Dear Fellow Engineering Professionals, 

Over 20 years ago I was introduced to CAD, the system was Computervision.  It had one color, green, oh and it had the ability to highlight some of the green so you could differentiate lines, arcs, splines, etc.  Try this on your screen and then you will quickly realize how wonderful having color is. This was a complete 3D wireframe system that cost $250,000.00 per seat with a minimum of 3 seats.  It came with a temperature controlled room and a Versatec printer.  I worked for three years on this system.  Then I took a job at Boeing.  It was on the board (drafting board, hmm I am sure that many of you have never even seen one).  One day I was told that there was a PC based CAD system on two Compaq 256s, it was CADKEY.  After about 2 weeks of lunch hours I was familiar enough to do a project.  We were sending files back and forth between CADKEY and Catia with ease.  Catia could do surfacing and we would get the wireframe models from Catia to work with.  By the time I left this group they had 25 seats of CADKEY and within a few months they had 45 seats and had gotten rid of 1 seat of Catia.  

I saw that this CADKEY was comparable to Computervision and Catia and it could effectively replace the high end systems.  I quickly became a dealer and I sold three CADKEY systems to Square D Corporation.  I was on contract with them and after the contract ended I went on my way.  But I still was doing work with them, sending files back and forth using the modem (very very slow).  I realized that anyone could afford a PC based system with CADKEY and I started Technical Networking Incorporated, TECH-NET for short.  Now you look at the name and say it had something to do with computers.   That was the farthest thing from my mind.  What was apparent was that with an inexpensive CAD system and the new Personal Computers telecommuting would be thriving in a few years.  Well of course that never happened and even today we are not taking advantage of this opportunity as we should. But now it can be a total reality, even making the most insecure manager sure that his employees are working, even when they are not sitting in front of him.  

Now I look at the tools that would allow telecommuting to occur.  The last one was the GOTOMEETING.COM this is the most incredible telecommuting break thru I have ever experienced since the introduction of the Internet. Yes there are Webex and Live meeting but they are expensive and somewhat of a hassle to set up.  GOTOMEETING.COM is free to the attendee and takes no more than 5 minutes to install and be up and running.  Slowly I am going to replace our fact-to-face meetings with on line meetings.  Imagine not getting in your cars and fight the traffic, yet being able to discuss problems, even show your problems or solutions to a group of users.  Now I am having these meetings and slowly I am getting many of you to show up and participate.  The future is here and the future is FUN.

Here are a few of the tools that allow us to work together:

IM’S - Instant messaging

This was the first of the real time internet communication devices, giving us the ability to be in constant real time communication.   Yahoo, MSN & AOL offer this service across the internet.

SKYPE and other internet phone services.

With SKYPE you can have a phone on line and can be contacted by any other person with SKYPE and talk for free.  You have a directory and can be seen as available. 

GOTOMEETING.COM 

This is the product that basically closes the door on the problems of telecommuting.  It offers the ability to share the computer with many people.  It allows any attendee to take control of the screen or become the presenter.  With this program you can work with multiple associates, fellow workers, supervisors, etc to make sure the work is being done in a timely manner.  Now this is not the only product of this time but the price is revolutionary.  The current systems WEBEX and Live Meeting charge $375.00 per month with 5 attendees and GOTOMEETING.COM costs $49.00 per months with 10 attendees.  Of course this is unlimited usage.

GOTOMYCOMPUTER.COM

There is also GOTOMYCOMPUTER.COM, my bookkeeper logs on my server and does all of her work on a common database.  When I am away I can get important files or do my own book work making sure that the data is always current.  This is important when many people are working on the same project.

Now what I have told you here is just a small bit of what is available on line.  If any of you have any other suggestions send them to me and I will publish them here. 

This is what I wanted, Technical Networking, Inc. to become a place where we could work together from out home offices or from work.  Working across the internet (which wasn’t even on the horizon when I when I founded TECH-NET.) to get our jobs done effectively.  This is what I consider a solution for the grid lock on the highways.  I have offered seminars and meetings at my office in the past and got very low attendance, but now we can have meetings and enjoy the camaraderie of sharing with others without getting out on the road.

So I want to invite you to a variety of meetings, Presentations, Seminars, User Meetings, Training Sessions, etc. from the comfort of your office or home.   You can even give me a call for some support or one-on-one training.  Of course I don’t want to be abused (Just Kidding)

REQUIREMENTS:

Needless to say you should have a broadband internet hookup, which is what allows these new products to exist.  Also to attend a seminar you should have an inexpensive long distant calling program.  We have an unlimited long distance calling program from Qwest for $20.00 per month but I am sure there are many other programs like onesuite.com.  There are also some good internet phone services available like Vonage or SKYPE.

I really enjoy doing these presentations and being in contact with you.   I hope you take advantage of these meetings.  It is great fun and very easy. I am looking forward to meeting with you on-line. If you feel a bit insecure please give me a call and we can set up a meeting for you to experience this great program or feel free to give me a call for any questions you may have. 

See you online.

Joe Brouwer