Vision Net is proud of our growth and innovation that has allowed businesses to thrive for over 26 years. Learn how our company has grown with the vision of our shareholders and CEO to become a leading Montana company. Read the full article from the Billings Gazette on Vision Net's role in getting Montana Back to Business!
This month, we met David Gauthier, part of our Business Development team. Learn about his favorite food, how he defines success, and the exciting tournament he organized!
What is your position at Vision Net and what do you do?
I am the Installation technician for the Business development team.
How long have you worked at Vision Net?
14 years
What made you choose Vision Net?
It was a relatively new company at the time with innovative and fresh services brought to the table. Vision Net was willing then, as now, to hire based on performance and work with a person to bring forth and sharpen the knowledge. I had a few high school buddies working here as well.
What 3 words describe Vision Net?
Solutions (Vision Net has it or if a client needs it, we get it)
Dedication (Vision Net strives to go further than most for our clients)
Innovation (Vision Net always works on behalf of our clients)
What is your favorite Vision Net perk?
The Barbeques. The folks here work are great to be around all together. It’s hard to miss a BBQ. I think a lot of us are closet gourmets; we’re holding a Chili cookoff next week, and that will be very fun!
What challenges do you enjoy at Vision Net?
Creating solutions for our clients when there is no "off the shelf" solution.
What projects are you especially proud of?
I enjoyed the adoption of Vidyo and its production run.
What have you learned during your career at Vision Net?
I have learned a lot here. I think the AV side of Video Conferencing along with the networking and protocols has been my favorite though.
What do you enjoy most about being a part of the Business Development team?
It’s a smooth sailing ship. Most of the people in this group have been here for some time and I’ve worked with cross departments a lot. Very good people here!
If you could add one thing to the Vision Net office, what would it be?
More outside windows. (my office has none!) But on a fun note, I have organized a Shuffleboard competition that begins in a few weeks. We have an amazing Shuffleboard court, so this fun competition will bring people from different departments together for a fun competition, with lunch provided!
What advice do you have for prospective Vision Net candidates?
Be ready to be ready. One thing about being a tech is that there may be some down time but when the storm hits, the ability to handle it is key to success.
What do you like to do when you aren’t working?
Like Frankie said, Relax! (Yeah, I grew up in the 80s!)
What is your favorite movie?
Memento; Every time I see it, I see it a different way and it means something different.
What is your favorite food?
Anything with potatoes
Do you have any talents or hobbies?
I have recently begun jewelry making and wire art!
How do you define success?
Success in life; are you breathing?
Success at work; put forth your best effort and you will always succeed. Always.
As a Montana company with our Headquarters in Great Falls, Vision Net cares about the communities across our great state and we're always looking for ways to give back to our communities and contribute to their economic and cultural well-being. The CommUNITY Cleanup with NeighborWorks Great Falls was the perfect opportunity for us and for the Great Falls community!
16 Vision Net employees and their family members spent 2 hours along the banks of Garden Home Park filling over 18 bags of trash that would other wise mar the beauty of the famed Rivers Edge Trail.
Vision Net employee Bill Daniels enjoyed being able to spend time with employees he doesn't normally see during the day, helping the community, and getting outside "I put 3 miles on the pedometer!"
Another employee picked up trash along the river and unexpectedly encountered a garter snake as they reached for a discarded bottle. They were unharmed, and the snake slithered away into the river. Another employees picked up refuse that had been caught in a tree and along the riparian areas of the trail.
After the cleanup was over, all Vision Net employees enjoyed a catered lunch as a thank you by the company for their hard work and dedication. It was a great day in Great Falls, and we look forward to more opportunities to help our communities.
Learn more about the CommUNITY Cleanup event that helped several locations throughout Great Falls!
As a proud sponsor of this year's State Summer Games, Vision Net encourages fans from around the Treasure State to enjoy the festivities through Special Olympics Montana's Facebook page. Athletes have been busy practicing and gathering scores in bocce, cycling, athletics, golf, and soccer! We couldn't be more proud of the hard work and dedication that has made this spring a success. Please join us as we celebrate the accomplishments of our athletes and keep the traditions of the State Summer Games alive.
Opening Ceremony | May 12 5:30pm
Join Special Olympics Montana as we launch the 2021 State Summer Games week with Opening Ceremony. The ceremony will be led by Montana celebrities, Gianforte, and many other fans and supporters!
