Business Solutions for Spring 2018

S P R I N G 2 0 1 8 5 BUSINESS solutions Madison came first thing the morning after the fire to install temporary service drops, temporary phone and internet jacks, and a new modem. Not having phone service would have made callers think we were closed, since news of the fire was everywhere.” — ANITA NOEL, OWNER, COUNTRY CLASSIC CARS More Cars, More Speed Country Classic Cars just recently returned to its pre-fire inventory levels, thanks to months of extra hours on the part of Russ Noel. Since the sought- after cars date back to the 1920s, his search wasn’t easy. As Anita Noel puts it, “It’s not like these cars are on every street corner.” While the process of finding replace- ment cars may have moved slowly, the internet connection at Country Classic Cars is speeding right along. The business has been a phone customer of Madison Communications since 1999 and an internet customer since 2007. It started with 3 Mbps internet and periodically upgraded over the years. Recently, Country Classic Cars went from 20 Mbps to 100 Mbps. “A member of our sales staff thought we really should upgrade our internet speed, given our website and employee numbers, so I talked to Madison Communications about it. They put a proposal together in layman’s terms about their updated fiber network in our rural area. I didn’t hesitate for a second, since the added price to upgrade to 100 Mbps was minimal compared to the benefits. Our internet service is much faster now, and uploads happen more quickly with no waiting. We’re able to more efficiently send car photos to our customers,” says Noel. So while history may have burned to the ground at Country Classic Cars, the future still looks bright. Russ and Anita Noel have successfully rebuilt the busi- ness with a renewed appreciation for community support. Who’s Minding Your Business? Josh Boente Lead IT Support Technician Josh Boente started with Madison Communications in 2005. Prior to then, Boente performed preventa- tive maintenance for Comcast in their Broadband Service Assurance Center and did cable modem technical phone support for MediaOne/AT&T Broad- band—all in the Chicago area. His job responsibilities as Lead IT Support Technician include Level 2 customer technical support, customer escalations, internal/external IT sup- port, network capacity monitoring, CMTS/cable modem configuration, creation of troubleshooting docu- mentation, and working with plant and customer service teams to address network and internet issues. “My work weeks vary. One week I could be busy on a special project per- taining to cable internet, the next could be related to DSL, and the following week I could be doing a server upgrade for our internet network. I enjoy the changing technological landscape and working closely with the Madison team,” says Boente. He adds, “My wife Meghan and I have two young sons, Bo and Stone, and my stepdaughter Kaiah is attending the University of Miami. I’ve been a home- brewer for several years, brewing styles such as IPAs and Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Stouts. Meghan and I love attending beer and food festivals.”