Support
suh-pŏhrt: 1. to sustain under trial or affliction. 2. to uphold by aid, countenance.
What We Do
We like problem solving, and have become pretty good at it. We take some pride in how many complex system faults we have helped our customers resolve, particularly for life-critical and business-critical systems. What is your biggest technical problem right now?
- Telecom Support - technical consulting services for FTTP and optical trunking, plus ongoing and necessary copper technologies such as xDSL, T1 (T-Carrier & HDSL), and POTS via most of the major systems used in North America, including equipment from vendors such as Fujitsu®, Ciena®, Tellabs®, Ribbon®, Calix®, and many others. Systems include legacy but still-necessary POTS systems like the DMS-10®, DMS-100®, GTD-5®, 5ESS®, EWSD®, and DCO® switching systems, plus newer POTS and DSL from like the T1000 (UMC1000) and Total Access® 5000, and the latest FTTP systems such as the Calix E7 and E9 series.
- Network Technical Support - we know how communications networks connect together and work. Whether high-speed FTTP XGS-PON, 800G trunks between centers, or rural ADSL, or FAA T1 circuits. Whether using TCP/IP and Ethernet, or specialized technologies like ATM, timing, and CCSS7. If you're trying to send electrons or photons, we can probably talk your protocol.
- Data Back-up - We help you build critical and survivable systems for data such with RAID's, rings, and multiple media types and geographic locations.
- Asset Management - We will ensure you are getting the most from your back-up equipment, with parts and tools ready to go, so they are available when and where you need them, plus find ways to use wasting assets more productively.
How We Do It
- Training of your personnel - with theoretical and real-world training, and at your own premises so costs remain low.
- Phone, video, email and on-site technical support - we provide telecom consulting by whichever means is available or makes the most sense for you. For on-site support, we can often get to your premises on very short notice with minimal hassle.
- Performing audits or root cause analysis (RCA) - to determine why serious problems occurred, and to bullet-proof your system to prevent problems from happening again.
The real skill in providing quality technical support is how one goes about fixing a problem -- any problem. It could be electrical, mechanical, logical, modular, or described by any other number of criteria. The problem could be abstract, direct, or latent, and it may or may not be visible or always verifiable. But if one can devise a flexible and thorough system of troubleshooting, perhaps using several methods where each has its own strengths, and use patience and attention to detail, it is possible to fix virtually any problem.
AG Advice and Support has terrific strengths in these areas. For example, our personnel have been responsible for emergency troubleshooting of several complex communications systems, in both civilian and defense networks. We help keep data, phone, and video running, and get things going again quickly when there's a problem.
There have been several high-profile, national-scale outages on cellular, networking, and telco systems in the last decade. Such networks are extremely complex, often using automatic controls that work faster than any team of people could. However, this also means that unintended impacts can be difficult to understand and resolve quickly. We have seen a lot of outages, and have a pretty good idea of what goes wrong, and how to prevent such downtime in the first place.
AG Advice and Support has significant experience with the commissioning of complex systems, performing everything from system design and layout, to the physical installation that must meet requirements including NEBS®, the NEC®, Telcordia®, UL®, and local or company standards. Too much heat, too much or too little humidity, EMI/RFI, seismic bracing, future expansion, and many other factors are the things that help maintain service when unexpected conditions occur.
If you're installing Cat 6A in your building today, why not make sure you can upgrade easily in the future? The marginal cost is low, and doing so will save you a bundle in the future. While you are in this stage, why not verify all your jacks can support 10G speeds, in all possible conditions, so that when these speeds become common in a few years, you are already ready to go?
We have helped migrate thousands of circuits to fiber. We have helped show how to get the most out of your network management systems, saving troubleshooting time and truck rolls. We have helped customers in the hospitality and telecom industries recognize problems that inspections did not previously reveal. We have found data-intensive systems that were not being backed-up properly…or at all!
There are many companies performing such individual services today, but at AGAAS, we've been doing all of these things for years. We know how to "cross over" from telecom, to data, to electrical. This key ability is why we are effective helping you understand where standards from different agencies intersect, and how to get the most out of your capitalization now, plus for your future ongoing services.
We would love the opportunity to help you plan for today, so that you are also ready for tomorrow.
How would you like to "think" today? With AI, it's getting easier not to think at all. While certainly convenient at times, we like to think about thinking. If you would like to see a few of these different thinking and problem-solving techniques, have a look at our Logic Primer™, a light and slightly humorous assembly of how to go about effective troubleshooting.