Closing Ceremony | May 14 5:30pm
Revel in the success of the 2021 State Summer Games during the Closing Ceremony, on Friday, May 14th, at 5:30 PM! Airing on the SOMT Facebook page, enjoy meeting the athletes as we extinguish the flame of hope.
MTN Chevy Raffle Drawing MT | May15 2pm
Special Olympics Montana will round out the 2021 State Summer Games week with the MTN Chevy Raffle Drawing!
The mission of Special Olympics Montana is to “...provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.”
The mission of Vision Net is to “deliver innovative and reliable communications technology solutions that enable our customers to securely access, store, process and backup the information that is vital to their success.” Vision Net guides our business based on rural values of cooperation, accountability and commitment to quality service and support.
Sponsoring the 2021 Summer Games is a natural fit for Vision Net because we care about the viability of our communities, people, and businesses. This year’s games will take place in Bozeman and will look different due to social distancing guidelines. But what won’t change is the determination, skill, and heart Special Olympics Montana athletes bring to the games. They inspire us, and we’re proud to support them.
Watch the games and live events via Special Olympic Montana’s YouTube page, and follow them on Facebook to stay up-to-date on all events, ceremonies, and celebrations!
Healthy is Wellness helps Vision Net employees in our Billings office improve their health, reach their fitness goals, improve sleep patterns, and more. This month, Healthy is Wellness introduced a new challenge to motivate employees; the Muscle Gain Challenge!
In private and confidential sessions, employees and their families had their baseline muscle mass measured to help them focus on increasing their overall muscle mass over the next 2 months. This Healthy is Wellness does not focus on who loses the most weight or other goals that can be difficult to quantity, but rather, measures each person against just themselves!
In June, the top female and male winners who gained the most muscle as a percentage of their overall weight will win swag from Healthy is Wellness! This optional, fun, and friendly competition is designed to help Vision Net employees achieve fitness goals they set themselves.
We are happy that so many employees in our Billings and Great Falls offices participate in this challenge, and we can’t wait to see the self-set goals employees will reach over the next 2 months. Vision Net is proud to promote this wellness program for our employees and their family.
This month, we met Mary Simon, Vision Net's Order and Process Coordinator. She talked about the innovations that have driven Vision Net forward, revealed her favorite movie, and talked about what success means to her!
What is your position at Vision Net and what do you do?
I am Mary Rose Simon, and for 17 years, I have been the Order and Process Coordinator at Vision Net!
What made you choose Vision Net?
The people! At my previous job, I had the opportunity to meet and get to know many of the people I now work with day-to-day and when I learned of an opportunity with Vision Net, I happily applied!
How would you describe Vision Net?
Fast-paced, never boring, and always challenging!
What is your favorite thing you have learned at Vision Net?
All sorts of information about the Telecommunication industry that I never thought I'd ever learn! Technology keeps changing, and it's very exciting to be a part of that.
What challenges do you enjoy at Vision Net?
Being involved in all aspects of our projects, installs, and client care. It keeps the day exciting!
What advice do you have for prospective Vision Net candidates?
If you're not ready for a challenge or you don't enjoy change, don't bother to apply. If you're ready for a challenge and you enjoy change, you'll never be bored at Vision Net!
What do you like to do when you aren’t working?
Spend time with my family, enjoy a nice dark beer, read, and sew.
What is your favorite movie?
Weekend at Bernie's
How do you define success?
To me, success is not money, it's not possessions. Success is liking who you are and liking what you do.
A friend reached out to me recently asking about 5G and what it could mean for his business. His question was timely, and it’s a topic I’ve been thinking about quite a bit lately. You can’t turn on the TV, scan social media or open a newspaper or magazine without facing a litany of ads touting 5G as the next best thing.
But is 5G all it’s cracked up to be? And if it is, what does it mean for those of us living and working in a rural state like Montana?
