I have had to learn cheapest is not always the best, time and time again. It has plagued me when purchasing auto parts, computers, and household items for years. Recently I pondered this while at a one of my favorite local restaurants.
I was at the Hofbrauhaus Las Vegas and Stefan one of the owners sat down with me; we talked phones, business and food…….my favorite topics. I told Stefan that a good friend and I visit his establishment at least once each month; we typically each have the Obatzer, a large pretzels with an assortment of cheeses and mustards. The designated driver limits himself to 1 liter of beer and the other will have 2 liters of the best beer in Vegas. We also order the radish, I don’t know how to tell you, but the radish is wonderful, it is a large white radish shaved paper thin, it goes great with beer. Then after that we sit around listen to the music watch the lady that sells shots and swats, bring men to tears. Last time we were there, we saw a young lady order a swat, she did not sit down for 20 minutes. We don’t get it, but if is fun to watch and hear the paddle crack against their bottom. Then as the time passes, we order a main course, my all time favorite is the Jägerschnitzel – Pork Cutlet “Hunter Style” topped with creamy Mushroom Sauce, Bacon, Onions served with Spätzle, a special German Noodle and Cranberries, it just warms you up.
When you first look at the check it seems like a lot, when you think about it, it is a real value. 2 men, 3 liters of the best beer in Vegas, 3 large appetizers and 2 main courses, live entertainment, and we sit there for 2 to 3 hours. And there is one more thing, the most important. We take care of their phone system, so we are there early, late, in the middle of the day. No matter when we arrive, the kitchen is clean. Affordable works in 50 restaurants around the valley and very few can match the cleanliness of the Hofbrauhaus. Most people don’t know, but I do….. it is a pleasure to eat there, the food is always the same, the beer is great, and I know the kitchen is clean. Why don’t you try the Hofbrauhaus, and tell Stefan, Tony, or Klaus.. Randy sent you. Guten Appetit.

Hello all….

It is Friday again and this week I won’t be going to the Straight Up Lounge. I am leaving in a few minutes to spend the weekend near Pioche, Nevada with All Things Cowboy at the Mount Wilson Ranch in Lincoln County Nevada. I was planning on riding a Harley-Davidson up to the ranch, however I decided to forgo the motorcycle when the weather report was 40% chance of rain all three days and lows in the high 40’s and low 50’s.  I have ridden motorcycles for years and 60 mph, wet, and cold is not fun.  So the Prius gets the workout today.

Wish me luck, talk later.

Randy

Tonight I again went to the Straight Up Lounge to visit with a Randy Martin, or my long time friend Randy Urgola from Mix Media Advertising  So I guess the question is, did I go to visit, and listen to Randy or did I go to have a wonderful dinner?   The answer is both…..

When I arrived they had a wine tasting in progress, I sampled Chono a wonderful Cabernet from Chili.  I thought it would be great with a steak.  So when Melanie, the waitress arrived, I asked what are the specials tonight?   The first thing she says is; we have a wonderful Filet Mignon stuffed with Boursin Cheese, and a creamy mushroom brandy sauce paired with a broiled lobster tail with béarnaise sauce, truffle mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus.   I couldn’t resist, medium rare for me.

  So, it arrived and it was amazing, the petite filet was cut it with a fork tender, the lobster though broiled was succulent, the mashed potatoes were amazing and grilled asparagus are my favorite vegetable.

I asked Melanie for a hot cup of coffee, and she said, give me a few minutes, I want to brew you a fresh pot.  A few minutes later, out comes a steaming hot cup of coffee. About half way through the coffee, I asked Melanie, do you have any desserts?  She said we have a Lemon Zabagone with berries and whipped cream in a chocolate cup.  Again, could not resist.

So this Friday evening I had a nice visit with my friend, listened to the standards I grew up with, and a wonderful dinner.

The next question or comment is how much did it cost?  Well the bill came to less than $38.00, filet, lobster, wine, coffee and dessert. 

If you never read this blog again, please listen to me, you need to try the   Straight Up Lounge

Friday night my wife and I went to the Straight Up Lounge to visit with a long time friend of mine, Randy Urgola.  Randy is the principle at Mix Media Advertising and also does an impersonation of Dean Martin.  We listened to the music I grew up with and talked to Randy between sets. 

I like to go to the Straight Up Lounge because their food is superb, it rivals any of local expensive options.   Their award winning chef, Chef Brett Chumley,   prepares a wonderful selection of standards and specialty items and there are daily house specials.   Sandi had the Caesars Salad, I had the Crab Cakes, and my friend Randy had a luscious New York Strip with grilled Shrimp, accompany that with a glass of wine or a drink and you have the makings of a fine night out. 

