Chris Harris Senior Systems Engineer TEC Communications A Michigan State University graduate, Chris has been with TEC Communications since 1999, and has amassed one of the most impressive IT Engineer pedigrees in Northern Ohio: SPECIALIZATIONS: Unified Communications Engineer Phone Systems / Voiceover IP CERTIFICATIONS: Cisco: IP Contact Center Express, IP Telephony, IP Telephony Enterprise Voiceover Data Design, Video Network Specialist Microsoft: Certified Professional, Certified Solutions Expert - Messaging Adtran Express Collaboration Systems Engineer CCNA Routing & Switching CCDA CCNP Collaboration Information Security Systems (INFOSEC) Professional Q: What sets you apart from most of today’s IT engineers? What motivates you to continue to improve in today’s world of technology? A: ‘No’ is a rare word for me. I enjoy tackling engineering challenges, thinking of a solution and applying it. (Can you tell MacGyver was my TV hero?) The IT world changes at an incredible pace. I dive deep into my specializations, but keep up-to-date on all technologies. What used to be silos are breaking down as IT looks to optimize convergence. Q: What IT missteps do you encounter most frequently? A: The most common missteps I encounter are when incorrect assumptions are made, as well as a lack of attention to detail on more complex technologies. Q: What do you see as the most significant IT development by 2020? Beyond? A: In the world of Unified Communications…as cost-to-bandwidth decreases and speed increases, we’ll continue to see a rise in hosted UC, or UC as a Service (UCaaS). IT’s job is to keep up with emerging technologies; moving hardware to a provider eases some of the burden. In a hosted environment, the natural evolution is to explore other SaaS and Cloud Storage solutions. For example, a hosted Call Center can use a hosted storage site to store historical caller data. Another hosted site could run analytics on that data and, combined with purchase history, automatically create an outbound call campaign that could be run with no human agents…instead utilizing hosted AI to interface with the client to create orders, make appointments, administer surveys, etc. It all comes down to silos converging and optimizing for efficiency of work. Q: Tell us about one of your proudest accomplishments at TEC. A: I was recently asked to design an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Call Center for a local Board of Elections. With IVR, voters can find their voting locations, track their ballots and verify their registration status by entering a few data points, then pulling the information from a database. While not the most technically demanding project, I‘m proud of the service we’ve provided to our community. Q: What would our partners and customers be surprised to know about you? A: You certainly can’t tell by looking at me, but I’ve completed FIVE Ironman Triathlons! I have retired from running, but still enjoy sports with my kids. I swim with my oldest, play soccer with my middle and play hockey with my youngest. Have an IT question for Chris? Maybe a problem he might be able to help solve? Email him at charris@tec4it.com, or he’s just a phone call away at (440) 333-5903.
