MSP Newsletter-January-2022

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From intern to president, Kelly is ready to lead the next generation.

Morefield Communication proudly announced today that on June 21, 2021, Wesley “Wes” W. Kelly will become the next president of Morefield Communications. Marking a new chapter in the company’s history, Kelly will become the fourth president of the company, and the first outside of the Morefield family since the company was founded in 1945.

Kelly began his career at Morefield in 1999 as a student intern and was hired full-time as a Programmer Analyst after graduating from Pennsylvania State University, Capital College. Within a few short years, he became the Operations Manager for Morefield’s largest region. In 2004, Kelly was promoted to Manager of Converged Engineering Services, and in 2008 became a shareholder. Two years later, Kelly was promoted to Vice President of Services, and in 2015, was named to Morefield’s Board of Directors. For the past four years, Kelly has been leading and growing Morefield as the Executive Vice President of Sales and Services.

“It has been a privilege to build my career here at Morefield alongside a tremendous team. I am excited to carry this seventy-five-year legacy forward,” said Kelly. “This place is special. We will strive to make the community better by making organizations successful through their use of technology. We want the next generation to benefit from their experiences at Morefield and see their work contribute to the communities they live in.”

“Wes has developed an unparalleled ability to lead over his 21-year tenure at Morefield. It is with a great sense of gratitude to Wes that I can transition into a new role at Morefield with the confidence that my grandfather’s vision, and the community we have collectively built over the past 75 years, will continue to grow in this next chapter under his guidance,” remarked John D. Morefield, current President. John Morefield will remain as chairman of the Board at Morefield as well as take on the role of Client Advocate.

When he is not working, Kelly enjoys attending his children’s sporting events with his wife Stephanie. Kelly holds a B.S. in Computer Science from The Pennsylvania State University, Capital College, several industry specializations certificates, was a member of Vistage International, and continues to participate with several industry advisory boards and peer groups.

For the official press release, click here

What is Kari’s Law?

In 2013, Kari Hunt was killed in a motel room in Marshall, Texas by her estranged husband. Her 9-year-old daughter tried to call 911 four times, but the calls never went through because the motel’s phone system required dialing “9” before any call to secure an outbound phone line. Kari’s Law was named to honor Kari’s memory and the Law ensures that anyone can reach a 911 call center when dialing 911 from an MLTS (Multi-Line Telephone Systems).

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) implemented two statutes to make it easier for callers to reach 911, and for emergency services to locate those callers – Kari’s Law and RAY BAUM’S Act.

Kari’s Law went into effect on February 16, 2020, stating that MLTS vendors and manufacturers must configure new phone systems to support direct dialing 911. The system must also send a notification to a central location on- or off-site, such as a front desk or security kiosk. The notification will provide an alert that a 911 call was placed, and include a callback number and information about the caller’s location.

• Kari’s Law requires that all outbound dialing MLTS must provide direct access to 911 service without the caller having to dial an initial number, digit, prefix or other access number before dialing 911. While numerous states have their own version of Kari’s Law, a nationwide version, H.R. 582 (115th): Kari’s Law Act of 2017, was signed into law in 2018 and took effect February 16, 2020. Kari’s Law specially applies to 911 access and notification of a 911 call to a central location on the site of the facilities where a call is placed and to an optional additional location per Rule 251.15.

Learn more about Kari’s Law at H.R.582 – Kari’s Law Act of 2017

How Do I know if I’m Kari’s Law Compliant?

The National 911 Program with the FCC has developed user-friendly tools to provide:

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Listen to our security experts to learn how you can effectively secure your workforce at scale, fast. With the immediate demand for vast numbers of workers to suddenly operate remotely, Cisco is providing additional support to help companies, schools, nonprofits – you name it! – scale their immediate security needs to laptops that have left the building.

The global spread of COVID-19 is affecting every one of us. Individually we must do all that we can to limit and stop the spread of COVID-19 for the wellbeing of our families, friends, and communities. For this reason, Morefield Communications has created the MOREAlert COVID 19 Safety Plan for Field Based Resources. This pandemic requires all of us to think and live differently. By following the lead of our community safety and health experts, guidance from the CDC, and the World Health Organization we want you to be MOREAlert to your safety and surroundings.

