Telecommunications Backpack

Contains about telecommunications information

Things That Can Get Educators in Legal Hot Water

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Remember those World War II posters that warned, “Loose Lips Sink Ships?” Well, that dire wisdom is just as urgent today. It is possible that a comment ingenuously made in the faculty room, in an email, during an IEP meeting or a phone call can cause a teacher embarrassment, at best, or a district to become embroiled in a lawsuit, at worst. Caution to be professional at all times as well as ever mindful of confidentiality laws has always been a top priority of school districts. However, in our digital age, this issue has taken on a new meaning and has escalated caution to another level.

In order to ferret out the most critical concerns facing schools today and some tips for how to deal with these concerns, I spoke with four lawyers who work with schools on a regular basis. Following are some of the insights gleaned from those conversations.
What is considered written documentation?

Anything and everything written about a student on school grounds can be subpoenaed for use in court. Attorney Dianna Halpenny of Sacramento, California, reinforces that anything in writing with a student’s name in it is part of the official student record. It is not necessarily true that if teachers keep it at home that it is not a student record.

Email communication

When faced with the challenge of keeping email private on school servers, teachers used to be advised to use web mail versus a downloadable email client such as Microsoft Outlook, Eudora, or Thunderbird. The belief was that web mail such as Yahoo mail; Hotmail, Mail2Web, etc. were safe.

Attorney Pamela Parker of Austin, Texas, reveals another, less known, fact: even web-based email is forensically accessible. Web-based email history may still be on the school server. Parker acknowledges that schools are not necessarily monitoring emails; however, a forensic computer specialist can recreate the emails if necessary. The reality of today’s world is that everything that is digital lives forever. Parker employs a sound analogy, “Having a conversation by email or text message is no different than having a private conversation on stage at Carnegie hall in front of a full house. Most people won’t pay attention, but some will.”

Teachers may send an email to a parent, colleague, supervisor, etc. believing that the email will remain confidential between them. However, there is no guarantee that the recipient of an email will respect that confidentiality or realize the importance of keeping the interaction private. Sometimes, despite all good intentions, emails are forwarded accidentally. This easily happens when the writer uses “reply all” or continues to respond to an email that has the entire thread attached. I’ve been amazed at what I’ve had included in a message to me when I have been added as a recipient midstream in an email conversation. When I scroll down, I might read conversation to which I should not have been privy. Here’s a tip: Look at what’s attached to the bottom of your email before you hit “send!”

Phone messages

Another consideration is phone messages. Not only can they be overheard, they can be forwarded. Parker contends that even a teacher’s children might see and pass on text messages or phone emails. Parker advises educators to have critical conversations in person.

Attorney Brad King of Richmond, Virginia, goes on to explain that even messages on personal phones, especially those regarding relationships with students, can become public domain. He explains that teachers’ phone records can be involved in litigation. Again, the digital age brings a new level of accountability to the issue. Digital phone messages, as well as text messages, are easily forwarded and potentially retrieved.

Text messages

Have you ever gotten a text or sent a text that was meant for someone else? Are you sure that deleted texts are not potentially accessible if a related case was brought to court? How much text messaging is available is dependent on your telecommunication carrier. There may be information out there that you do not know is there.

Contributors:
Diana D. Halpenny
Attorney at Law
Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann & Girard, Inc.

Pamela Parker
Attorney at Law
Austin, Texas

Bradford A. King, Esq.
Thompson McMullan, P.C.

Mark Joel Goldstein
Attorney

What To Look For In A Telecommunications Provider

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A good telecommunications provider will be able to provide the best internet connectivity as well as will offer services such as converged IP (internet protocol) to businesses. These providers will also be able to provide practical solutions that will help keep a business well connected (via the internet) and so will give the business a good chance of obtaining complete support for its vital communications. What is important is that before picking a telecommunications provider that you check that the provider uses the best infrastructure without which it will not be possible for the provider to offer any useful services.

By carefully choosing your telecommunications provider, you stand to enjoy greater peace of mind and because the right provider also will be offering round the clock helpdesk features, you will also get to enjoy complete support which means enjoying total connectivity all through the day and night. It is important to first check the range of services being offered and if these are comprehensive and reliable, then you can think about going with the provider.

