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The Wireline Competition Bureau, a division of the FCC,
issued a Declaratory Ruling on June 28, 2007, to emphasize its prohibition
on call blocking and to clarify the obligation of interexchange carriers (IXCs)
and commercial mobile radio service (CMRS) providers to complete their
customers' interexchange calls. This action affirms all customers will
continue to be able to connect with anyone on the network they so choose.
Several long-distance and wireless companies have engaged in call blocking,
a "self-help" remedy, in order to avoid potentially inflated termination
charges. They claim that many rural carriers are engaging in access
stimulation activities, soliciting customers with inflated in-coming long
distance business.
In making their ruling the Bureau declared the ubiquity of the nation's
telecommunications network is of paramount importance. They pointed out that
the Commission has several mechanisms to address allegations of unreasonable
access charges, including tariff investigations and formal and informal
complaints.
Stating "the practice of call blocking, coupled with a failure to provide
adequate consumer information, is unjust and unreasonable," the Commission
has made clear its general prohibition on call blocking.
In order to address the concerns expressed by the long-distance and wireless
carriers, the Bureau suspended the tariffs of 39 rural carriers due to
questions raised regarding the legality of their rate filings. The Bureau
stated it will investigate the tariffs and identify specific issues in an
upcoming designation order.
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It's a Family Affair at KFR Services |
This article by Dan McCue was
originally printed in the Charleston Regional Business Journal.
There is a moment when a family business inexorably changes. That moment is when
a venture that thrived in a basement or garage with a staff consisting solely of
family members suddenly finds itself with its first outsider as an employee.
"It's definitely traumatic," said Janice Kromer, vice president of KFR Services
in Summerville, a diversified company whose core division, Tele-Tech Services,
creates and manages billing and routing databases for the telecommunications
industry.
"You do a lot of soul-searching, asking yourself if this is really the way you
want to go, but in the end it comes down to business necessity. If your company
is a success, eventually it's going to outgrow your ability to do everything,"
she said.
Founded by Stephen C. and Janice Kromer in Ogdensburg, N.J., and thriving before
it relocated to the Lowcountry in the mid-1990s, KFR Services is an object
lesson in how a business can retain its familial flavor while growing and
incorporating non-family members into the mix, experts in family business said.
That's no small accomplishment, said Joseph H. Astrachan, director of the Cox
Family Enterprise Center at Kennesaw State University in Georgia and a frequent
lecturer at the College of Charleston's Tate Center for Entrepreneurship.
Even more remarkable is the fact that as KFR Services diversified--in part
because mergers in the telecommunications industry were shrinking its core
business--added non-family employees, and it added two non-family members to its
highest management ranks as well.
"That's especially rare," Astrachan said. "Probably fewer than 20 percent of the
companies I've dealt with over the years have successfully brought in an
outsider to run their operations."
One thing that seems to have worked in KFR Services' favor is that the family
members involved in the business, which in addition to the Kromers include their
daughters Kimberly Russo and Stephanie Fetchen, are on the same page about where
the business is going.
"Any time you begin reaching out beyond the immediate family, especially when
management positions are involved, everything is aided by the family being
harmonious," Astrachan said.
"If people have a history of communicating openly, they can jointly come to an
understanding of why it might be much easier to bring someone in."
And the flipside can get ugly.
"If the family behind the company is not harmonious and in sync with each other,
the outside employee or manager can be eaten up by the conflict or the conflict
can become worse," Astrachan said. "Some family members will think the person is
wonderful, while the others will think he is untrustworthy. It all depends on
what 'side' they appear to be on when they arrive."
According to Janice Kromer, the varied strengths of each family member made
diversification and incorporation of non-family members into the KFR Service mix
that much easier.
"In a sense we were super lucky because our daughters have always been talented
in different areas,' she said. "Kim's background is in journalism and business,
and she's always been interested in sales and marketing. At the same time,
Stephanie is our technical guru and very much an operationally minded person."
