Barry Goldstein doesn't normally like to receive house calls on Sunday nights, but he was glad to make an exception this week.
On the line was Jerry Labowitz, first vice president at Merrill Lynch. He needed help.
Labowitz was part of a Merrill Lynch department displaced from the World Trade Center after last week's terrorist attacks. His staff needed a workspace, and Labowitz was willing to give up part of his Greenwich Village loft. The only problem was he didn't have the network infrastructure to accommodate multiple employees.
Goldstein, president of Northport, N.Y.-based CT Networks, quickly assembled a team, which surveyed the situation and determined a wireless network was needed because of time constraints.
"Wireless is quick, quick, quick. You don't need to do cabling. Boom, they're back up and running," Goldstein said.
CT Networks integrated Avaya Communication's Wireless Access Point solution with Labowitz's existing broadband connection and upgraded his three phone lines to commercial standards.
By Monday morning, Labowitz and his staff were at work, a mere hours later. "That's amazing. I have an area in the kitchen with a central island so I set up space there and I also have my own home office," Labowitz said. "We're getting by. We've had as many as five people working there at any one time. In a difficult environment, we've not only been able to survive, but I've been speaking to clients all over the world."
Labowitz is not sure when Merrill Lynch will have more permanent office space, but until that time, his staff is able to work with little trouble.
"This situation is working and it may be little longer than we think, but I'm very lucky. I have a dedicated staff and a very understanding wife," Labowitz said.
Goldstein said he was happy to be able to help a customer customer recover from a disastrous and costly situation.
