JAMES A. MEARNS
2716 14th Ave
Carmel, CA 93923
831-236-9822
james@jamesmearns.com
OBJECTIVE
Obtain a position with a progressive firm where I can make a positive impact and utilize my
IT/Telecommunications/Self Service/Call Center/Project Management/Training/Presales/Leadership skills
to provide cost-effective and creative solutions that exceed expectations, achieve business objectives,
increase profit, and enhance operational effectiveness.
SKILLS
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Avaya: IP Telephony / VoIP; Media
Gateways and Servers; Communication
Manager / CM / Aura; Call Center, CMS,
One-X Agent, AACC; Intuity Audix / MM;
CTI / AES; H.323, SIP
Avaya Self Service: AAEP Experience
Portal, Voice Portal, POM, ICR, IR,
Conversant, Orchestration Designer,
Dialog Designer; Nuance ASR/TTS
Project Management, Telecom
Management, Facilities Management,
Team Management, Documentation
Management, Technical Writing
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Presales technical; Webinar
development and presentation;
Prospective customer presentations and
business analysis
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Aspect Call Center; Aspect
(Generations / Voicetek) IVR
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Blue Pumpkin / Verint / Avaya WFO,
Forecasting / Scheduling
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CTI & IVR Application Design and
Development
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Custom Report Development
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PBX/ACD Admin, Mgmt, Programming
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SQL; JDBC, ODBC; Unix; Linux; Win 7,
Server 2003/2008; MS Word, Excel,
Access, Project; Cisco/Avaya Routers
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Network Carrier Services management
and admin
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PC/Mac/Web: Win 7; OSX/IOS;
Dreamweaver, Fireworks; Eclipse IDE,
Java, Obj C, VXML, CCXML, XML,
HTML; Web Services, WSDL; SVN,
RoboHelp
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Avaya Certifications: ACSS, ACS,
APSS, APDS
EXPERIENCE
Harmonic, Inc. Feb 2013 – Dec 2013 (Virtual Office - Carmel, CA)
CONTRACT TECHNICAL WRITER – Mearns Business Services
Development of Microsoft HTML Online Help system and Application Notes using Adobe RoboHelp to
provide users of Harmonic’s NMX software with context-sensitive GUI help.
ARROW S3 / CROSS TELECOM CORP Sept 2007 – Aug 2012 (Virtual Office - Carmel,
CA)
MANAGER - SELF SERVICE SOLUTIONS | May 2012 – Aug 2012
Managed a team of five self service application developers on the Avaya Aura Experience Portal and MPS
platforms. Responsible for all presales project scoping and level of effort pricing. Worked with team on proof
of concept development, packaged application scoping, and coding issues. Managed team workflow, and
professional development of each team member.
SELF SERVICE SOLUTIONS ENGINEER | June 2011 – May 2012
Designed, developed, tested, and deployed Self Service applications using Orchestration Designer for Avaya
Aura Experience Portal. Retained responsibility for all presales project scoping and level of effort pricing.
Earned ACSS.
PRESALES SPECIALIST - SELF SERVICE | Jan 2010 – June 2011
SME for Avaya Self Service Portfolio of products including Voice Portal, POM, ICR, Dialog Designer,
Experience Portal and Orchestration Designer. Responsible for helping customers understand product
capabilities and define business requirements for Self Service projects. Developed Statement of Work
(SOW) documents, and bid generation for Professional Services work effort for pricing on Self Service
projects. Developed SOWs based on customer requirements for Self Service projects gathered during
customer meetings. Provided proof of concept, webinars, and custom presentations to individual customers
James A. Mearns
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and hundreds of attendees at company-sponsored web events. Worked with developers to increase their
skills and introduce new features of Avaya Self Service portfolio as they became available. Continued work
as sole dedicated Self Service developer for major customer. Earned APSS, APDS.
SELF SERVICE SOLUTIONS ENGINEER | Sep 2008 – Jan 2010
Designed, developed, tested, and deployed Self Service applications using Dialog Designer for Avaya Voice
Portal. Re-crafted and updated SOW process and format, implemented new reporting features and trained
developers on same, implemented features available on platform but not being used by development staff.
Taught myself Dialog Designer without any formal training. Engaged by major customer in multi-year
ongoing development efforts as dedicated sole developer. Earned ACS.
CONTACT CENTER SPECIALIST | Sep 2007 – Sep 2008
Call Center application design, programming, implementation, project management, and customer training,
for Cross’s US customers. Virtual Office with occasional onsite time for implementation and training.
Developed several training presentations for remote and onsite training.
