College Receives "Best in Class EFT Site" Award from Cisco Systems Inc.
A quiet and modest man Mr. James Jenkins is a three year veteran IT technician and Western Technical College (WTC) graduate; he jokes that he and the IT Team are “It,” when it comes to their role at Western Tech. Based out of the Northeast Branch Campus, Jenkins’ duties have included repairing computers, setting up and maintaining phones, he has even once fixed a drawer, but recently he helped to earn WTC the “Best in Class Early Field Trial Site” award from Cisco Systems Inc.
Jenkins also received a letter or recognition from the Senior Vice President of Cisco’s Voice Technology Group, Mr. Barry O’Sullivan, praising him for his work in providing Cisco with excellent feedback on programs being tested. O’Sullivan writes, “We understand the time spent by the support team…is above and beyond their daily activities and we truly appreciate your commitment…providing your invaluable feedback to us.”
WTC has been an Early Field Trial Site for Cisco Systems Inc. for the past three years, and two out of three years in a row WTC has won the “Best in Class EFT Site” award. Western Technical College is one of only 20 Beta testing sites in the world for new Cisco technologies which are used for controlling phone systems. This year WTC won the award for finding issues in version 7.0 and providing excellent feedback on the program.
Mr. James Jenkins traveled to San Jose, California, to receive the award, and to attend training on the newest Cisco technology- version 8.0 of the Unified Communication System. When WTC tests new software for Cisco the benefits are mutual; WTC gets to keep and use the technology, while Cisco receives vital feedback and bug detection. Students and faculty at WTC have the added bonus of working with the newest software and technology available to be better prepared to enter the workforce. The opportunity to provide Cisco Systems Inc. with “invaluable feedback” on their newest Unified Communication System program 7.0 has been proved to be a valuable effort for WTC as an educational institution, its students and staff.