James R Russell

Proven professional Sales Engineer with a reputation for creating sales leads, identifying customer needs, providing revenue generating solutions, lab resource in testing and dev environments, and understanding customer needs and wants. Strive to and successful in building and maintaining long lasting and trusting customer relationships which provides a win-win atmosphere for customers and employer. Complementing this capability is an equally strong background in lab efforts for product approval, ongoing testing efforts on IPTV and Residential Gateway areas within start-up to Global Fortune 100 firms.  Experienced in all areas of sales and lab support in the Technical Sales/FAE/Sales Engineer role with Wi-Fi residential gateways, video hardware, hardware installation, maintenance, field support, and fiber optic and copper cabling systems and topologies in interior or exterior environments.

 

Key Accomplishments

¨          I saved $500,000.00 in Pace operational spending by negotiating a waiver on incoming products to the AT&T fulfillment chain which required new labeling to conform to AT&T IRG Routing guide requirements on all Pace packaging and incoming hardware. This was accomplished through strong relationships built between myself and AT&T management over the years of supporting their distribution efforts. (Swiss army knife of experiences and responsibilities for my employer and customer base)

¨          Used Non-Conventional thinking to utilize, install, and turn up new technology (Free Space Optics), to win a hosting companies business from an incumbent vendor at an initial value to firm of $300K in yearly revenue. Post sales customer care increased business to approximately $1M annually.

¨          Responsiblity for account team revenue in excess of $40,000,000.00 which was met yearly.

¨          Increased hardware sales to assigned 22 state customer 200% by account positioning with support and ordering personnel, customer training, support at RMA areas, and fast response to customer issues and/or questions.

¨          Met and exceeded sales quotas in all sales related engineering positions that provided additional company income which has grown yearly.

¨          Yearly Engineered product requirements for internal and external clients that met or exceed their needs, within cost expectations, and on time, by utilizing out of the box thought processes and resources as needed.

¨          Provided customer support to the degree where clients call me directly for assistance or lab testing efforts / triaging on current operating issues, future needs, directions, and efficiency of day-to-day operation due to technical knowledge and individual care provided them.

¨          I was responsible for cradle to grave cycle of IPTV STB/DVR lab entry, MVT (Multi - Vendor Testing) accomplished by myself, through AFU (Approval For Use) end cycles in the Ericsson/Microsoft Media Room Client.

¨          Trained 500+ Installation and repair ADSL technicians located in a five state region in only two months, on the installation and troubleshooting of xDSL hardware.

¨          I was the Field/Phone support 7/24/365 of all xDSL products installed by assigned telephone company account in five state region without TAC (Technical Assistance Center) in place for this function.

¨          I initiated and participated in 2Wire/Pace quality installation ride-alongs with field technicians to triage any issues on new products and fact gathering for business intelligence saving employer and customer countless care dollars and resource time.

¨          Crucial customer handhold through defective gateway issues and restoration of customer faith with DSL Co. products.(Affected 200k of gateways) saving employer in excess of $60,000,000 of business that potentially would have switched to other vendors.

Professional Experience

2WIRE/PACE, Austin, TX          Senior Sales Engineer                                 2005-Present

Maintained SBC/AT&T sales growth by account positioning with att support and ordering personnel. Performed Pre and Post Sales support for entire line of Wi-Fi/ADSL-DSL/Ethernet router/IPTV DVR and set top box (STB) products that resulted in steady growth of sales and end user satisfaction.

·                       Led efforts to support all user issues in the field through coordination of corporate resources and AT&T management saving customer resource investments and care expense.

·                       Direct AT&T Labs support and resource for Residential gateways and issue cause analysis for WAN, LAN, and Wi-Fi trouble-shooting in Residential gateway GPON, FTTP/FTTH, DSL - ADSL/ADSL2+/VDSL2 environments

·                       Residential Gateway Wi-Fi lab testing, RFP RFQ response and issue triage 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n and 802.11ac platforms

·                       Primary Pace Resource in AT&T labs for new Pace IPTV STB (set top box) receiver testing and troubleshooting of hardware and Ericsson/Microsoft Media room client issues. Completed AT&T testing saving AT&T resource hours and costs associated with these efforts

·                       Support and managed Pace interface/involvement in the AT&T/ATCLE fulfillment process for gateways and hardware. Successfully introduced the STB and DVR offered by Pace and now have the IPH8005 STB deploying in AT&T markets in a general release. The Pace DVR is on track to deploy as well with my MVT (Multi Vendor Testing)

·                       I provide ongoing as-needed training of AT&T techs in various locations nationwide, increasing ease of troubleshooting and installation resulting in cost savings to AT&T in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

·                       I gave input and assistance /direct guidance and support of 2Wire specialized installation groups for AT&T that increase performances in excess of 150% and minimized service issues and downtimes. .

