TPx

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm an IT Director for a small non-profit focused on data for the beverage alcohol industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire TPx Communications?

We were looking for a way to educate our staff and improve awareness around cybersecurity threats, specifically email phishing efforts by hackers.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

After hearing about TPx's service offerings, I had a series of calls with their representatives and a few of their existing customers. The reviews were excellent and we found their offering to be very affordable and effective - exactly what we needed.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

TPx sends our staff a link to a short (~5 minutes) video on a cybersecurity topic each month. We require each staffer to complete this and the accompanying online multiple choice questions, which test for comprehension. TPx also sends a series of random, cleverly disguised "fake" phishing emails that try to entice staff into clicking on something that would allow the simulated hacker to break into our network.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We had an account rep and a project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Our staff has become much more aware and adept at spotting phishing attempts and is more aware of good security hygiene practices. Over the course of the year and a half we've been utilizing their services, the number of successful "hacks" (getting a staffer to click on something they should not) has dropped dramatically. Our security posture is much improved and IT and our C-suite executives sleep a little better at night.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

TPx's team was super easy to work with. Our account rep is fantastic and very responsive.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They offer a great service at a very affordable price for a small organization. Their customer service has been excellent, and our account rep is very responsive. Which comes as a pleasant surprise for a small fish in sea like us.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

n/a

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the executive administrator at Grower’s Secret, an organic fertilizer company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TPx Communications?

We needed to amplify our cybersecurity efforts to protect our business transactions amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

TPx Communications has initially assessed our existing cloud storage, data, and business equipment to identify vulnerabilities and security threats. Upon collating their findings, they’ve devised cybersecurity solutions to address these malware issues. To help our staff prevent email phishing or spam messages from recurring, TPx Communications has also produced instructional videos and questionnaires for our employees to watch and answer.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked directly with 2–3 resources.

How did you come to work with TPx Communications?

I found TPx Communications’ website via Google while searching for potential providers to onboard for this project. I sent them an inquiry, and they responded with the information I needed.

How much have you invested with them?

We pay a monthly fee of $650 for their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement with TPx Communications commenced in August 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

TPx Communications has helped us raise awareness on preventing email phishing through their security tests. When we’ve first launched those, a lot of our employees have made the mistake of clicking the email links; however, they’ve soon managed to familiarize themselves with the necessary workarounds and preventive measures. We get what we pay for and more with their team’s comprehensive cybersecurity skills, which is why we plan to engage them as a long-term partner.

How did TPx Communications perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate via email, Zoom, and phone calls. TPx Communications is on top of their project management game — we’re a small crew, and they’ve been patient with collaborating with us and educating our members.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re most impressed with their systematic and timeline-oriented approach — we can always count on them to stick to our schedules and ensure that everything in their calendar is relayed to our team. Apart from that, they’re a trustworthy partner that delivers cost-efficient results.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They can dedicate more time to introducing their newly onboarded members to us before they start supporting our pipelines. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure that everyone is on the same page and allocate enough time to prepare for each project phase.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an IT analyst at Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii, a nonprofit organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TPx Communications?

We needed a company that could provide our employees with cybersecurity training services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

TPx Communications is facilitating a 12-month IT cybersecurity awareness training for all of the employees within our organization.

Each month, our employees receive links to their profile dashboards, where they can access their monthly modules. Each module is a pre-recorded, 4–5 minute long video with a test at the end. At the end of each course, TPx Communications sends me a report, which contains information about our employees’ progress.

TPx Communications also provides phish testing services, where they send out fake phishing emails to see how our employees would respond and to test everything they’ve learned from the courses.

What is the team composition?

I only work with Heather (executive business consultant), who’s my point of contact from TPx Communications.

How did you come to work with TPx Communications

TPx Communications was recommended to us by an acquaintance, back when we were looking for IT consulting companies for this project. We decided to work with them because they were very responsive and their services were significantly cheaper than other IT consulting companies.

How much have you invested with them?

The training costs $600 per month, so I’d say we would spend around $7,200 in total for the whole 12-month training program.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the training program in August 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Each month, our security metrics continue to improve and our hit rates are consistently going lower and lower — our employees are now able to spot phishing emails and handle them appropriately, which is a great result. They’ve also responded positively to the length and content of the videos.