OFFICESTAR TRAINING 2007 (Salinas, CA)
INSTRUCTOR
Instructor for local computer and business training center. Prepared and developed course material and
taught classes in Project Management, QuickBooks Accounting, Business Skills, Time Management, and
Business Grammar and Language Skills.
MEARNS BUSINESS SERVICES Oct 2004 – Sep 2007 (Carmel, CA)
SOLE PROPRIETOR
Provided one-stop IT consulting and business services to local small businesses and individuals.
Specializing in QuickBooks accounting and training, website design and development, hardware and
software support, implementation, and training. Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor, member of PMI national
and local chapters.
HEALTH DIALOG, INC. July 1999 – July 2004 (Manchester, NH)
TELECOMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
Management, administration, and programming of all Enterprise-Wide Telephony Systems and Services for
privately held, dynamic startup Company. Responsible for a staff of two.
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Single-handedly built, implemented, managed, and administered 24/7 Nurse Call Center growing it
from 15 agents to several hundred over 5 years.
Negotiated multiple contracts with AT&T, initially reducing costs by 65% in first two years, and by
hundreds of thousands of dollars each year thereafter.
Upgraded, designed, & implemented PBX, ACD, Voice Mail, & IVR systems multiple times with zero
to minimal downtime accommodating explosive growth and always within extremely tight timelines.
First customer in the Atlantic Region to implement Avaya S8700/S8300 MultiVantage distributed
PBX/ACD solution, reducing cost, and new site implementation time; while enhancing business
continuity, system reliability, and disaster recovery capabilities.
Developed and wrote Enterprise-wide Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Plan.
Developed a multitude of custom reports to enhance client and internal reporting.
Implemented Conversant IVR, developed Audio Library application, saving over $50k in outside
development costs.
Implemented ISDN PRI for greater functionality, reliability and data collection.
Implemented AT&T Advanced Features (Routing Control, OCDD, Transfer Connect) to improve
client connections and enhancing business-to-business relationships.
Responsible for success of new client implementations, and client telephony integration.
Developed training module for new Call Center Agents, and web-based online training guide.
Implemented IP Agent Telecommuting solution for small offices and tele-workers reducing
operational, resource, and facilities costs.
Implemented Avaya EC500 Extension to Cellular for mobile workers, allowing them to be reachable
at one number regardless of their current location.
Managed Cellular Phones and Paging Services.
Implemented Internal Meet-Me Conferencing solution, saving tens of thousands of dollars each
month in outside vendor managed conferencing costs.
Implemented private network for VoIP, and corporate enterprise-wide Managed Internet Service.
James A. Mearns
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Implemented Blue Pumpkin workforce management solution for scheduling ease and efficiency.
Wrote job descriptions, vetted, interviewed, and selected key IT staff.
Ad-hoc Project and Facilities Manager for expansion of enterprise to multiple locations; selected and
managed furniture, cable, and electrical vendors.
Started and presided over Northern New England Definity Users Group for 4 years.
WILLIAMS COMMUNICATIONS SOLUTIONS, LLC 1998-1999 (Merrimack, NH)
SYSTEMS INTEGRATOR / PROJECT MANAGER
Developed, implemented, and maintained CTI solutions for Williams Customers, utilizing Williams Dialect
Suite of CTI products and Aspect Generations (VoiceTek) IVR development platform.
CIDCO INC. 1996-1998 (Morgan Hill, CA)
MANAGER, CORPORATE TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Managed corporate telecommunications needs for 650-person Caller-ID manufacturing firm, with 250 seat
Call Center. Maintained and programmed Lucent (Avaya) G3r, G3i, G3s, CMS with EAS, AUDIX, Conversant
IVR, CallVisor LAN Gateway, and CTI app.
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Increased resource utilization through Call Center automation projects.
Custom Report development for Call Center scheduling and forecasting, Sales analysis, and
Financial projections.
Implemented Blue Pumpkin Workforce Management resource scheduling software.
Maintained switches in three remote sales offices.
Installed, configured, and implemented G3i and Definity AUDIX in remote Distribution Center.
Implemented Auto Attendant applications in multiple locations, freeing up administrative personnel
from receptionist/operator positions.
Project Manager for Call Center CTI screen pop/scripting application.
Developed, designed, and implemented automated Tech Support, Order Tracking, and RMA
applications on Conversant IVR, resulting in a 25% decrease in calls to CSRs.
Performed cost/benefit analysis for IVR purchase and implementation.
Designed and developed help-desk reporting application to track user requests.