ADSL solutions are one of the better services that every business needs to get from their telecommunications provider. The right provider will offer such services which will benefit your business in a number of ways including in not having to pay additional costs for higher bandwidth and your business will always be connected as well. In addition, you can utilize their public IP addresses for your emailing and of course you are sure to get high speed internet access as well.

In fact, it pays to go with a provider that offers a wide range of solutions such as self regulated and usage based ADSL solutions that allow customers to pick their own bandwidth and in addition, users should also be able to limit their ADSL access spending. This in effect means that with such a solution the customer only pays for what they have used.

Such plans are usually more flexible and this is because there will not be any predefined caps or limits and you also get to choose your own bandwidths. In addition, you can specify how much you wish to use and in this way you can control your monthly ADSL usage costs. These plans are also very adaptable.

Before selecting a telecommunications provider, you should also look at whether they are offering anti spam features. Spam is the bane of all computer users and according to research on the subject it was found that more than ninety percent of emails in a users inbox are spam. This is why it pays to go with a provider that offers complete solutions against spam which will in effect help ensure that single email users are totally protected because the provider uses the most sophisticated anti spam software.

The use of anti spam software will ensure that you are spared the cost of administrating anti spam features on your own. These features also work in a timely manner and the anti spam software works automatically and will completely secure your system.

The key to picking the right telecommunications provider is to ensure that they offer reliable and total connectivity and in addition they should offer wide range of solutions including anti spam solutions.

Reducing Communication Costsuseful Tips

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This is when the technology gifted the world with video teleconferencing. Some of the major advantages of video teleconferencing include the effective audio visual communication with clients personally, drastic reduction in cost due to travel & stay, saving precious time and energy, and many more.

Most of the businesses have been using audio teleconferencing for a quite long time. The current innovation in the information technology has given a boost to the telecommunication. Now the vogue in telecommunication is attributed to video-teleconferencing through web conferencing, which uses audio visual equipment systems. Although live video conferencing is a very complicated technology, service providers are able to offer their services at very cheap rates because of advancements in technology. With the help of video conferencing equipment, you can greatly increase the efficiency of your business communications as well as reduce the expenses by cutting down on travel-related expenses.

To use live video teleconferencing facility, you will need systems, software for streaming video, speakers to hear the audio, integrator, etc. The process looks as if very simple, audio-visual data are captured using electronic devices and converted into codes and sent through the internet. The video conferencing equipments at the other end receive the codes and decode it with the help of a decoder and integrator and reproduce the audio-visual data exactly as transmitted. However, the process is a highly complicated one which can only be managed by professionals in case of large requirements such as business communications. Indeed its a boon to small business as well; they can now afford to hire professional teleconferencing for effective personal communications.

Now outsourcing being the popular cost reduction strategy, teleconferencing technology has become a must for most of the multi-national companies. It is easy to find affordable products and services through the internet. However, you should be vigilant enough to verify the credentials of the websites in the internet because of the raising fraudulent web-based companies. The most popular video teleconferencing service providers Polycom and TANDBERG provide excellent web based scheduling and project management through their resellers.

Video teleconferencing is the cheapest and most effective means of business communications of today. Whether you are involved in outsourcing or have international clients, it is a good idea to utilize the comforts that technology has provided us with. While companies even prefer telecommuting of their employees in an effort to reduce cost. It is the moral responsibility of companies to cut cost especially at these times of recession, and video teleconferencing is one of the most effective steps that companies can opt for.

Telecom Jobs And How To Find Them

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The telecommunications industry is broad and varied. Landing one of the many telecom jobs that are available today will offer the possibility for long-term employment and job security. As technology is becoming less expensive than ever before, more consumers are able to take advantage of the latest software, computers, phone and satellite systems as well as gadgets of all types. This surge in the use of technology has created thousands of jobs in the telecom industry. Even during the recent recession, the telecommunications industry fared well as there were very few layoffs and company closures across the board.