How did TPx Communications perform from a project management standpoint?

TPx Communications has performed very well in terms of project management. They schedule every task beforehand and regularly get in touch with me, at least once or twice a month, to see if I want or remove anybody from the program.

They also send me weekly reports of our employees' progress, which they send as links to online files to make them readily and easily accessible.

We primarily communicate with them through phone calls and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I really like how attentive TPx Communications is to our needs. A lot of other vendors that I’ve worked with just disappeared to do their work once we signed the contract, but this wasn’t the case with TPx Communications — they contact me regularly to make sure that things are going the way I wanted them to go.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wish I was able to track our employees’ progress in a more centralized way instead of just being emailed the reports. A progress dashboard on their website would be great.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to ask all of your questions before you start with the project. They’ll go over everything that they’re going to provide for you, so make sure you understand and agree to those things before you sign the contract.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work as an IT director at a nursing home.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TPx Communications?

We were trying to get a new phone system because our old one was falling apart; our phones were cut in and out, and sometimes, we’d lose our phone service completely. Our old provider also let go of all our numbers and couldn’t pick them back up.

More importantly, it was difficult because we had 200 residents in the building when our previous provider dropped the ball. Since the quality of the phone calls we were having with our previous provider was pretty bad, we wanted our new partner to reestablish our phone system in the building.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

TPx managed our entire phone system, and they gave us new phones. Their main goal was to establish unified communications for our company. During our partnership, we were in charge of installing the new phones.

Meanwhile, the team was our Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) provider. As a result, they provided us with phone numbers and a virtual fax system. On top of that, they functioned as our managed service provider which involved dealing with our phone networking, Microsoft Office 365, and more.

What is the team composition?

We initially worked with Anthony (Channel Manager), but after some time, their service delivery specialist became in charge.

How did you come to work with TPx Communications?

I was looking at another company when a seller recommended TPx to me, and he told me that my best option for our phone system would be the team. From then on, I started talking to TPx, and they explained their process and prices. In the end, I liked that they’d be able to give me a discount on our Direct Inward Dialing (DID) calls — I chose them because they really worked with me to keep the costs down.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $1,300 a month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from February–September 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Our phones worked a hundred times better than they were before, and the best evidence of our engagement was the fact that our phones didn’t go down anymore. When our phones went down once, TPx fixed it pretty quickly.

How did TPx Communications perform from a project management standpoint?

They were always on top of the project. We mostly communicated through emails when we didn’t have our phone system established yet. Sometimes, I’d personally step out of the building and call them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their management was always present. If they couldn’t figure something out, they’d call somebody else to figure out the problem — they didn’t leave me high and dry. We appreciated that they always wanted to ensure that everything was going well in the building and that they were doing everything they could possibly do.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they did everything to help us out.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Before working with them, make sure you know how many phones you want as well as the types of phones that you prefer. For example, if you’re going to use VoIP phones, it’s better to have a fiber network.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a K-12 school district of about 3,800 students and approximately 700 staff members. We’re located in Maine.

What is your position?

I am the director of technology.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with DSCI?

We were looking for assistance in some network troubleshooting.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

We were struggling with some network traffic issues. We reached out to DSCI to come in and help troubleshoot the network and try to find some bottlenecks that were slowing things down. After that first project, we’ve used them for switch configuration. We purchased new switches, and they did the configurations on those for us.

They’ve also worked with us to develop our five-year plan, as far as the infrastructure of our network and server environment. We’re still in the process of working that through, but they’ve been working on recommendations for us as to what our best course of action is going to be over the next five years or so.

How did you come to work with DSCI?

DSCI has been in Maine for a year or two. I was working with another company, Unified Technologies, which DSCI acquired, so we just continued the relationship that we had in place.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

We probably spend around $25,000 a year with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

From my first days with Unified to the present, I’ve been working with them for about four years, and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We haven’t had any substantial downtime since we started working with them. We’ve been very stable during that time. Most of the work they’ve done has been preventative and evaluation type of work, to make sure we’re going in the right direction and that our course of action is proper at the time. We haven’t had to call them in for any mission critical issues.

We did have a pretty bad firewall issue that had a real bad impact on our network. They were able to secure us a replacement firewall, and get it up and configured, in a very timely fashion. While we were down, we were severely hampered, but they were very time-efficient. We went to our account manager for that. We were definitely impressed with their response time and their status reports. We never felt left in the dark. 