·                       Participate in ongoing field rides and customer visits with various AT&T techs to evaluate and improve installation proficiency of DSL Co. products, triage issues/concerns on new products streamlining new product defect resolution, configuration bottleneck removal, and increased savings for AT&T.

·                       I deployed within AT&T and managed new and existing ADSL gateways in excess of 2 million units solely by myself through 2010.

·                       With my prior SBC/SW Bell history allowed me to form strong AT&T relationships in senior management levels as well as lab testing engineers in the Austin AT&T labs..

 

Belkin Logistics, Compton, Ca.                             2005-2005

Technical Sales Engineer

·                       I as the only SE performed VoIP and network hardware sales, demonstrations, testing, and troubleshooting on pre and post sales customers.

·                       I led certification efforts for new VoIP products in Sonus certification lab and various customer sites gaining critical industry certification needed for technology acceptance by customers.

·                       Technical resource in new product testing and acceptance in RFQ and RFP customer efforts.

·                       I trained over 100 international technicians on ADSL modem installation creating cost savings in install and support times in various countries.

·                       I participated in all technical Show Booth Sales and Demonstration efforts for VoIP and Network Hardware representation increasing product sale and recognition in the customer base.

·                       Pre-sales support of Belkin DSL gateways featuring 802.11b, and the 802.11n (new standard)

·                       Day to day sales to Belkin customers on general product lines.

 

 

Qwest Communications, San Antonio, TX                             2001-2004

Lead Sales Engineer / Lead Engineer

Engineered product requirements for internal and external clients that met or exceed their needs, within cost expectations, and on time, by utilizing out of the box thought processes and resources as needed.

¨          Met and exceeded sales quotas in all sales related engineering positions that provided additional company income.

¨          Used out of the box thinking to personally utilize and install new technology (Free Space Optics), to win a hosting companies business from an incumbent vendor at an initial value to firm of $300K in yearly revenue. Post sales customer care increased business to approximately $1M annually. Later, engineered and assisted installation/turn-up of Fiber Optic cable path in leased Telco manholes and duct system to the same customers High Rise Premise for permanent OC-3 connectivity.

¨          Provided a single point of contact for local sales, engineering, and operations organizations that required information and support from local QwestLink offices to assist MAN sales and increase revenue.

¨          Provided customer support to the degree where clients call for assistance or input on current operating issues, future needs, directions, and efficiency of day-to-day operation due to technical knowledge and individual care provided them.

¨          Provided technical support and assisted QwestLink sales engineers and technicians that allowed operating efficiency, and was instrumental in support of sales driven initiatives in various sales channels.

¨          Utilized building access priority list from Sales to create a building access implementation plan for the city with critical milestones identified that would allow the addition of new customer service and increased revenues.

¨          Provided support of plant maintenance, quality assurance objectives, and inspection services for all inside (CPE and CO) and outside plant work, that provided the high level of operations that required with customer network SLA’s.

¨          Planned, developed and installed Metropolitan Area Network rings utilizing Cisco 14454 Optical SONET platforms in POP and Customer Premise configuration that allowed access to the Qwest network.

¨          Planned, installed, and maintained Lightpointe Free Space Optics OC 12 Tributary ring for a 7/24 hosting customer, which facilitated the addition of an important hosting customer.

¨          Managed Field OPS Qwestlink technicians and their safety, direction, discipline, training, and daily workloads.

¨          Maintained, repaired, and circuit installation responsibility for BLEC, CLEC, and DLEC sites in San Antonio/Austin, TX (Equipment consists of Cisco 15000 series DWDM, Cisco 6160 DSLAMS, etc) to prevent service outages and provide the highest level of services that we provide to our customers.

 

Cayman Systems,   San Antonio, TX        Sales/System Engineer                                     2000-2001

A global provider of broadband gateway solutions is the leader in enabling the delivery of high-speed voice, video and data to the 21st century small office and home.

¨          Increased SBC sales 300% by account positioning with support and ordering personnel Performed Pre and Post Sales support for entire line of wireless Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi/ADSL/Ethernet router products that resulted in increased sales and end user satisfaction.

¨          Performed field support of ISP/Telco/Etc installation technicians, as well as training on product use, installation, and troubleshooting, which also enabled my use as a resource to technicians on site.

