Art Skinner

Meet Art

Art was born and raised in Georgia and is a certified home-boy. He got involved in sales early on and honed his skills at Southern Company as Director of Sales and National Accounts Manager. Here at ZCorum, in addition to giving pep talks to the entire sales team, Art takes on the lion’s share of trade shows ZCorum attends and takes the show on the road internationally several times a year, (he’s inspired our own version of Where in the World is Waldo/Art).

Art is passionate about supporting, teaching and helping with the misunderstood epidemic of drug addiction among teens and young adults. He is a staunch supporter of No Longer Bound, a place of refuge and healing for men suffering from addiction.

But here’s why we love Art: straight from the horse’s mouth: “Humility, humility, humility… Day in and day out I am so humbled and honored that I have been given the privilege and opportunity to do what I do in business, with my teams and with my life.

Arthur Skinner’s Presentation Topics

Cable operators have been troubleshooting upstream and downstream spectrum issues the same way since they began offering service. The traditional method has involved the use of spectrum analysis equipment and multiple hours spent in the field searching for the source of the problem. Recent advancements in DOCSIS equipment allow software applications to collect the return-path and downstream spectrum and display it on a PC, tablet or smartphone from any location, without the need for expensive, proprietary equipment. In addition to reducing the need for costly equipment, these new capabilities can improve staff efficiency and subscriber satisfaction by decreasing mean-time-to-repair. Arthur Skinner presented a high-level view of remote spectrum analysis and how it can significantly reduce capital expenditures and operating costs.

The shift from traditional testing equipment to software-based diagnostics tools has steadily gained momentum over the last 10 years. Traditional cable plant and network maintenance has always been very complicated and expensive. The amount of truck rolls and variety of hardware required to keep them running is daunting. You need a whole team of experts to install, configure, test, run, secure, and update everything.

When you multiply this effort across dozens of headends and thousands of subscribers, it’s easy to see why the biggest companies with the best IT departments have the advantages needed to keep their businesses thriving. Small and mid-sized operators don’t stand a chance operating the old way.

This session discussed the advantages of software-based diagnostics tools over traditional equipment. Key points will include:

  • Business cases outlining how the tools have improved efficiency and the operator’s bottom line.
  • Activities that are managed from central locations rather than at each customer’s home.
  • How the latest innovations in broadband diagnostics are simplifying maintenance and support.
  • Billing, diagnostics and provisioning, how they all work together.
  • Centralized tools that can manage diagnostics for DOCSIS, DSL, FTTH and Wireless networks eliminating the need for multiple management setups.

WiFi has become a must-have technology for smaller operators as well as larger ones. But deploying Wi-Fi requires a major investment in equipment, technology and staff. Does deploying Wi-Fi make sense for smaller cable operators? What’s the best way for smaller operators to enter the market and what are the benefits and pitfalls?

This session covered why WiFi should be a major part of the smaller operator’s business strategy and the need for efficient management in order to optimize their Wi-Fi networks and monetize their investments.

Some questions to be covered:

What factors should smaller operators consider when deciding on a Wi-Fi strategy?

What benefits can smaller operators realize from deploying Wi-Fi?

What are the obstacles to overcome?

Art in Action

Contact Art

If you’d like to contact Art about speaking at an event, participating in an an article, or something else he might be able to help with, fill out the form below.

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