How did DSCI perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve instituted their web service dashboard, which allows me to log in. It can be used for anything from invoicing to quotes, and to progress on ongoing projects.

What distinguishes DSCI from other providers?

There is one particular person, Tyler, for whom we have a lot of respect, and we trust his knowledge. I think that’s what sets them apart. His experience and knowledge, especially in a school setting, has made it a lot easier for me trust the company. I knew Tyler before he was at DSCI, and his knowledge is unparalleled. I trust him immensely when it comes to networking, troubleshooting, and planning.

Is there anything DSCI could have improved or done differently?

My frustration with them at first was timeliness, and they have taken some steps to improve that. Once they were made aware of how we felt about how long it took to achieve our end results, they took action to fix that. It has definitely gotten better.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

I work for RSU57, Regional School Unit 57, in Waterboro, Maine. We are a K-12 [kindergarten through 12th grade] public school, with approximately 3,000 students in seven different schools.

What is your position?

I am the director of technology.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with DSCI?

We worked with DSCI before they were DSCI, actually. We worked with Unified Technologies, who maintained some servers on our network. There were some managed services happening, but it was more on-call basis. When they eventually went to become DSCI, we continued that relationship. In the meantime, we've had some servers that were getting more vital for the functioning of the school. We liked their services enough to warrant getting premium services through them for server protection and service.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

They provide mostly data security. We host our own data, but they manage the servers that we have contracted with them. We have also used them for network audits. They've audited our system and given us some help in creating a plan on how to make our network more efficient. If we need their help, we reach out to them, as far as carrying through on some of the tenets of the plan. We also have the disaster recovery service with them as well as daily maintenance on three of our servers.

How did you come to work with DSCI?

I've been in this position for a little more than a year, and they've had an ongoing relationship with the school district for longer than that, so I'm not familiar with that process.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

This year's contract with them, which encompasses all of the services we get from them, is around $70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them for two or three years, and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

There are two that have actually happened within the last week [October 2015]. We had a server that was throwing out seemingly random errors. It was our Chronos server, which is a time management system. There was one function of the program that was working. Everything else was locked out. When our techs went to in to see that some significant things had changed, we called DSCI immediately, and they were actually on it within 10 minutes. They were fixing the problem and contacting the vendors with question. They provided full service to get the situation resolved. They have a very rapid response to those kinds of things, which is great because we can't really have unplanned downtime.

How did DSCI perform from a project management standpoint?

We use their ticketing system, and they have a dashboard that we log into, which allows us to manage both the tickets and the billing. We have access to both an emergency support team and a dedicated account rep. The account rep that we have is more for sales than service, although he does act as a liaison with the service department at times.

He actually, on more than one occasion, has gone to bat for us with billing and pricing issues. He's gone through the service department to maybe speed them up, or let them know that the issue was more significant than it sounded. Also, if we're just generating a ticket, there's an online process we can use, but for the most part, we have a phone number we call into.

What distinguishes DSCI from other providers?

I think what distinguishes them is the fact that they're local, and they know the area and what the needs are. I also have had conversations with one of their vice presidents, Tyler [Dunphy], who has previously been in my position for one of the local cities. He knows the infrastructure that I'm dealing with, and he's able to offer some really solid advice on directions to go in. In general, DSCI's ability to help you strategize and come up with a workable plan is a great characteristic. 

Is there anything DSCI could have improved or done differently?

I can't think of any. Everything that I've mentioned to them that I'm concerned about, they respond to immediately, whether it's customer service, or maybe a resolution didn't kick in, and we need to work on it more. They've always been very accommodating.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My company is an audio/video installer and integrator. We also do rentals for productions, from small things like a family function, to corporate events with thousands of employees coming to a main location. On the installation side, we do a lot of boardrooms or corporate meeting rooms, where we integrate displays, projectors, video conferencing systems, and audio conferencing systems, with everything controlled through a single touch panel with a custom interface.

What is your position?

I am the information technology systems manager and a control system programmer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with DSCI?

