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February 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friend of Servato,

I apologize for the delay to send this latest monthly newsletter. Mardi Gras took place last week so festivities and parades naturally took over some of my time. Did You Know? The average Mardi Gras Krewe spends over $2.6 million each year on their parade and the accompanying ball they host. This figure, plus the approximately $2,450 per member, creates a large budget for plenty of family-friendly beads and other throws. That second figure outpaces the average expenditure for a string of 12V VRLA batteries, the main target for Servato devices... whoa that's a lot!

Rural broadband recently received a boost from the federally-approved, NTIA-backed, National Broadband Map. This data originally pulls from carrier responses, but there are some inconsistencies with the people represented. Movements like this support rural providers where it hurts them the most: funding for projects, social problems afflicting their customers, and affordable technology. A majority of Servato customers reside in these rural swathes of our country. Recent natural disasters and unequal service circumstances additionally make it even more difficult to provide a great customer experience. The media tailors its message to urbanites due to sheer volume, which lends itself to why I like to try to shed light on topics you might find interesting. You can find other content on the big button below and an interview with our VP of Sales,  Eric Hedlund, at the bottom. 

 

Federal Shutdown Impact on Rural America

 

Did You Hear?

Frost and Sullivan brought attention to Servato in early January after they declared us their 2018 Global Entrepreneurial Company of the Year in Energy Storage. The attention and coverage extended well beyond the initial press release. You can find a few of the reasons why we earned the award here:

 

2018 Year in Review

 

and here you can find the award write-up:

Frost and Sullivan Award Winner

 

 

 Rural Life

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration recently announced a plan to tackle updating the National Broadband Map. Rural states currently hurt from the methodology in place— census blocks. Under this count, a block deems to have available broadband if only one house in the entire block receives broadband according to the local provider. Problems arise from this such as:  overrepresentation of a provider's ability to serve a locale and capital direction for the Connect America Fund. The NTIA will work with California, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia on building a more accurate depiction of what blocks need service. They will commit $7.5 milliontowards building this new map after the BroadbandUSA program fell through.

A more accurate map lays the groundwork for other programs and projects such as the USDA's Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) for opioid abuse. The program grants 30 special consideration points for projects that fall in one of the 220 high-risk counties in the United States. The other 115 points assess through the Rural Utilities Service criterion including items such as application. Servato organically serves these rural markets due to the nature of our remote battery management technology. We are interested in learning more about other organizations that have put together a proposal or are in the works of developing a proposal for this. The now infamous Sackler family made headlines a few weeks ago after their high-profile opioid, oxycontin, received increased scrutiny. The Commonwealth of Kentucky received a $24 million settlement from a hearing that took place back in 2015. This came after the larger 2007 hearing where several other rural-dominant states took part.

Huawei sues the United States after determining that suppression of their telecommunications equipment was unconstitutional under the National Defense Authorization Act. The Chinese-giant calls Congress out for a lack of due diligence on behalf of the United States. Huawei Officials rebut the initial indictments by countering with this legal action of their own. Surprisingly enough, the company does very little business in the states. The relationships that it does have? Primarily rural carriers.

 
 

Analytics

Servato's SPS (Smart Power Systems) product line builds on innovative design and proprietary technology. Adaptive Charging forms the central nucleus of our approach to better battery management, driven by the intelligent algorithm that charges and rests batteries to maximize life expectancy and availability. We are pleased to announce that we are using the performance data gathered from managed batteries to provide our customers insights into how their networks perform from a power perspective.  Much as power utilities track the frequency and duration of power outages, our SPS solutions enable network service providers to track the same.  This allows them to quickly identify problem sites and prioritize them to address network reliability issues. Imagine having detailed outage data identifying which sites are more problematic than others.  How would that improve the field's ability to request capital to address these issues?  Now stop imagining and let's discuss in more detail.

Contact Servato

 


Sincerely,
 

--

Brandon Davenport

Business Development Manager

Servato

Brandon Davenport Servato

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Dorion Carr Servato

Q/A with Dorion Carr

 

 

Our Chief Software Architect and Head of Support, Dorion Carr, helps to build our software products and runs our support services. An original member of the Servato team, Dorion has been involved in starting other companies throughout his career and been hired to be a creative inventor for established companies. We explore his creative design approach to solutions, answering the call to action, and a golf swing he can't wait to loosen back up now that it is the beginning of March.

 

BD - "As an original member of the Servato team, what changes to the product are the most evident from then to today?"

DC – " The product has evolved in a few substantial ways from the time Servato started till now. Mostly security, reliability of the network and the ability to see the network remotely. In todays environment, with more and more people trying to hack into equipment, products need to be more secure than ever. 

