Telecom leadership.

• Author: DUBROVNIK, LISA
• Position: O.N. Telcom

Firm's commitment to technology solutions leads the North

Customers in northeastern Ontario may know it best as a local telephone and long-distance service provider. But more and more it is becoming recognized as one of the leading manufacturers and distributors of high-speed telecommunications access in Northern Ontario. With O.N. Telcom, the world is wide open to residential and business customers.

Founded in 1902 and known as O.N. Tel prior to Sept. 18 of this year, O.N. Telcom has done much more than simply change its name.

The new name reflects the company's expansion to provide the best in communication needs to business and residential customers ready to tackle a global economy.

O.N. Telcom has grown from a traditional phone service company into a full-service telecommunications firm with roughly 200 employees.

"In the past, we were basically an extension of Canadian telecommunications network in the North," Brian Wheeler, vice-president of O.N. Telcom, says. "We've become more of a business partner with our customers to help them make better use of benefit from the technology."

And it is this improved use of technology that will put Northern Ontario businesses and residents on the same technological map as their counterparts in southern Ontario.

"We provide a lot of very advanced technological services to Northern Ontario," says Scott Mannering, O.N. Telcom's director, business strategies and information technology solutions.

"Because of our partnerships, we can duplicate - and in some cases exceed - some offered in southern Ontario."

O.N. Telcom is front and centre in the technological revolution. Its technology partners include IBM, Cisco Systems and Lucent Technologies, and together they have assembled a powerful array of products and services to deliver business in Northern Ontario to the next level.

With varied services such as local and long distance phone service, custom voice, data and video networks station development, e-commerce and e-business applications, custom programming, network management and PC application server installation to name a few, O.N. Telcom can provide a wide host of solutions to customer needs.

"We're kind of unique for a business in Northern Ontario," Mannering says. "We offer a wide range of products all together from our company to meet a wide range of customer needs. We have the latest and greatest in some of the e-business and data services. It's like a one-stop shop."

Becoming an Internet...