New NOC Team, Same Look

By Bella Felton, Strategic Communications Intern, Summer 2024

If you pass by the Network Operations Center in the OneNet office, you’ll always see friendly faces and a close, hardworking team. Also called the NOC, this team of network engineers is fairly new and already doing great things. The network team operates this center to manage the OneNet network and assist OneNet subscribers, helping subscribers identify solutions to their needs.

The NOC designs OneNet’s routed network, maintains and upgrades network equipment, and monitors OneNet’s network and connectivity. In addition, they engineer new circuit upgrades, configure and deploy routers, and manage routers for subscribers. They also help support firewalls and assist with deploying new OneNet network core equipment.

An important part of OneNet is the interaction with subscribers and subscribers’ network services. OneNet subscribers include IT teams from across the state in a variety of organizations, from higher education locations to hospitals to tag agencies to K-12 schools, and more. When the IT team, which is sometimes only one employee, has network issues the NOC is who they call.

“We’ll have small K-12 schools with only one person who manages IT for the entire school. So, I try to be understanding of the staff’s situation and give them a little more grace, and walk them through what their network issues could be, even if it’s not on OneNet’s end,” said Dan Barten, a network support engineer.

While the NOC spends lots of time on their computers, they also spend lots of time on their phones, directly with subscribers. This 1:1 time is crucial for the network’s success, and the new NOC team is quickly learning the ropes.

“We build a close relationship with our subscribers so we can gather the information we need to engineer the perfect solution,” Narvel Bravo Mendez, a network support engineer, said. “I find OneNet is very unique in that aspect. I love what I do and there really is no other feeling out there like being as young as I am, working with subscribers to get them the service they deserve.”

While there’s the traditional solutions, new team members bring fresh perspectives to the NOC with cutting-edge, more efficient solutions.

“We try to keep an open mind and identify unique solutions for the equipment and skills that we have,” Drew Graham, a network engineer, said. “If there’s any tough or difficult issues that we find, we try to figure out the most efficient or creative way to tackle that issue.”

Throughout the OneNet office, the NOC is known for their wholesome group dynamics and good rapport with one another, as well as their impressive success throughout their time together.

“They’ve been doing great. They’ve learned and solved network issues and identified new solutions to be able to utilize more last-mile providers to help deliver our services,” Brian Burkhart, the chief technology officer for OneNet, said.

“They’ve also upgraded routers and subscriber connections. They stay busy all of the time, but they enjoy serving subscribers. OneNet is fortunate to have an exceptional NOC team.”

Before you call the NOC, you can run a speedtest on your OneNet circuit or check your bandwidth usage. Here’s how!