directly impact customer satisfaction, which in turn drives revenue
Greater potential employee market – teleworking provides a greater opportunity to seek employees in a wide geographic area, not to mention making it easier to meet ADA requirements by employing disabled and home-bound individuals
Improved public relations and regulatory compliance – reduction in air pollution and employment opportunities for disabled applicants can create a “good neighbor” image that enhances business

Overall Benefits to the Employee

Increased quality of life – Work/life balance, improved family relations
Reduced stress levels
Increased flexibility
Reduced personal costs – commuting expense, wardrobe, meals and snacks
Increased job satisfaction – according to an April 2001 Mitel network survey, 30% of respondents would consider changing jobs and 25% would take a cut in salary, in order to telework.

Check with your local and state government for telework programs. The state of Virginia offers a $35,000 grant to implement telework programs. The state of Maryland offers consulting services called TPE, to assist with formulating a telework program. Individual counties, such as Montgomery County in Maryland offers additional tax breaks for businesses that offer teleworking programs.

Going Green in every aspect of your life will make a difference in our pollution levels.

CTIA Wireless 2008 Show Passes

2008-02-21T14:46:00.000-05:00

FREE passes before March 14, 2008 for the CTIA Wireless Show. Come by and see us for FREE. Only for the Vegas Show! Catch all our latest wireless management controls for your devices.

Contact us today.

Your Friends at TeleBright
http://www.telebright.com/

Channel Partners Conference & Expo Tickets

2007-12-31T11:28:00.000-05:00

We are pleased to announce the availability of tickets to the upcoming Channel Partners Conference & Expo at Rio all Suites Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, March 10-12, 2008. This is a premier event exclusively for Agents, VARs, Systems Integrators, Interconnects, Wireless Dealers, Consultants and other Partner Sales Organizations. Don't miss 3,000 participants, 200+ booths, and 8 hours of networking time. Contact us today for your free tickets to the show and visit us at booth #1526.

2007-11-09T17:21:00.000-05:00

Wireless CDR Processing

In response to client feedback and changes at the IRS, we’ve addressed the need for automated wireless call allocation at the CDR level. Over the last 90 days the database development team has completed an automated method for wireless users to identify their CDR’s as business or personal calls and to the correct cost center. Through a web interface, an individual can review all their call information and designate each number as business or personal and select the appropriate project code or cost center. Of course the system will retain the selection, so users only have to identify new numbers from month to month.

The IRS has recently changed the policy of company provided cell phone usage and is designating company provided cell phone as a “working condition fringe benefit”. Any personal use of a provided cell phone is viewed as a taxable benefit. The employer is required to include the value of this fringe benefit in wages as part of compensation. TeleBright has given companies an easy way to record and report that data.

I spoke with one company that tackled this task manually. The finance person spends a week reviewing wireless bills. Individual call details for each phone number are inserted into individual spreadsheets, then emailed to users. The users fill in the spreadsheet with the cost center or project code or identify the call as a personal call. The user emails the completed spreadsheet back to headquarters. After the data is received at headquarters, the finance dept. calculates the percentage of the bill by cost center. After all that, the company was trying to cost allocate one bill before the next bill came in.

Imagine their relief when the labor burden was pushed to the users. A simple web-based interface that tracked and reported everything they needed and proactively completed work that had taken almost a month to do manually and allowed them a tool to comply with IRS requirements.

Wireless Notifications at CTIA WIRELESS 2008

2007-11-06T13:34:00.001-05:00

2007 was our year to make everything automatic. We started with creating BrightCare inside our TEM solution ManageRight. This automated system is a virtual telecom team watching over everything 24/7. After that we went to the device level and created PlanGuard. PlanGuard informs the device owner of their usage and provides optimization tips every quarter. Our next move - exhibiting at CTIA WIRELESS 2008. We'll be there to show off our latest and greatest at booth 4108. If you are at the show - please stop by for a visit.

Innovator of the Year!

2007-10-24T10:16:00.000-04:00

TeleBright has been named Innovator of the Year by The Daily Record in Baltimore for our innovations in wireless. This is a wonderful acknowledgement at the end of a full year of development and pressure. The past 12 months have been packed with improvements and changes from the top down. I'm excited to be part of this new energy at the company. Check out the details on our Innovator of the Year. http://www.telebright.com/newsevents/innovator2007.aspx