Over the years, the company has added three distinct divisions. In addition to
its telecommunications business, KFR Services also operates E-Presentations, a
Web-based training manager for the health care industry; Atlantic Business
Continuity Services, a consultancy on disaster preparedness and disaster
response for businesses; and its latest venture, the America's Great Loop
Cruisers' Association.
Non-family member Linda Chugon serves as the company's director of operations
and customer service while non-family member Scott Cave serves as director of
finance and information technology as well as manager of Atlantic Business
Continuity Services.
Chugon worked her way up to her current position after joining the company as a
receptionist in 1998.
Cave was hired as an assistant director of finance and customer service in 2000.
"To me, rather than finding non-family members joining the ranks of the
management of the company threatening, I think it's essential," Russo said. "No
matter how much you love your family, they're still your family. You can't get
away from those dynamics.
"As a result, I think bringing 'outsiders' into the upper-level management of
the company, into upper-level management meetings, adds an extra level of
professionalism. Because you're family, you might not want to raise an issue for
fear of hurting someone's feelings. Outside people give you that other voice,
that perspective of this being business rather than something personal."
Non-family managers who thrive in family-owned businesses recognize the dynamics
to which Russo referred, Astrachan said.
"Those that succeed in that role recognize they're not only there to run the
business or a portion of it, but also to manage and guide the family as well,'
he said. "They fail when they exacerbate existing conflicts or adopt an attitude
of 'I was hired to run the company; I'm not concerned about family issues.'"
The next big issue the Kromer family will have to contend with is the question
of succession. Janice Kromer said while she and her husband's retirement is not
imminent, it is something they've increasingly begun to think about.
They've always known they wanted their daughters to continue the business and,
in another move lauded by Astrachan, have always made that intention clear to
their non-family directors.
That eliminated one threat family businesses sometimes face--a battle between
outside directors and family members, the very thing that can kill a business or
result in a leveraged buyout of the family's interest in the concern.
However, it hasn't made the ultimate decision about who will run the company any
easier.
After all, there are two daughters intimately involved in the business.
"Ultimately, Steve found he didn't want to choose between our daughters, so we
decided to have them work with a facilitator, yet another outsider, to work it
out on their own," Kromer said. "What's funny is they're not having an easy time
of it either."
Russo agreed.
"But what we're finding is we may not have to decide. According to our
facilitator, companies having co-CEOs are becoming more and more of a trend. Of
course, we want to do what's best for the company, but happily, given that we're
a family that very much respects one another, it looks like we can achieve that
by being a sibling team that runs the company together," she said. |
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NPA Updates
Relief for Area Code 250 in British Columbia
In a decision dated June 7, 2007, the Canadian Radio-Television and
Telecommunications Commision (CRTC) approved the realignment of the area
code 778 boundary to cover the entire province of British Columbia, Canada.
Additionally, the CRTC permitted the Canadian Numbering Administrator (CNA)
to resume assigning area code 604 Central Office (CO) Codes in the area
presently served by 778 which overlays a portion of area code 604. A Relief
Date of July 4 was set.
The Decision also directed the introduction of mandatory 10-digit local
dialing in the area served by area code 250, which consists of Vancouver
Island and the mainland of British Columbia, excluding the lower mainland.
PSC Delays Implementation of Area Code 364
The Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) recently announced the
optional use of area code 364 will be delayed until July 1, 2008.
The date for mandatory use will be determined after the PSC fully assesses
how an FCC decision regarding the assignment of telephone numbers will
affect the lifespan of the present area code 270. The original date had been
set at October 1, 2008.
On May 31st, the PSC decided to split area code 270, with the eastern
portion retaining the current area code, as reported in last month's issue.
Also on May 31st, the FCC granted the PSC's request for a change in the
telephone number allocation plan used by the North American Numbering Plan
Administrator (NANPA) for their area.
The FCC decision, which allows for the use of "number pooling," could free
up thousands of unused numbers.
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KFR Services,
500 Oakbrook Lane,
Summerville, SC 29485, USA
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