ALEXANDER & LORD/UCA&L/SOFTBANK SERVICES GROUP 1993-1996
(Monterey, CA)
MANAGER, TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Managed all telephony systems for 200 seat Telesales Call Center, and 150-person admin, sales and
fulfillment organization. Installed DS3 service from Pac Bell, to carry T1s from multiple IXCs. Custom report
development using Crystal Reports and SQL for scheduling, billing, and forecasting. Developed reports for
client billing processes. Managed and trained Telecom dept employees. Presenter at 1995 Aspect Customer
Applications Workshop on custom reporting applications.
BORLAND INTERNATIONAL - aka Inprise 1991-1993 (Scotts Valley, CA)
ACD SYSTEMS MANAGER
Management, administration, and programming of multi-platform 250 seat Tech Support Call Center. Aspect
ACD, Lucent (Avaya) G3r CMS. Custom Report development using Informix SQL. Received Excellence in
Service award for decreasing change request turnaround time from 3 weeks to 2 days by taking over
responsibility for task management from MIS department.
VOICE SYSTEMS ANALYST
System administration and management on Lucent G3r, G2, G1, and Definity AUDIX. Designed, developed,
and implemented customized multi-tier Auto Attendant application for automated tech support and 24 hour
emergency contact/help-desk. Remote switch administration for regional sales offices.
ASHTON-TATE 1989-1991 (San Jose, CA)
ASPECT SYSTEMS MANAGER
Management, administration, and programming of Aspect ACD for 150 seat Tech Support Call Center.
Received Employee of the Month award for working around the clock during a voice system crash.
James A. Mearns
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CORPORATE SUPPORT SPECIALIST/LAN ADMINISTRATOR/ PC TECHNICIAN
Provided support to key corporate accounts via email, fax, BBS. Administered Novell LAN and BBS.
Refurbished, configured, and repaired desktop PCs. Key contributor to graphics product docs review and
beta testing. Wrote several articles for end user technical support publication.
SOFTWARE SUPPORT TECHNICIAN
Word Processing and Business Graphics application technical support.
EDUCATION
CSU CHICO 1979
Summer language and culture institute in Guanajuato, Mexico.
UC SANTA CRUZ 1980-1984
Psychobiology, Spanish Language, Theatre Arts.
UC BERKELEY EXTENSION 1986-1988
Business Data Processing Certificate Program. COBOL, Systems Analysis and Design, Computerized
Accounting.
COMPUTER LEARNING CENTER, S.F. 1989
COBOL, CICS, Assembler, C, VSAM, VMS, JCL. Graduated with honors and distinction. Worked as
Computer Lab Teacher/Assistant. Taught CICS course at San Jose branch.
MONTEREY PENINSULA COLLEGE, 2005-2006, 2009
Management Accounting, Small Business Administration, Java.
PRESENTATIONS/PUBLICATIONS
●
“Distributed Contact Center Applications using Avaya IP Telephony Solutions” Avaya Solutions
Workshop, Needham, MA, 2004.
● “Voice @ Work – Real World Experiences” InAAU Eastern Region Conference, Orlando, FL, 2000;
InAAU International Conference, Philadelphia, PA, 2001.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
I’m an active, energetic person who enjoys working with people from all backgrounds and skill levels. I take
pride in my ability to communicate effectively and listen attentively. I recognize the need for technical
personnel to be able to identify, clarify, and evaluate the needs of the user community with empathy and
compassion, and communicate those needs in a manner that is easily understood by everyone involved. I
believe that each party brings value and resources to the table when I’m managing a project, and strive for
inclusion of ideas, participation, and engagement from all.
I enjoy teaching and training. I presided over the Northern New England Definity Users Group for four years,
which I started in May 2000. I developed in-house intranet training modules for new ACD agents at Health
Dialog. I’ve presented at InAAU Conferences on IVR Development, and at Regional Avaya Seminars on
S8700/S8300 VoIP-based implementations, features, and technology approaches. I’ve actively raised the
skill levels of my employees in each of the management positions I’ve held by providing both structured and
ad-hoc training in group and assisted one-on-one learn-by-doing sessions. I’ve been a member of PMI, and
have taught QuickBooks, Project Management, and Business Skills courses at a local computer-training
center.
I’ve hosted several site visits for prospective customers of software and equipment vendors whose products I
believe in, and participated in the Avaya Customer Reference Program. I strive for good, honest relations
with vendors based on integrity and common sense, and am considered to be a valuable and objective
resource when prospective customers request a product reference.
I lead an active life outside of work, enjoy numerous outdoor activities, and adhere to a rigorous physical
fitness program. I have an aptitude for foreign languages, speak conversational Spanish, and can
communicate in French. I’m a good-humored person who believes that having fun is an integral and
constructive part of any work environment.
James A. Mearns
*RESUME*
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