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Archive for: September, 2009
Google did what?!?
Posted by: Frank Ableson in General Business, Linux Magazine, Software Development, Technology, Android on September 28, 2009
Last week Google took an interesting step of issuing a Cease and Desist order to one of the Android community's most beloved developers. The developer who goes by the handle, Cyanogen, is well known (and respected) in the Android community for creating custom builds of the Android operating system. Problem is, not all of Android is "Open Source". Cyanogen found this out the hard way. It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few weeks and months as new Android devices are soon to hit the market. Learn more in the Upwardly Mobile column at Linux Magazine.
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MSI President named to Sussex County’s “20 under 40”
Posted by: Frank Ableson in General Business, Company News, Sussex County, Community on September 28, 2009
Twenty area business leaders under the age of 40 were highlighted in the Newton based New Jersey Herald newspaper. MSI's Frank Ableson was privileged to be among the group.
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Job position: Telecom Billing Analyst, Schooley Mitchell Telecom Consultants, 1099 Contractor
Posted by: Jason Matyas in Education, Career Resources, Job Posting on September 24, 2009
We are looking to hire candidates for the audit/analyst role at Schooley Mitchell Telecom Consultants in Northern NJ. The ideal candidate will have experience with Telecom billing audit or other cost reduction audit activities.
Job Description
The candidate should have experience documenting, analyzing and negotiating claims for billing errors and working with suppliers to implement corrective service changes. Strong MS Office productivity suite skills and experience. Candidates should also have strong written and verbal communications skills as this is a client facing position as well as back office operations.
The ideal candidate will possess 2+ years of telecom audit or cost reduction audit experience. CPA designation is not required.
The following skills are preferred:
- Supplier pricing and contract negotiations
- Prior LEC or CLEC employment in billing operations
- Federal and/or healthcare industry billing experience
Candidate Requirements:
- Ability to work well under pressure and demonstrate continuous commitment to quality and service
- Significant experience and capability with spreadsheet programs or Excel
- Excellent analytical and problem solving skills
- Excellent oral and written communication skills, especially in a client interaction context
- Proven ability to work independently, and/or remotely, with excellent time management and reporting skills
Responsibilities for this position include working with clients and telecom suppliers to gather and document existing telecom system requirements, plans and programs and utilizing our proprietary tools to evaluate alternate scenarios, develop solution recommendations and implement corrective actions with the recommended carriers. Ongoing operations activities include post‐audit evaluations, client account management and client billing management activities.
Specific Job Responsibilities:
Account Administration - General administration & document management responsibilities, includes:
- establishing account in system(s)
- updating account and contact details to support ongoing account management
- scanning initial contracts, forms, invoices, etc.. into the document management folders and virtual binders for remote access,
- establishing access with the suppliers (LOA, Online Billing System Access, Provider Letter) to gain access to billing and equipment & service records
- acquiring and downloading historical billing information and Customer Service Records to support analysis activities
Analysis – Analysis is the process of analyzing the customer’s bills and telecom environment, looking for errors and opportunities for savings. The Analyst’s responsibilities include all of the following activities:
- Reviewing existing bills and contracts to identify errors
- Compiling data to establish baseline rates and volumes
- Gaining Authorization to access vendor systems as necessary, where LOA does not suffice
- Requesting and analyzing traffic studies if necessary
- Gathering customer requirements and defining specs for project services
- Developing optimization solutions
- Gathering competitive vendor quotes
- Comparing competing providers/configurations/plans/quotes for best cost solutions
- Generating the recommendation letters
- Supporting sales presentations to the client
- Hand off to Implementation staff
Implementation – Implementation is taking recommendations accepted by the client and working with the vendors to make the changes to the client’s telecom system. Implementation responsibilities
include all of the following activities:
- Pursuing and obtaining refunds/credits for billing errors
- Gathering and preparing implementation paperwork for delivery to client for signature, including Service Orders and Contracts
- Ordering, scheduling, and tracking of changes with the vendor
- On‐site visits, as necessary, to coordinate interconnects, vendors, etc
- Audit of first billing cycles with Production staff and requesting changes with vendors if any problems encountered or mistakes are made in implementation
Candidates should send a copy of their resume to Bill Kahn at wkahn@schooleymitchell.com and include 3 business references. References will only be contacted following successful initial interview. Local candidates only please. Thanks!
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Time to make the donuts
Posted by: Frank Ableson in General Business, Linux Magazine, Software Development, Technology, Android on September 21, 2009
Rememer that commercial from Dunkin Donuts? Before "America runs on Dunkin", it was that tired fellow on the television commercials always making the donuts. Somehow that picture is (unfortunately) stuck in my head. Well, on the bright side, the latest Android software version is code-named "Donut" and it is clear that someone has been making the Donut, so to speak... The biggest news in my opinion is that Android now supports CDMA wireless technology -- in English that means Sprint and soon -- Verizon. That means market-share and good opportunities ahead for Android. Read more in my latest Linux Magazine contribution.
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Still Waiting for a Job? Have you been using Presence Management?
Posted by: Jason Matyas in Education, Career Resources on September 16, 2009
With the condition of our economy and the high level of unemployment, the competition in the job market is fierce and many are waiting many months for forward progress in their job search. The important question to ask is not "how is your job search going?", but "what are you doing for your job search?" Many people create a resume, post it online, do searches for positions and submit cover letters, but there is much more to a job search that those basics, especially in today's job market. It's very important to consider how you are publicly presenting yourself, and your professional presence takes different forms.
Have you considered your online presence?
- Face it - you're going to get Googled. An employer is going to do a search for your name and see what comes up. This may include social networks, which can help or hurt you. Make sure that you perform a search to see what comes up and deal with anything that could hurt you. Better yet, you should set up a search alert so that you know anytime that your name appears online. You can do this with alerts.yahoo.com or www.google.com/alerts.