In order to reach our goal of zero COVID-19 infections of Morefield Communications employees a precise plan of action has been implemented including

• Responsibilities of Office Staff
• Responsibilities of all Employees
• Client Site Protective Measures
• Job-site Exposure Situations
• Confidentiality/Privacy

MOREALERT – Covid-19 Response Plan July Revisions

2021-07-01 – Morefield Communications COVID19 Advisory

Morefield Communications Advisory:  COVID-19 Update March 17, 2021

Morefield Communications Advisory:  COVID-19 Update Dec 11, 2020

Morefield Communications Advisory:  COVID-19 Update May 29, 2020

Morefield Communications Advisory:  COVID-19 Update April 3, 2020

Morefield Communications Advisory:  COVID-19 Update March 12, 2020

Additional Safeguards Implemented:

For the safety and well-being of our employees, Morefield has decided to further restrict our guidelines on in-person meetings.  In-person meetings within our offices are not permitted for the foreseeable future. Relaxing this guideline will take place as a part of our plans to gradually open up our facilities over time when advisable.

In addition, multiple Morefield employees working onsite at client locations at the same time will be restricted effective today, April 3rd. Going forward only one Morefield employee will be scheduled for onsite client work at a time. We are making this change for the safety of our employees. We appreciate everyone’s understanding and patience at this time. Thank you for your continued business and partnership.

Overview:

The safety and well-being of our employees and clients is the number one priority at Morefield.  This week we have continued to see a steady increase in the number of positive cases of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the state of Pennsylvania.  Morefield has implemented several actions to facilitate a safe work environment for our employees, so that we can continue to provide support to our clients during the COVID-19 outbreak.  We will continue to monitor the situation and make adjustments as the situation changes.

Precautionary Actions:

Morefield Communications is monitoring advisory recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO), Center for Disease Control (CDC), and the PA Department of Health for the latest information and best practices as they relate to the coronavirus.  Morefield has taken the following precautionary measures to protect the health our employees, clients and our overall community to reduce the spread of the virus.

This includes but is not limited to:

• Proactive Employee Communications:
  • All Morefield employees have been reminded of their personal responsibility to contact their health care provider and stay home in the event they feel sick. They are not to come into our offices or visit our clients.
  • All Morefield employees have had reminders on good hygiene best practices and these reminders are posted throughout our facilities.
  • All Morefield technical employees have been provided with rubber gloves and are instructed to wear these gloves for all client onsite work.
• Morefield Facilities:
  • Reviewed and increased frequency of cleaning practices in our Camp Hill and Altoona, PA offices. Custodians wipe down and disinfect the most touched surfaces in our facilities daily.  This includes door handles, light switches, and any other highly touched areas.  They are using a hospital-grade disinfectant recommended by the CDC.
  • Additional cleaning agents and sanitizers have been provided in all three of our facilities.
  • All office employees have been provided with access to disinfectant wipes for cleaning personal space areas and are to clean their personal space areas daily.
  • All common space areas and equipment have cleaning agents available for usage after use of common space or equipment.
  • Restricted in-person meetings in our offices to five people and additional attendees for a meeting are required to join via videoconferencing.
• Company Fleet – All company vehicles have been provided with cleaning agents and sanitizers for disinfecting company vehicles between each drive.
• Corporate Travel Restrictions:
  • All corporate air travel has been restricted.
  • Attendance of all industry conferences has been restricted.
• Leadership Reviews – Our leadership team has been meeting regularly to address this fluid situation and have been using team collaboration tools internally to keep our teams updated.
• Business Continuity Plans – Morefield has always advocated for flexible work practices and we have all of the technology in place to allow our business to operate away from our offices in the event of a disaster. As a standard practice, Morefield routinely reviews personnel contingency plans for key job functions to facilitate operational continuity.
• Client Communication and On-Site Work – For customers requiring Morefield employees to be on location, the respective Morefield account lead will proactively communicate with the client to discuss and work through any changes to on-site staffing, project lead times or potential disruption issues. All Morefield employees have been instructed to comply with procedures set forth by our clients in regard to their policies related to the outbreak.