Customer Profile: Fast moving company needed a solution... Fast!

Zettaset, provider of a Hadoop-based data platform for storing and analyzing large data sets, had a lot going on.

They were moving to a new office, hiring people at a quickening pace, and about to launch their first public marketing campaign.

“We realized that the phone was going to start ringing, but we didn’t have a plan for dealing with that,” said Tim Reilly, Zettaset Controller.

“I was familiar with Maverick Networks, and knew they had done a great job for some colleagues of mine. We didn’t have time or the ‘bandwidth’ to go through a lengthy process and review a lot of options, so I just called on Maverick to step in and take care of it,” he said.

Enter Maverick Networks.

“Zettaset needed us to move fast, but we also knew it was critical to do a thorough evaluation of their needs,” explained Aaron Lee, Maverick Networks CEO. The Maverick team has done this numerous times, so they quickly sized up Zettaset’s situation and recommended a solution that would make both fiscal and operational sense.

“Given their plans to tie a couple of U.S. offices together, expected growth in the European market, and desired features, the Small Enterprise Package from ShoreTel was a good fit,” Lee said.

In addition to the Small Enterprise Package, Maverick Networks offered Zettaset the Compass Solution payment program, greatly impressing Reilly.

“As the VP of Finance and Operations, I am especially impressed by the Compass Solution Maverick put together. Instead of buying the system as a capital expensive, we pay a single, low monthly payment to cover use, upgrades and maintenance of the system. This was the right move for our young company,” Reilly said.

Within a matter of two weeks, Maverick Networks coordinated installation of cabling, provisioning of Internet connectivity, installation and configuration of the equipment, and use training.

“It was miraculous,” Reilly said. “I couldn’t believe that in the midst of everything going on, we were up and running on our new system with time to spare before our public launch at a big trade show. Maverick Networks made it smooth, and the ShoreTel system was so easy to use, our team was immediately comfortable and productive. Managing the system is just as easy – because as a company that’s investing in engineering and our product, we are keeping administrative costs as lean as possible. In other words, I have to manage our infrastructure myself.”

Geeking out over VoIP-enabled toys

If you work in the telcommunications industry, you’re probably a tech geek of some sort. You might not consider yourself one if you’ve just joined the industry, but if you stick around long enough to learn about the technology available and can successfully sell telecom products simply based on the passion you exude for what you’re selling (call recording and mobility applications, anyone?), chances are somebody, somewhere, will think of you as a geek.

At Maverick Networks, we definitely have our geeky moments. For instance, our marketing and PR specialist, Jennifer Leslie (@JennMariePR), shed a few tears this week because she wasn’t at the 2012 International CES tradeshow. Fortunately for her, her obsession with social media allowed her to get constant updates via Twitter from accounts such as Pete Cashmore of Mashable,

CNET  and TechCrunch.

So, when she stumbled upon an article by Adam Bunker of Electricpig about some of the weirdest gadgets at CES 2012, we couldn’t contain our geeky excitement over the VoIP LEGO, a version of the LEGO Mindstorms NXT line. According to the article, the vehicle/robot can be controlled via Skype, enabling users to “call” it and control it from anywhere in the world.

What we can’t decide is what’s more intriguing about this production – the fact that VoIP technology can be used to control a LEGO robot, or the fact that the creator of the project is only 14-years-old! For the sake of our blog’s content, we’ll speak on the technology rather than his age (but really… 14-years-old and making headlines at CES with his knowledge of web code, screen sharing, and Bluetooth connectivity. We sure are impressed!)

Leon, the pre-teen mastermind behind this creation, explains how the robot works on his blog, World of MindStorms:

“The webpage is fairly simple – it’s got three arrows (one forward, two to the sides) and a start and a stop button. Clicking the start arrow will begin a Skype conversation with my computer, after which the user should share their screen; the NXT standing in front of my computer (called 'Jeeves') can then “see” the webpage the user is viewing.

That’s where the cool part kicks in – when the user clicks any one of the arrows or the stop button, the page will change to a different shade of gray. This shade of gray is then picked up by Jeeves, who turns it into a Bluetooth message for the other NXT (called 'Alfred'). The car then drives in the direction the user tells it to, while remaining within a fenced off area where the webcam can see it.

So, the user can drive a LEGO Mindstorms NXT car, from the comfort of his or her home, without having to install any kind of software (provided that they have Skype).”

You can also watch the robot in action on his blog, as well.

Although the idea is fairly simple and there is only one robot able to be controlled, this kid’s ease with such a common video conferencing source likeSkype shows that advances in telecom technology is moving faster than ever, and reaching younger and younger audiences.

We’d like to think of Leon as a maverick, as well. By thinking outside the [LEGO] box, he's found a way to use such a common tool and turn it in to something that may actually be of use one day for many businesses. Sure, the U.S. government has far more advanced technologies to control devices like a drone, but who knows what use companies will find for VoIP-controlled devices modeled after Leon’s LEGO Mindstorms NXT car?

All we can say is geek on, little man, and keep up the hard work so that we may be able to sell your technology one day.

A little about Maverick Networks...

A little about Maverick Networks, Inc. for our first blog:

As you probably have guessed, we are not Tom Cruise, nor are we in any way affiliated with him or the blockbuster classic, "Top Gun." However, our company shares something in common with the 1986 film, which is that we are all mavericks.

The story goes like this: Maverick Networks CEO, Aaron Lee, was considered a “Top Gun” (i.e. – a successful sales rep) at his previous telecommunications employer, but left the company in October of 2003 to start his own telecom company from the ground up. Lee decided to use the name Maverick because it gave a sense and persona of what our company truly is in its industry – one that stands out from the crowd. It’s a cultural symbol and name that we stand behind and believe in every day.

We have always taken the stance of being different than what our competitors do for their prospects and customers. It's what has allowed us to achieve the awards we have received over the last few years (Fastest Growth in SF Bay Area List, INC 5000 in 2009, to name a few). Our beginning was like many startups, working out of the home office. Shortly after launching, we moved into a small warehouse space at a friend’s office in Hayward, Calif., and finally into a real corporate office space in our current location in Pleasanton, Calif.

It’s been a fun ride along the way as our customer base has grown with Pure VoIP Telephony solutions, and as we have established our distinct flair for being trusted advisors for voice solutions.

Our logo was created by combining a maverick mentality (horns) and networks (rings) circling a sphere (our home, Planet Earth).

Our goal began, and continues to be, extreme customer focus and satisfaction. We do this by providing innovative ideas and solutions to companies looking for voice convergence solutions. So, if your company is looking for a VoIP Converged Solution and have a need for a Top Gun or Maverick look no further and contact us for a free consultation.