I moved around within the Spark Business Group (CCL, Spark, Digital Island, etc.) as I found myself working with many customers under each of the various umbrellas. I have joined a team of like-minded, UC-focused consultants which has expanded into a pretty big team of Teams and Contact Centre Consultants, AV Specialists, AV Engineers, and others all with a focus on providing the best experience in this new way of working, whether in the office, at home, or while travelling.My role consists of providing consulting, training, workshops, and user experience-focused planning around Teams Meeting Rooms and Teams Calling, as well as general Teams use. I also get to spend a bit of time playing with all the cool new Teams-certified tech, which is probably the most fun part of my job. It helps ensure that the products we recommend will provide the desired experience, rather than just "works".

I continue to use my experience gained over the last several years in Unified Communications and Office 365 to help customers explore and enhance their use of Microsoft 365 Productivity tools, especially Microsoft Teams.

UCFX has been established with the vision of becoming New Zealand’s leading specialist in Microsoft Unified Communications consulting, architecture, implementation and support. Established by a group of industry professionals with significant Unified Communications experience we have been able to attract the best Unified Communications expertise in New Zealand bar none, and today we have the largest number of Certified Unified Communication professionals compared to anyone else in New Zealand. UCFX has established multiple technology alliances in the Unified Communications space including Microsoft, Sonus, Polycom, Jabra, and Plantronics in addition to establishing strategic relationships with all the major WAN, PSTN and SIP trunk providers. UCFX recently attained Microsoft Gold Communications status and is seen as an authority on the new Lync Room System Products being delivered by Polycom, Smart and Crestron. In addition to our core skills our professionals have specific expertise in Contact Centre Integration, complex video conferencing, vendor negotiations and business intelligence. UCFX’s competence is built on the quality of its people, its strong vendor relationships and a dedication to customer service. We will help you make decisions, provide solution architecture for UC and video conferencing solutions and guide you through integration with new and existing systems.

UCFX has been established with the vision of becoming New Zealand’s leading specialist in Microsoft Unified Communications consulting, architecture, implementation and support. Established by a group of industry professionals with significant Unified Communications experience we have been able to attract the best Unified Communications expertise in New Zealand bar none, and today we have the largest number of Certified Unified Communication professionals compared to anyone else in New Zealand. UCFX has established multiple technology alliances in the Unified Communications space including Microsoft, Sonus, Polycom, Jabra, and Plantronics in addition to establishing strategic relationships with all the major WAN, PSTN and SIP trunk providers. UCFX recently attained Microsoft Gold Communications status and is seen as an authority on the new Lync Room System Products being delivered by Polycom, Smart and Crestron. In addition to our core skills our professionals have specific expertise in Contact Centre Integration, complex video conferencing, vendor negotiations and business intelligence. UCFX’s competence is built on the quality of its people, its strong vendor relationships and a dedication to customer service. We will help you make decisions, provide solution architecture for UC and video conferencing solutions and guide you through integration with new and existing systems.

I was involved in a wide range of BAU support for Comsmart’s core clients, especially in the areas of AD, Exchange, and Disaster Recovery. Now, the majority of my work revolves around project based work in which I am contracted to Gen-i to design and implement a variety of solutions into a client’s infrastructure. Most of this work revolved around designing Active Directory or Exchange migrations and upgrades, but also includes Lync 2010, Gen-i WAN Services, light SAN and VMware design, and other related technologies. I also spend time mentoring other workmates to help to develop and grow their IT skills.I am now deploying Lync 2010 and 2013 for over 90% of my work load spread across several companies and varied architectures. These vary from a Standard Edition deployment to full HA Enterprise Edition deployments, ISDN PRI to SIP trunks, national to global infrastructures. It is both challenging and enjoyable and I get to work with some of the best vendors in the market.

I specialize in Server Hardware, Software, and OS support as well as Mid-Level Networking support.

I provided IT infrastructure support and consultant services to our clients that varied from Desktop support to Network and Server administration to Disaster Recovery. I primarily dealt with Sonicwall routers/ firewalls and Windows Server 2003 / 2008-based HP server infrastructure, but overall I have dealt with a very wide range of skills and technologies encompassing the IT market. I also assisted the account managers in site surveys and infrastructure analysis in order to provide our clients with the best evaluation of their current environments, and the best solutions to improve / upgrade to suit their needs. I also worked on special projects using virtualization technologies such as Virtual Server and Hyper-V with Windows Server 2008. I performed numerous server migrations and upgrades as needed.

