Greetings,
I am back again to give you another peak at the people who make up GigaBeam. This time, I thought I’d bring the focus out of the lab and into the field with a profile of our VP of Field and Sustaining Engineering, Tony Breland.
Tony Breland has been with GigaBeam since 2006 when Don Peck brought him on to act as liaison between the Engineering department and the Support Department. Tony brought 20+ years experience to the job, having served previously in key executive leadership roles with Alcatel Lucent, Larcom/NetEdge, NorthPoint Communications and GTE specializing in sales, design and operations of ISP, ASP and Enterprise network solutions. It didn’t take him very long to distinguish himself as a rock star within GigaBeam. In short order he moved from the position of liaison to VP of Field and Sustaining Engineering.
Okay, so Tony Breland is amazingly good at his job. Tony took a fledgling support department that was getting lukewarm reception in the field and created a world class department offering 24/7 global support, a suite of extended warranty programs, and a network design integration and implementation program to boot. Then he helped launch four new product lines to our portfolio in a matter of 18 months. The guy works hard.
But most importantly, Tony has a knack for listening to and being an advocate for the customer. When Tony arrives, our customers know they are going to get personal attention. Truthfully, his job requires a good dose of diplomacy--someone who can separate the real issue from the perceived issue, be responsive and fix whatever the underlying problem is. More often than not a problem is quietly chocked up to user error and a little education or improved communication is all that is needed. Still, our customers are always grateful for Tony’s advice and more than one has come back to me to tell me how much they learned from him. We, in the meantime, are grateful that Tony is one of the champions of our customers, faithfully bringing their voices back to us at headquarters. After all, it is our customers we want to hear and please.
So, some of you may know these things about Tony already, but did you know that every year he volunteers to teach network computing to local teenagers? Since 2008, Tony has led a 2 day “IT Communications" workshop for 13 and 14 years olds from the Raleigh Chapter of Boy Scouts of America. The workshop teaches the kids the fundamentals of network computing and IT communications, and at the end of this rigorous course the kids are awarded a certificate of accomplishment. At GigaBeam, we are pleased to support his natural inclination.
Okay, so it wouldn’t be fair to rave about Tony without pointing out that he drives us all crazy from time to time with his opinions on odd details . . . I guess the best ones always do . . . . . so, let’s just say, we don’t let him make all the decisions, but we always listen because he is someone we inherently respect.
And thus, on behalf of the whole GigaBeam Team, we are pleased to introduce you all to Tony Breland. (The photo, below, was taken atop a rooftop during installation in Doha, Qatar.)
Signed, a grateful colleague,
Marijke
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