39th Annual ACUTA Conference and Exhibition – April 18-21, 2010 – San Antonio, TX
Matsch Systems was pleased to be part of another ACUTA Conference (the Association for Information Communications Technology Professionals in Higher Education). It was an excellent opportunity to show clients and prospective clients the enhancements Matsch has made to its mobile and fixed line communications management services. While there was considerable buzz about the House passing an April 15th ‘Tax Day’ bill which included removing the ‘listed property’ status from cell phones, making them virtually a tax free employee benefit, it was generally conceded that cell phones are a communications expense in need of management.
An interesting observation we made during the Conference was that many institutions are looking to reduce their telecommunications management expense. Several approached us to say their fully paid for on-site solution was too expensive to maintain and required too much staff time to manage. Really?? We have wondered for a long time when this would become apparent. They went on to say that while they were not charging back for telephone services any more, they wanted a way to continue having management information but at a price that was more affordable. This is music to our ears since NET-Phacs has been doing this for our customers for years.
This year’s conference was titled “Blaze New Trails” and held in beautiful San Antonio, Texas. It was a great time to meet for a few days with our clients and friends in college and university telecommunications. The new JW Marriott in San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa made everything even more special.
Conference overview
The hottest topics on the agenda this year were:
– Emergency preparedness , communications and recovery
– Configuring the ICT infrastructure for new technologies or new facilities
– Unified communications
– Leadership effectiveness
Educational Sessions
ACUTA‘s Program Committee and professional staff seek out the best presenters on the latest topics to provide participants with the most valuable educational experience possible at the Annual Conference.
– New this year: Tuesday afternoon poster sessions offer great opportunities for institutional attendees to share late-breaking stories in a more intimate setting.
– Building sessions from attendee’s list of high-priority topics. Get the latest information on cutting-edge developments in unified communications, emergency notification, disaster preparedness and recovery, infrastructure and facilities upgrades, IT security, and leadership development.
– Expert presenters include both campus colleagues and noteworthy members of the information communications technology industry. Everyone benefits from their unique perspectives.
– The senior administration track provides Strategic Leadership Forums for Monday and Tuesday.
If you are an educational institution in need of communications networking, there is no better organization than ACUTA. http://www.acuta.org/wcm/acuta/