- Do you have your own website? Do you blog? Make sure that your official web presence delivers the impression that you want employers to see. If you don't have a site or blog, consider creating one and begin writing to demonstrate your intelligence and expertise. You can get a free blog setup in minutes on Blogger or Wordpress.com (my recommendation).
- Is the professional "You" online? This is more than having your resume posted on a job site, but having a detailed profile on Linkedin or ZoomInfo. Professional social networking sites are particularly helpful because they help connect you to the people that could offer the lead that you need to your next job. For tips on using Linkedin, see 10 Steps to using Linkedin for your job search.
Have you considered your phone presence?
- Got voicemail? How does your voicemail greeting sound? Make sure that it delivers a professional image and that you articulate words and convey warm cordiality. This is especially important if you are looking for a job involving customer service or sales.
- Be sure to turn off the privacy function so that you allow restricted calls in. Recruiters often use restricted caller ID, and you wouldn't want to prevent them from talking to you.
- Can you hear me now? Conduct all phone interviews on a landline phone. You wouldn't want to be on a cell phone call and have it drop, and thus inconvenience the interviewer by wasting time waiting to reconnect and continue.
Have you considered your physical presence?
- Dress up. For any type of event that you attend, you should be wearing business-casual at a minimum. Remember that someone sees you before they hear you.
- Be sociable. With everyone. Not only could a fellow job seeker be an essential contact that could yield a lead on a job, but you never know who's watching you. An employer may very well take notice of your personable nature and want to follow up with you because of an interaction with someone else.
- Pitch yourself. Develop and practice an "elevator pitch". Be able to talk about your character, abilities, skills, experience, and what you can deliver to an employer in about 30 seconds. That may be all the time you get with someone during an introduction. What you say may be the very thing that makes you stand out and makes you memorable.
- Get published. Make business cards to hand out at events. They make you look more professional. Print your unique skill sets and experience, along with a statement of what you uniquely bring to an employer. Use both sides if needed. Give them to everyone and ask for cards from everyone. Follow up by connecting with people on Linkedin and other social networking sites.
These are just some of the items to look at when analyzing your professional presence. There may be others that effect you depending on what you've done in your career and other activities in your job search. Presence management is an important aspect of a job search that takes a good deal of up front work and continual effort to ensure that you are consistently presenting your best professional image to prospective employers.
Reference Sources:
Janice's job search tips on CareerBoard
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Home Brew Documentation for webOS—or what to do when you cannot sleep
Posted by: Frank Ableson in Linux Magazine, Software Development, Technology, Palm on September 14, 2009
Working in the mobile software space is not for the faint of heart. Trying to navigate around the documention for new systems takes patience, diligence, and sometimes a sense of humor. I needed some info about webOS that I just couldn't find anywhere else, so I started to navigate the device (or emulator to be fair) itself. If you're interested in trying this at home yourself, check out this how-to posted on Linux Magazine.
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Hack the webOS
Posted by: Frank Ableson in Linux Magazine, Software Development, Technology, Palm on September 09, 2009
Palm programming used to be fun. It just might be again, though for some of us older dogs, it is time to get our brain around CSS and asynchronous callbacks instead of strict procedural programming. That's OK, I love a challenge. I recently described how to modify one of the built-in applications in webOS. Read about it on Linux Magazine.
Before modifications:
After modification:
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Now we’re getting somewhere with webOS
Posted by: Frank Ableson in General Business, Technology, Palm on September 09, 2009
Palm recently announced a new device -- looks like a good move - no slide-out keyboard - it is just built into the device in more "blackberry" style. And they lowered the price on the Pre. I ishould have known - I purchased mine last week.
This is a good sign for Palm. They need to get the device into the hands of as many users as possible. With a full keyboard this is a viable alternative to the iPhone. iPhone is sexy but it is not a texting device. Good move, Palm! That said, we're not taking sides -- just good to see each of the platforms making progress. It is good for consumers.
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Airtime Manager - on the lighter side
Posted by: Frank Ableson in Fun on September 07, 2009
One of our clients, Airtime Manager, speciailizes in time-capture sysyetms - mostly for attorneys. I know - do we really need attorneys to capture more time? Well, that is a discussion for another day. For now, check out this YouTube video. It was put together by a young lady - a daughter of the business development manager @ Airtime. Good clean fun. Enjoy.
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What is FaceBook good for anyway?
Posted by: Frank Ableson in Economy, General Business, Social Media on September 04, 2009
Today was a very interesting day for me and social media -- in particular FaceBook. I went on to the site as I am in the habit of doing every now and again. I noticed a bunch of "RIP so and so". I thought they were referring to someone who must have been taken out in one of the online games FB is so crowded with. Until I saw them again and again. Then I realized that something must be for real. And sure enough, a fellow from my high-school - a year behind me as I recall - passed away suddenly. Very sad. Had it not been for FaceBook - I probably would not have even known about it for quite some time - if ever. I think it was somewhat therapeutic for folks to share their stories and memories of this individual - so I think that is great. Sad to lose a friend so young.
The other interesting experience I had today was a troubling "time-vampire" discussion with a couple of classmates on FB. The topic was nationalized health-care. I won't go into my position (I am strongly against it) here, however FB presented a somewhat unique forum to have a dialog in short "sound bites". Each post is limited in length so you cannot drone on and on about a point. Good debate practice I think. I like to think that my point was heard -- though I am sure I didn't convince my friendly "opponent" in this matter, others certainly had the opportunity to "listen in" and hopefully learn some new angles on the topic. So beyond telling friends that it's two hours until the weekend or what party you're heading out to after work, FB has a bit of a soap-box opportunity for those inclined. Use it wisely.
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