Secondly, as bandwidth demands increase more and more, communications customers want a better network and better services.  This is forcing companies to focus more attention on improving network reliability and limiting downtime.

Finally, as the older workforce is retiring many of their special skills are going with them.  Carriers are replacing them with younger talent and asking them to do more (think broader but shallower skillsets).  Having tools like Servatos in the network enables these new generalist techs to know more about a network situation before they go out to address it.  This remote visibility into the network is becoming a key factor in improving network reliability. This is where Servato has been able to help, to see our customers embrace these tools successfully and to use their feedback to adapt our products to their needs. It has been very invigorating. "

 

BD - "Did you foresee these changes happening back when you were first designing ActiView?

DC - " Yes and No. Developing software for the telecom industry for as long as I have you see the changes coming, you try to analyze and somewhat predict the future and try to provide features that you believe will help your customers.  Sometimes you get it right, sometimes not. In the end, your customers need to see the benefits of your products. What helps is trying to always be there for your customers and help as much as possible. "

 

BD - "Customers love to pick up the phone for Servato Support and find your voice on the other end. A lot of other companies do not have someone in your position taking time out of their day to make sure they hear the customer's interests straight from their mouth. How do you find time to do this?"

DC - " Customers are everything to us, without them Servato doesn’t have a business. We strive to build products that our customers need. How can we do that if we don’t talk with them on a regular basis? I really enjoy talking to our customers so I will always find the time. We are also trying to build a team and culture that puts the customer at the center. We grow because our customers grow using Servato products. "

 

BD - "Are there any outstanding customer support stories you have come across? Keep it anonymous of course."

DC - " There are always some. My favorites are when a significant power failure happens and the network recovers successfully.  We will sometimes get an email stating We really appreciate what the Servato products have done during this power failure, we spent less time on the road (sending techs to sites) and more time managing our network remotely, keeping our customers services running and knowing where to service if we need to, thank you"

 

BD - "I bet that still doesn't top your favorite golf memory. If you had to pick one what would it be?"

DC - " A few years back I got to go the masters.  For a golfer, this is like the holy grail!  Nothing is like being there in person, seeing how perfectly manicured it is, the color of the grass, the layout of the course, the history behind it and of course seeing all the professionals playing."

 

BD - "What about your dream golf foursome and location?"

DC - " Most people would say some of the most common professional, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, I would be WAY too nervous to play with them. I would prefer one of my sons or my current golfing buddies. "

 

BD - "Do you end up winning that round?"

DC - " The short answer is yes.  I am a competitor. The long answer is it doesn’t matter as much anymore who wins.   I have been playing golf for so long its now more about the enjoyment of the game than just about winning.  But, dont get me wrong.  I still like to win!."

BD - I'll leave this conversation with that. Thanks for your time Dorion.

 

 

From Last Month

Chris brought his medals to a local decor shop in New Orleans to create a display kit for his kids. The shadow box will proudly show off their great-grandpa's Silver Star along with other accolades, adjacent to formal documentation of his enlistment.

 

 

 

Did You Know?

Servato's ActiView® platform displays a battery fuel gauge during outages allowing customers to easily prioritize site uptime.

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 Let's talk if you are looking to find an alternative way to test batteries that delivers a more accurate and predictive state of health measurement, especially during outages like this customer experienced.

 

 

 
 
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Recent and Upcoming Events

The Servato Sales team has covered dozens of shows this year. We hope to see you in the near future, so if you are at any of these upcoming events, please come and visit our booths.

  • URTA Annual Meeting 3/17/2019 - 3/20/2019 in St. George, UT
  • MTA Annual Convention and Showcase 3/18/2019 - 3/20/2019 in Minneapolis, MN
  • Iowa Telecommunications Showcase 3/25/2019 - 3/27/2019 in Des Moines, IA
  • SCTBA 4/1/2019 - 4/3/2019 in Charleston, SC
  • Texas Communications Expo 4/2/2019 - 4/4/2-2019 in Belton, TX
  • CCA Mobile Carriers Show 4/8/2019 - 4/10/2019 in Denver, CO
  • Battcon 4/23/2019 - 4/26/2019 in Orlando, FL
  • Battery Council International 4/28/2019 - 4/30/2019 in New Orleans, LA
  • North Dakota TOC Conference 5/14/2019 - 5/16/2019 in Fargo, ND

 

Cover photo courtesy of: http://tuadmissionjeff.blogspot.com/2013/02/myths-of-gras.html

About the Author: Brandon Davenport

Brandon Davenport
Brandon Davenport is a Business Development Manager for the Servato team. He covers the Southeast sales territory, manages marketing efforts, and leads battery analysis efforts.