Please note Dr. Telecom answers technical questions about communications technology only! If you have a consumer communications dispute regarding your wireless, landline, Internet, or VOIP provider, please submit a complaint form with the UCAN Fraud Squad to get a response.

See all the latest Dr. Telecom blog posts here.

Hi, and welcome to Ask Dr. Telecom. My name is Phil Wells and ever since I was a little kid I've lived and breathed communications. I've been interested in radio since I was a kid, worked at two college stations and then in commercial radio doing both on-air work and as Chief Engineer. In ‘97, I got out of radio and started an IT company to provide software to radio stations. This morphed into a general IT firm and I was mostly involved with networking, remote users, fax servers, and computer telephony integration, which is tech-speak for computer-based or network-oriented phone systems. I now run Giant Step Communications whose aim is to help small businesses and non-profit organizations get better connected and more mobile, be efficient and integrated, and ultimately better organized, using communications technology: smart phone systems, fax servers, VPNs, the Internet, WiFi, and cell phones.

This blog is the result of my running into lots of hiccups, problems, challenges and outright frauds in the communications industries. There's a lot to know, technically and consumer-wise. As a geek and a consumer advocate, I'd like to help you avoid some of these pitfalls and find out how technology can benefit your life. I am committed to helping others avoid the problems and reap the huge benefits offered by some of the emerging telecom technologies. Through UCAN's kind support, I can now do just that.

Some of the stuff coming down the road is downright exciting. The potential for VOIP telephony, Wifi phones, smart phones, low-cost PBXs, wireless networking, messaging, video messaging like Skype and Gmail, remote access and telecommuting, business communications in general... Oh STOP ME!  In short, I LOVE this stuff (my wife looks at me funny and smiles knowingly). 

On the other hand, using these new capabilities can be totally frustrating. Just ask me... In these pages, I'm hoping to fire up your techie fever while mitigating your misery. With the help of all of you and your similar interests and experiences we can do this.

We are just one obligatory disclaimer away from getting started. I'm not an employee of UCAN. I'm an independent contractor who's been given this forum to help all of you. My comments are my own and not NECESSARILY those of UCAN. OK - that's done.

I'm ready to go, so let's communicate!

Please post germane questions or comments either below or to one of my latest blogs (in the right hand column).

Thanks to Marcio Salviato for the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.0 image "Out of Order"

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