I held a quite varied role. I provided remote and onsite support for our clients for any Desktop, Server, and Networking issues. I was also heavily involved in several major projects at client sites. I migrated PCs from one company's domain onto the new company during a multi-staged merger. I also rebuilt another client's entire domain after a major server crash. I wrote proposed solutions for several of our clients' IT infrastructure based on an analysis of their existing infrastructure and the requirements to run our dealer management software.

SW Implementation and Training ProjectI was asked to come back in order to implement quoting software for the Soft Furnishings Department. This software was designed to streamline the quoting process for the Curtains/Blinds Outside Sales staff, as well as streamline the progress tracking for these orders once confirmed. I liaised with the software developer to work out any bugs we found in the software and tailor it to the needs of the company and department. I also had to train several of the staff. Their skill levels ranged from advanced computing skills to extreme novice (having touched a computer for the first time around 6 months ago). I also helped to develop a more accurate process manual outlining the instructions for using the software.

I provided IT services to our company and clients as needed. These ranged from spyware issues to server / network administration. I generally provided these servers onsite after hours or remotely while I was travelling. Typically, we were known by our clients for providing better quality service with better knowledge than the leading vendors they had dealt with in the past.I also helped our joint company in the US with IT staff recruiting by setting up my own VoIP with a US DDI for contact calling. This gave me a lot of experience reviewing thousands of resumes and picking qualified candidates, and providing an initial phone interview to narrow down the list to only the most qualified candidates. I was able to do this due to my already existing knowledge of the industry.

I monitored, maintained, and supported almost all aspects of IT support. This included Windows Server (2000 and 2003) support including Active Directory support, Domain Controller support, Exchange support, SQL Server support. This also included Network Monitoring and Support and Desktop support. I supported all the hardware and several software packages, most importantly Advance Retail, which is our POS, HeadOffice, and BackOffice software package. I had to learn as much as possible about the software In order to do this. I had to support any issues that arose as quickly as possible to have the least possible downtime. I was constantly involved with the staff while looking for causes and solutions to their IT related issues. This meant I had to be able to talk to the person on their computer knowledge level, which varied from person to person. I was in charge of creating virtual servers, POS's, and BackOffice machines in order to create an environment similar to the Live Arthur Barnet environment for testing purposes. I used Microsoft's Virtual Server 2005 and Virtual PC 2004. In charge of replacing all POS and BackOffice Machines, 70 in total. I had to replace almost all of them during store operating hours as well as make sure that as many POS and BO machines stayed active to continue operation. I was also involved in several other projects as the company needed.

Responsible for performing system upgrades, maintenance, and repair. This involved spyware and virus removal, software upgrades and troubleshooting, and hardware upgrades and troubleshooting. I also setup and secured wired and wireless networks for customers. I helped teach and prepare the Product Specialist in the area of computers and related technology. This included developing and implementing a training guide on all computer hardware, software, and networking equipment that we sell. I also developed customized instructions for customers setting up home and small business networks. My other responsibilities included providing customers with the knowledge they need to make an educated choice with their purchase as well as giving them limited support over the phone. I work on a mostly independent level on the technical work as I was the only technician with this store. I use my ability to help Circuit City to develop a business area that helps them compete with local technology contractors. Before leaving, I also trained two associates with minor technical experience in order to perform the duties of this position.

Responsible for providing remote technical support for business customers on operation, maintenance, and networking of Dell products, including laptops, desktops, workstations, and some servers. Assist customers, determine problems, and provide resolutions on technical and service problems. Responsible for customer satisfaction by effectively handling of customer problems. I received the Team Player award for 4 of the 5 quarters that I have worked here. I was picked for these by my team based on the amount I had helped my teammates figure out their technical and policy issues.

My main job was selling customers a computer that fits their needs. I was also in charge of training the rest of the computer department associates as needed so they would have a sound knowledge of computers, related equipment, and solutions to various problems.

I started by performing duties of Inventory and Sales Clerk, including tagging and stocking inventory, talking to customers, and selling custom built computers systems, parts, and services. Within a month, I worked my way up to Assistant Technician and then to Onsite Technician doing various computer services for many of the companies in the area that did not have an internal IT support group. These included troubleshooting and repairing computers, installing and fixing issues with business networks, and custom building computers to fit needs of individual customers. I then worked my way up to Store Manager in charge of ordering and processing inventory, filling out contract bids, product and distributor investigation and research, and some in-store accounting. As Store Manager, I also performed any other including the Lead Onsite Tech position as needed.

My main responsibility was to teach people of all age's mathematics of many levels. I taught two students for High School Credit in order for them to graduate that school year. I also taught other subjects as necessary.