¨          Trained over 300 technicians in two-month period on installation of ADSL routers which allowed higher efficiency of successful customer installations by clients installation forces.

¨          Prepared and utilized demonstrations and Power Point presentations for sales and support activities.

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SBC Communications, San Antonio, TX                                 1991-2000

Data Systems Engineer

¨          Managed consulting, design, project management, RFP and RFQ response creating revenue, which resulted in the fulfillment of  $1M yearly quota.

¨          Designed and implemented additions to copper and fiber infrastructure, LAN/WAN electronic equipment, wireless LAN, Wi-Fi / Wi-Fi, video conferencing equipment, etc., as required on customer network projects, which resulted in increased operating efficiencies for these companies.

¨          Designed, bid, and won projects that met teams $2.5M or greater quota in yearly revenue which was essential for team success.

¨          Installed various Cisco hardware platforms including Altiga VPN, Avid Voice Products and Aironet Wi-Fi, WIFI Wireless to provide clients network access for their business operation.

¨          Installed Lucent Orinoco Wireless Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi LAN in office and outside applications to provide wireless mobility and increased network utilization on mobile platforms and provide savings over traditional hardwire topologies.

¨          Controlled Technical and Network Operations Project management of Local Area Network infrastructure, equipment installations and direct on-site customer contact to provide high customer response and satisfaction levels.

¨          Designed and installed structured cabling and fiber optic single mode and multimode cabling systems in building and manhole environments on civilian and military properties .

¨          Prepped and terminated various Multimode and Single Mode cables in single/campus environments as well as building termination/extension of facility. Have used fusion splicers as needed for fiber splicing and fiber feed re-arrangement..

¨          Designed and competitive bid on non-regulated infrastructure and equipment installations that resulted in increased revenue and opportunities.

¨          Designed and installed Cisco products in various WAN/LAN environments, including the installation of Cisco PIX Internet firewalls to provide customers with new up to date technology essential to keep them competitive and safe from outsiders.

¨          Complex installation and maintenance of VTel, Polycom, Polycom FX, MCU’s and other video conferencing units / Multi-way video bridges utilizing various WAN transmission methods; (ISDN,T1/Frac T1, E1, etc) that were used in efficient cost saving video meetings at various company levels.

¨          Installed and maintained various forms of CSU/DSU, channel banks, Ethernet-ATM-SONET hubs/switches, routers, bridges in various network topologies.  Vendors included Adtran, GDC, Telco Systems, Network Equip Technologies, 3Com, Allied Telysis, Cisco, Seicor, AT&T, etc., that were used for network access and information gathering/sharing, which end results was profitability.

Other Relevant Experience

Southwestern Bell Telephone, San Antonio, TX                 

Cable Splicing Technician and Repair Technician

¨          Performed cable splicing, repair, maintenance of every cable size and type in the Telco space including T1 and DSL provided infrastructure to allow product offering to the masses and AT&T network growth and reliability in its operation.

¨          Engineer of outside plant facilities to allow field forces to properly expand the network, providing increased revenues.

¨          Performed OSP installation (aerial and underground) of conduits, manholes, cables, aerial strand and cable installation allowing splicing and expansion of network to customers desiring service. Utilized ladders, bucket trucks, cable line trucks – Telsta, etc

Technical skills

w  MS Office Suite	w  Project Management / Force Management
w  Spirent Annalyzers	w  MS Outlook
w  Wireless site analyzers	w  Wireshark, Packet Sniffers
w  JIRA Ticket / Trouble entry system	w  Hardware Configuration
w  JTAG board level system configuration and use	w  Debugging
w  QA / Dev Testing	w  Pre and Post Sales Engineer Support
w  Customer / Field Support	w  Technical Sales

EDUCATION

Electronics, St. Phillips College, San Antonio, TX

Associates in Business – Western International Univ., Phoenix, Az.

Technical Training

w  Eng/Install/ Troubleshoot Certification	w  Lightpointe Free Space Optics
w  Cisco Design Essentials: Enterprise Voice Over Data	w  Cisco Altiga VPN - Cisco
w  Polycom Video Engineering Install and Mtce	w  WaveLan Wireless - Lucent
w  V-Tel VPC Video Conferencing Equipment Install/Repair	w  AutoCAD
w  Advanced Cisco Router Configuration	w  Cisco 14454 Optical Platform
w  Introduction to Cisco Router Configuration
w  Cisco Hardware Configuration and Maintenance

 

Associations

Supporters of Children Charities - Love for Kids

Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon

KIVA Non-Profit Micro Loans to International Programs