On Thursday evenings Ronnie Rathers plays his magical guitar from 8 to 11 pm.  I know Ronnie from my days at Caesars Palace. Ronnie is one of Las Vegas finest jazz guitarists.

 Just visit their web site at the   Straight Up Lounge to see all the specials, and special events they offer.  They have something for everyone, from a wide variety of music, events for both men and women, and gaming will start in June.  

It’s Friday again, and I am going out tonight, guess where….See you there.

Randy Dell

The Business Leads Group, which Affordable Communications is now a proud member of, will be hosting a business mixer with the Foundation for Positively Kids on Wednesday, April 28th from 5:30pm till 8:00pm.  The event will take place at the Straight Up Lounge on 4970 S. Ft. Apache Rd.  Tickets can purchased in advance for $10 on the Business Leads Group’s website.  Tickets will also be available at the door for $15(cash or check only).  All Proceeds for this event will be going to the Foundation for Positively Kids.

Positively Kids is a non-profit organization “dedicated to developing services that can provide comprehensive care for Nevada’s medically fragile and terminally ill children”.  They have been servicing Las Vegas for over a decade and were named In Business’ “2007 Non-Profit of the Year”. 

We urge business professionals to come out and network with Affordable Communications and the Business Lead Group to support this charity.  There will be entertainment, food, and a cash bar.  We look forward to seeing friendly faces at this

Affordable Communications was contacted by a local oral surgeon. He had recently purchased new 3D X-ray equipment for his practice that would allow them to produce whole mouth digital X-rays.   The doctor need to add some new CAT6 data connections for the computers that operate the new Digital 3D X-Ray and he also wanted to add some monitors to the operatories so that patients could see the X-Rays when necessary. The doctor had already purchased the televisions necessary to display the image for the patient and he had their IT provider coming in later in the month to install the computer that will be connected to televisions and the new equipment.  The one thing they were missing was the necessary data wiring to make this work.  That is where Affordable Communications comes in.

We were hired by this practice to install the conduit and data wiring required to make this new equipment operational in all three operation rooms and one post operation room.  The doctor also requested we provide video cabling to the waiting room so he can provide his patients with television while they wait.  We were happy to provide this as well.

Knowing full well that we would not be able to do this work during the doctor’s normal hours of operation, the Affordable Communications team opted to work on New Year’s weekend so we could complete the job and not disrupt the dental practice in any way.  It took three days of hard work, but we were able to get all the necessary conduit and wire installed.  We also prepared all the necessary data jacks for the televisions and computers.

We will return later this month to coordinate with the IT provider who will be setting up the new computers and install the ceiling mounts for the televisions.  In conclusion, we were happy to get the work, and the doctor was happy to find someone who could complete this installation without disrupting his business in any way.  We look forward to providing this client with any telecom or data needs they may request in future.

As many of our readers may know, Affordable Communications is a much respected name in the Las Vegas valley dental industry. Over the years, we have installed wiring and/or phone systems in approximately two hundred dental offices. So we were not surprised when one of our dental clients contacted us about upgrading to a new phone system.  While we had done some additional wiring for this office in the past, we did not do the initial wiring or phone system installation.  Therefore, we were very exciting for the opportunity to get one of our systems installed at this location.

We provided the client with two quotes.  The first was for a cost effective system that would meet all of their current needs.  The second estimate was a more advanced system with additional features and room for expansion in case the doctor expanded his practice in the coming years.  The second estimate cost approximately 20% more than the first, but the doctor trusted our recommendation that this system was worth the extra cost due to the additional features, flexibility, and room for expansion.  As an added bonus for our client, we contacted Panasonic and were able to get them to provide an additional 2 years on the warranty for the hardware.

As is normally the case with dental offices, it is next to impossible to do an install during their hours of operation without getting in someone’s way.  Lucky for us it was the holiday season and they were closing their office early on the Friday before Christmas for their company holiday party.  This gave us the opportunity to install their new system during our hour of operation and not disrupt their business in any way.  We arrived at 1pm just as their office was closing up.  We unpacked all of their new hardware and as soon as everyone was gone, we began uninstalling the system that was in place.  One problem we ran into was that the phone jacks in the building had to be re-terminated. It was a minor inconvenience, but we were able to resolve this problem quickly.

The total installation took about three hours.  We called the doctor as we were finishing up and he and his office manager came back to the office to let us out and see their new phones.  They were very impressed with the design and functionality of the Panasonic DT series of phones.  We returned on Monday to provide the staff with training on their new system and we told the doctor if he has any questions, we are just a phone call away.  In the end, it was a win-win situation. 