We first contacted them when they were just Unified Technology, before merging with DSCI. We were looking to license Office 365, and they made it easy to get everything transferred over and set up. They took care of the implementation and customization for our business.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

The initial project was the implementation and custom integration of Office 365. More recently, we wanted to upgrade our network infrastructure, everything from the switches and hardware on the network to replacing some old servers. We wanted to get everything upgraded to improve performance speeds.

We also decided to utilize their services for maintaining and monitoring our network and servers. I'm an IT department of one, and my duties go well beyond IT. I'm often sent out into the field to work on A/V installation jobs, so it's difficult for me to maintain the network back at the office. If there's a problem, and I'm six hours away, it's hard for me to do anything about it beyond trying to walk someone through a process that they shouldn't be doing.

Bringing in DSCI has been a huge help for me, just knowing that I've got someone back here monitoring it and taking care of problems that can be handled remotely. Anything that can't be done remotely is usually minor, and someone onsite can usually handle that.

How did you come to work with DSCI?

I believe their sales associate originally reached out to me. We talked about doing the host exchange, and there were some other projects I had planned, but didn't have a timeframe or a budget for them yet. He understood that, and he put together a proposal for it so that I had some numbers for future reference. I liked that he wasn't pushy about it. I never felt that I was being pressed to do something I wasn't ready to initiate.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

It's in the range of $40,000 to $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our relationship is ongoing. The most recent milestone was completed about three months ago [July 2015].

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The biggest thing for me is that, while I'm away from the office and working on other projects, I haven't had to worry about the network. There have been a couple of occasions where issues happened, and DSCI has been able to resolve them without my involvement, other than just being notified. As far as I'm concerned, that does everything that I want it to do. Other than that, we haven't really set any benchmarks, but to me, it's certainly well worth it.

How did DSCI perform from a project management standpoint?

Everything went smooth on the project. Everything came in right around where it was estimated, and a few things came in under, so it all worked out well. It was an unexpected surprise, but definitely a pleasant one.

What distinguishes DSCI from other providers?

They all seem very personable and professional. It just seemed a lot easier to work with DSCI, and I felt very comfortable with everyone there. 

Is there anything DSCI could have improved or done differently?

There's nothing I can think of. I don't really have a reference for comparison, but I've been happy with everything that I've done with them. It's all worked really well.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Accounting of a food & beverages company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Gourmet meals on wheels

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire TPx Communications to accomplish?

• Network security
• Security awareness

SOLUTION

How did you find TPx Communications?

Other

Why did you select TPx Communications over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from TPx Communications were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Ensure network was secure with firewall and updated network security. Also to keep the employees from allowing threats in with placement of security awareness training 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

No threats since

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Very responsive and they handled everything in a timely manner.

What was your primary form of communication with TPx Communications?

Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The culture it appears they have and the way the pull in any and all resources to make sure we felt supported

Are there any areas for improvement or something TPx Communications could have done differently?

None

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Practice Manager of Arroyo Veterinary Hospital

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a veterinary practice

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire TPx Communications to accomplish?

• Make our phone system better

SOLUTION

How did you find TPx Communications?

Corporate assigned it

Why did you select TPx Communications over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Referred to me

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

The entire phone system was redone

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Much better phone system

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Yes, all went very well.

What was your primary form of communication with TPx Communications?

Virtual Meeting

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The system has NO problems!

Are there any areas for improvement or something TPx Communications could have done differently?

nope. :)

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Director of IT of a non-profit company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We help out young families and single mothers get back on track with a healthy life style.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire TPx Communications to accomplish?

• ISP

SOLUTION

How did you find TPx Communications?

ISP was already in place when i started my role.

Why did you select TPx Communications over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• We have several services with TPX and i wanted to keep all ISP services consistant.

How many teammates from TPx Communications were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

TPX was kind enough to see a method to save on monthly recurring charges for a non-profit and gave us the idea and solution.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The measurable outcomes were, communication, little to no downtime, and able to coordinate a time and date that worked for all parties.easurable

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

The project lead was able to communicate all aspects of the project. Deliverables were on time, and communication was down by email, phone, or virtual meetings.

What was your primary form of communication with TPx Communications?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

My rep and i have a good working relationship that allows us to efficiently streamline the work.

Are there any areas for improvement or something TPx Communications could have done differently?

Not for this particular project, but TPX does need to be more transparent on what they can and cannot do in a timely manner.