Let’s start with the basics. 5G mobile network technology is the next iteration of wireless connectivity, designed to deliver faster and more reliable service. Notice the word mobile. Like its predecessor 4G, 5G is the connection between a tower and your device, be it a cell phone, smartwatch, or tablet. Proximity to that tower is critical. The best estimates suggest that you need to be within 1,500 feet of a tower to fully reap the rewards. The best scenario—and the one touted most often—is that 5G promises a futuristic landscape of autonomous cars, enhanced machine-to-machine communication, and manufacturing plants run entirely by AI-controlled robots. If it all feels a little bit like Star Trek meets the Jetsons, that’s because it is.
Building out a 5G network and the many towers required to support it won’t be cheap. Large mobile wireless carriers will need to ask themselves if it makes financial sense to invest in this infrastructure in less densely populated areas where usage will be low. More specifically, how long will it take to earn back that investment and begin reaping a profit? It doesn’t take an MBA to realize that for many of these companies, the better investment will be in larger, more densely- populated urban areas.
If this sounds like bad news, let me offer some good news.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), through several funding mechanisms, is funneling billions of dollars into shoring up broadband services in rural America. This means that high-speed broadband fiber will soon be accessible to large swaths of rural areas. For many Montanans, this presents a significant improvement over what they’ve been relying on, which is often spotty connectivity and slower speeds. Plus, fiber is ideal in rural settings because the signal doesn’t degrade as it moves away from its source. In other words, there’s no need to be close to a cell tower.
This strengthens the case for fiber in rural settings. Vision Net has already made key fiber investments in Helena and Billings to address exactly these issues, providing a fast and reliable connection for businesses and schools in the area.
This isn’t to say 5G won’t eventually arrive in Montana, but it does seem likely that rural states such as ours may be a bit further down the receiving line. And when it does arrive, you can count on the urban areas of Montana getting 5G well before our rural communities.
In all reality, a mix of fiber and 5G wireless-based broadband will be available across our state for all to utilize. For example, a bank would rely on fiber to run its operating and business processing systems internally, while client-facing services that use apps and websites might leverage 5G to provide a rich customer experience.
So, how will you position your business for this upcoming revolution?
Whether it’s fiber, 5G, or both, my advice is to think through how your business can monetize these bandwidth and connectivity improvements and how best to position your firm to be ready for them when they arrive. In my friend’s case, warehouse automation may provide a much-needed solution to his ongoing challenge to fill empty factory positions.
Another suggestion is to observe how others in your industry are already leveraging broadband and begin formulating your own plan from there. Farmers and ranchers across Montana, for example, may want to look at how drones and other broadband technologies are positively impacting the ag industry, with better monitoring systems for land, livestock, and irrigation that deliver improved efficiencies and cost savings.
And you may want to ponder this question: What are some fiber-backed internal processes that could be implemented to support new technology opportunities when they arrive?
Thomas Edison said “Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning.” I think it’s fair to say opportunity abounds in the telecom space. Planning for both the short term and long term will be key to meeting this opportunity head-on.
Healthy is Wellness helps Vision Net employees in Great Falls and Billings improve their health, reach their fitness goals, improve sleep patterns, and more. This month, they introduced a new challenge to motivate employees; the Muscle Gain Challenge!
Participants measured their baseline muscle percentage and in June, they'll measure again; the top female and male winners who gained the most muscle percentage will win swag from Healthy is Wellness! This optional, fun, and friendly competition is designed to help Vision Net employees achieve fitness goals they set themselves.
To sweeten the pot, Healthy is Wellness partnered with Not Your Mama's Nutrition to provide Vision Net employees with a variety of teas and shakes that promote nutrition, good health, and general well-being.
We look forward to the self-set goals employees will reach over the next 2 months, and we're proud to promote this wellness program for employees and their family.
World Backup Day is designed to highlight the importance of businesses developing a comprehensive security solution. If you’ve ever misplaced your phone, you understand the panic of lost pictures, data, contacts, and more. Imagine that same scenario scaled up to your business.
Client data and revenue could be lost, and your business’ reputation would suffer. This World Backup Day, take the pledge, and learn strategies to keep your business ahead of cyber attacks, disasters, and data loss.
Document Backup and Restoration Processes | Vision Net will help your business develop procedures to develop backup protocols before disaster strikes and develop a plan for data recovery. Vision Net can help you implement a stronger security strategy.
Vision Net’s Managed Services can help your business plan ahead and proactively prevent threats, data loss, and cyber breaches. Our complete security suite will ensure your business is in the best possible security position so you can focus on your business. We’re here to help!