Considering the fact that more and more technical jobs are being created across the UK, the time is now to jump into this exciting field of opportunity. One of the best ways to take a look at what types of jobs actually exist today, is by simply go online and visiting one of the many vocational-related websites that lists various job titles, their descriptions, qualifications required and estimated salary ranges.

In order to work in the telecom industry, you must consider your level of experience and credentials. While there are some telecom jobs that only consist of providing assistance and technical support to people, others are much more complex and will require that you have an education in the particular area and/or up-to-date training and certification. So be sure that the area you would like to work in is actually something that is possible for you to do – in other words, do not set your sights too high. There is an awful lot of competition in the telecommunications field due to the rather good pay and employers will certainly choose the most qualified candidate for any open position they may have.

One of the best ways to locate telecom jobs is to go online and visit some of the dozens of UK-based websites that list job openings in the telecommunications field. These employment sites are very valuable resources to use as they will save you literally hours of work. If it were not for these sites, you would be wasting an incredible amount of time scouring through newspapers and crawling the web looking for open positions.

Most of websites that provide the job listings obtain their information from large databases which are constantly being updated so you can rest assured that the information you are viewing is accurate. The best sites usually offer some extras such as listings of the best companies to work for or tips on writing an powerful and effective resume.

If you discover that you need some education or training in order to qualify for a job you are interested in, then by all means check into taking courses in that area. There are numerous online telecom training programs available as well as university courses that cover every aspect of telecommunications. The time could not be better and the opportunities abound in this exciting field of employment.

T1 Internet Service – When Is A Business Internet T1 Justified

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This piece provides an overview of T1 Internet Service for those businesses that need higher reliability and availability. Since T1 Internet service comes with a service level agreement (SLA), usual uptime is much higher than DSL or cable. Also, with T1 Internet service, the upload and download speeds are a constant. This is vital for critical information needs, where limited downtime can be tolerated and productivity depends on consistently fast Internet access. Also, for voice applications a T1 can include quality of service (QOS) to ensure the access speed and consistency required for quality voice traffic.

Many small business use low-priced Internet links, such as DSL, cable, and fios. To keep costs down, all of these methods use sharing techniques to connect users to the Internet itself. Also, reliability is not assured, athough a “best effort” is made to preserve connectivity. A business Internet T1 data line, although using technology identical to SDSL, is given a higher value by the telcos. A T1 failing will be repaired within hours whereas a DSL, cable, or fios user could possibly experience a 5 day turn around time for repair.

Telecommunications vendors provide higher-end services, such as business Internet T1 service, in order to address higher reliability and consistency needs in some companies. As a business grows and adds employees, the value of an Internet connection increases and the business often needs higher availability. Often, the usage and reliance on the Internet also increases after services such as voice, and shared data services are moved to the “cloud.” In the neighborhood of 10 employees, a company will find it’s telecommunications needs more feasibily served by a business Internet T1 service.

Voice over IP (VOIP) has become widespread as well as various shared data services. Examples include popular applications such as SalesForce.com, GoogleApps, and many more. Generally, the quality of information available on the Internet has improved over time, causing more extensive dependence on connectivity to applications and online data sources. Changing business operations and usage all require additional bandwidth and reliability. Sales revenue and productivity of employees can be affected for each minute of downtime. How many businesses would survive with no telephone service for several days?.

Although hard to measure, timely information or lack thereof can make or break many small enterprises. This is especially true for companies using “cloud computing,” where online collaboration and information for daily operations in office calendaring, documents and financial data are only accessible through the company Internet link.

With business Internet T1 service, the SLA offers a “guarantee” of reliability and availability of crucial Internet services. Although many don’t realize it, a company’s Internet connection is an essential resource as more business functions and information needed for daily operations now must have reliable access. Loss of connectivity even for hours or a few days at a time can be fatal to daily operations or even the enterprise.

As T1 prices continue to decrease and businesses’ need for connectivity increases, a greater number will turn to the reliability and availability of T1 Internet service for day to day operations. The SLA distinguishes T1 Internet service from less expensive and unreliable DSL, cable, and fios services that many are using today. The SLA will be the deciding factor in order that critical operations are maintained, productivity remains high, and adequate sales and revenue is achieved for survival.

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