ABOUT WMACompany Info WHO WE ARE ~ WHAT WE PROVIDE ~ WHO WE SERVE ~ HOW WE DELIVER "Definitely
Not" Dealer Casts Unique Identity Reprint from the Telecom Reseller written by Doug Green, 2000. With "Definitely Not A Avaya® Authorized Dealer" as a company slogan, Walt Medak & Associates presents a set of very unique qualities in a telecom market often noted for the sameness of vendors. While some independent dealers and service companies downplay their lack of connection or official nod of grace from Avaya®, Medak celebrates his independence as a distinguishing virtue. Many companies simply buy and sell Avaya® products, but take a hands off approach after delivery. Not Medak. He offers a scope of unique services that include round-the-clock switch monitoring. And while many in the secondary market have migrated to near-complete dealer or distributor status with the OEM, Medak has pointed his company in the opposite direction. With a basket of goods and services, he's there for the Avaya® user who wants an alternative to working with the OEM. Walt Medak
opened his doors in 1990 after a career at AT&T® where he last worked
as a Systems Implementation Specialist. Like many of his colleagues
in the alternate channel, the former "phone company guy" took
his telco and AT&T® product knowledge and combined them with his
own ideas about customer needs to create Walt Medak & Associates.
Since then, the Vancouver, Washington company has evolved a great deal. Locally,
within the three state area of the Northwest, Medak is an interconnect,
offering anything from a single set to a complete turnkey installation
of a full system. But from servicing that base, he created a distinct
set of services which now is offered nationally. "RMATS began with
us watching some of the switches of our local customers." RMATS,
or "remote maintenance administration technical services"
of Definity® PBXs, is a service that works with the Definity's® native
software. According to Medak, "Avaya's® Definity® is light years
ahead of other switches in the market in its ability to monitor itself
and to indicate potential future problems." This capacity, combined
with Medak's own RMATS system, allows him to offer customers the ability
to be paged before their switch develops a problem, or to have a Medak-furnished
technician address the problem before a switch crashes or becomes impaired.
"We
began this as a program to enhance our offerings to our local customers,
but today we monitor over 200 switches nationwide." Real time information
from these switches is relayed directly to Medak's Vancouver offices
where his unique system silently watches over each PBX, always prepared
to page the designated field technician or telecom manager in advance
of any problems. "Our customers get complete support." Medak's
RMATS offering is one of several, which makes him "definitely not"
like many other resellers. Another distinguishing service is his ability
to provide his customers with off-site data storage. In relation to
the RMATS, which alert the user or the attending technician to upcoming
problems, off-site storage allows the PBX administrator to store critical
switch data that would be needed in the event of disaster recovery.
"We are able to store the information and data you would need to
get your switch up and running after an episode or an event. We are
basically providing all of the support you need to keep the switch running,
or to recover the switch after an unforeseen event," Medak said. These two
services, combined with secondary market equipment sales, shapes his
three-sided approach to offering users independence from the OEM. Users
can buy the equipment they need through Medak's secondary market operation,
can perform asset management by selling out-of-service or surplus equipment,
and then can obtain technical and data storage support for on-going
operations. "This is attractive to any Avaya® user, whether he
has one switch or more. It's especially attractive to people managing
remote sites because we can deliver more then just a circuit pack to
that remote site - we can deliver the exact service that site needs
and provide it at the exact time that site needs it." Related services
include technicians whose services users can purchase by the quarter-hour
increment. "Our prices are lower than the OEMs and extremely competitive
with any other solution available" Medak reported. Being something
of a rebel in a staid technical market was not what one might have expected
out of a company described as "telecom nerds". "We actually
get into the technology, know it cold and make ourselves available to
anyone stuck with an un-cooperative or non-functioning switch."
While Medak has high praise for Avaya's® products and superior design,
he simply believes that users are looking for alternatives to the OEM
for support, service and post-installation product needs. "We are
offering people choices, backed up by a decade of experience and a proven
track record of knowing how to keep a Avaya® switch running. And sometimes,
even the most loyal customer of the OEM needs a choice." While
Medak may have ended up running a company in many ways different from
the one he conjured up a decade ago; the idea of offering customers
more independence seems to remain a constant commitment. With his "Definitely
Not" moniker in place, Medak seems to be making the case for the
original idea of an "alternative channel": choice! WHO
WE ARE WHAT
WE PROVIDE WHO
WE SERVE HOW
WE DELIVER
- SERVICE OPTIONS: WMA
24-Hour, 7-Day/Week Option:
|
|
Training
~ Products ~ Services
~ Your Account ~ Tech
Support ~ Newsletter Walt
Medak & Associates, Inc. Voice & Data Telecommunications
Design & Administration
AVAYA®, AT&T®, SYSTEM75®, DEFINITY-G1®/G3i®/G3si®/G3r®/G3vs®, AVAYA® COMMUNICATION MANAGER,
|
 |
|
||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||
| |
|||||||||||||||
| |
|||||||||||||||
| |
|||||||||||||||
| |
|||||||||||||||
| |
|||||||||||||||
| |
|||||||||||||||
| |
|||||||||||||||
| |
|||||||||||||||
| |
|||||||||||||||
| |
|||||||||||||||
| |
|||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||