Recently, Affordable was contacted by one of our long term clients. Like many businesses in Las Vegas, they were moving their offices. They have a working Panasonic system we sold them a few years ago, but there new office was already furnished with an NEC DS2000 system. They were interested in selling us back their old system and purchasing some additional phones and programming for the NEC system they would be using.  As always when moving a client to a new location, I like to do a survey of the new location first.  Upon my review, I noticed that the NEC system in the new location was actually a discontinued system.  Lucky for Affordable, we have great suppliers and they were able to find us the equipment we needed to make this system work to the client’s specifications.  However, we would not be able to guarantee we could provide hardware for this system in the future.

I felt it made more sense to just move the current Panasonic system they had then purchase new hardware for a discontinued system, so I prepared two estimates for the client. First, was to provide 5 new phones, an expansion card, and reprogram the NEC system.  The second estimate was to just move their current Panasonic system to their new location.  Because the second estimate was for labor only and no additional hardware was required it was less than half the cost of the other estimate.  Obviously, the client trusted our advice that spending more money to expand a discontinued system wasn’t a good solution for them and went with the less expensive estimate that we recommended.  We are happy to have the job and the client is happy that we provided them options and helped save them money.

This story portrays exactly what we are about at Affordable Communications Inc.  Of course we like to generate revenue so our business can thrive, but it is just as important that we provide our customers with the knowledge we have of the telecom industry, so we can help them choose the solution that is right for their business.

December 12, 2009

As the most difficult year since I started Affordable in 1992 draws to an end, I reflected on Thanksgiving and look forward to the remainder of the year that will soon be on us.  

During the four days of Thanksgiving my sister and her husband, and our daughter and her husband were with us for a wonder Thanksgiving evening dinner at the home of a family of lifetime friends since childhood.  We had a wonderful time.  I thought just how lucky we are, with great friends, a wonderful family and husbands for the ladies that are so dear to me. 

Christmas will be here soon.  Just the other day someone asked if I was ready, I said: I don’t think it matters, either way, it will be here soon.  Well truth be told, this year, the first in many, I am almost ready.  Maybe the lull in business gave me the time to devote to matters of the Christmas holiday or the realization of what is really important.

I spoke with another friend, Jurgen.  Jurgen was a consultant I hired to help me take more control of Affordable, his insight, actions and dedication was a pivotal factor in allowing us to purchase our building.  Just a week or two before we took possession of our building Jurgen was offered a position managing the European division of an American company.  While on the phone, Jurgen told me that the economic downturn started in Germany in May of 2008, and economic factors and durable goods orders started to show signs of improvement by the middle of 2009, and that orders are now indicating they will be back to normal within 2 years.  I wished Jurgen and Linda a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.   

After I hung up the phone with Jurgen I called Sophia in Greece.  I spent 4 years in Greece from 1970 to 73 and made more lifelong friends.  George, Sophia’s son answered the phone, it scared me; Sophia is nearly 84. George tells me that his father’s sister is in the hospital and when she passes, Sophia will be alone. Everyone in the family with the exception of George has passed.  Sophia told me the weather was beautiful, and she was fine.  I wished George, his wife, and Sophia a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Today is my birthday.  Sandi and I picked out a tree today, went to the mall for some shopping and had dinner out together.

My ramblings are to make a point.  Although 2009 has been very difficult, it is through adversity we grow into better people, better businesses……for me 2009 has been a catalyst that helped me see what is important in business and my personal life, and helped me appreciate things.

My holiday wish is that everyone take some time to do something good for another, the smallest kind deed can make a big difference in someone’s life and yours.  Pray for peace.  Thanks   Randy

Recently, Affordable Communications was contacted by one of the local unions because the lease on their phone system was ending and they were curious about what other options they had. 

Early in the year we visited their office on a cold call and dropped off some information about Panasonic products and asked them to call us whenever they were interested in having a new phone system installed.  Now months later, Affordable was contacted by the union and asked to prepare an estimate for a new phone system.  We were happy to oblige.

After meeting with a representative of their organization and doing a survey of their building, we presented 2 options that would meet their needs.   A week later, the director of finance notified us that we had won the bid.

In order to get the new hardware installed prior to the existing lease expiring, we quickly ordered the system, phones, and other necessary equipment for the job.  After everything arrived and just 9 days later it was time for the installation.  We did a preliminary install of the hardware on Thursday and the following Monday afternoon we put out all the phones and cut the service over to the new Panasonic KX-TDE200.  We returned Tuesday morning to provide employee training on the new system.  When all was said and done, the customer was very pleased with what they purchased and we are happy to have a new customer.