Thank you Barry. I appreciate the update and I truly appreciate that you and Diane are doing everything you can for the well-being of our staff. It is wonderful news that most can stay working during this time and we can keep serving our members. Regarding the LoTW certificates - Firstly, I hope that the delays in issuance are communicated to members. Yesterday a friend reached out to me for tech help with his LoTW account. It turned out that he submitted about 8 duplicate certificate requests because he was waiting and thought the others got lost. I told him to cease fire and wait on HQ since there will be delays. But I would imagine he’s not the only one. Secondly, is there a reason that this is a manual process on our end? I deal with cryptography and digital signatures all the time and largely this process is automated. Occasionally there may be manual review or approval required but for the most part the system is automated. I would eventually like us to be able to issue LoTW certificates in minutes, especially for those that we have an existing relationship with and whose data can be verified in our database and trusted sources (eg. FCC database). Ria N2RJ On Sat, Mar 28, 2020 at 7:48 AM Shelley, Barry, N1VXY (CEO) < bshelley@arrl.org> wrote:
Good morning ODV:
We’re now four days into remote operations based on Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont’s “Stay Safe, Stay Home” policy edict. Just to clarify, the statement basically ordered all non-essential and non-profit businesses to reduce their in-person workforce at each business location by 100%. Subsequent regulations issued by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (CDECD) provided some, by certainly not specifically clear, guidance on what was essential vs non-essential and approved functional exceptions to the policy.
Since there’s been some confusion, I’d like to take a moment to clarify some of the provisions which are allowing us to keep a very few functions operating at 225 Main St. By “business location” the edict meant each physical location for each business. For us, that meant that the main HQ building, W1AW and the warehouse were all separate locations. The guidelines also allowed an exception for “receiving mail and packages”. There was also an exception which allowed that a business didn’t have to file for an “essential” determination if there was only one person at a location (e.g. an attendant).
Based on the guidelines and after review with CT counsel, we have a couple of functions still operating at HQ, but very limited. Diane and I are trying to respond to the spirit as well as the letter of the law while still trying to keep a couple of critical functions working.
Given all that, here’s a status of what’s been going on this week:
- We currently have 67 people working remotely full-time and 3 working part-time remotely. There are another 5 working part or full-time on site, including the W1AW operator and building maintenance. All are based on exceptions provided in the guidelines. - That leaves only 12 people who cannot work remotely beginning April 2 nd and who have the option to continue full pay through a combination of federal benefits and our expanded PTO policy. All in all, I believe that is an excellent result of which Diane and I are particularly proud. - All our Customer Service Reps are connected and working remotely answering questions, taking and processing orders and memberships that come in over the phone. Transactions that come through the web are being processed as usual. We are changing our renewal campaign strategy somewhat to use more e-mail communications and to encourage renewals online rather than through the mail. - We are running the warehouse in two shifts with one person on each shift to comply with the Governor’s order. There will be a delay in that two people are doing the work of four, but that will also depend on the volume of orders. - We have one full time staff position in the Controller’s department to receive and process mail (in accordance with State guidelines) and deposit checks. They are also batching membership transactions to be delivered to CSRs for processing. As a result of this move and web transactions, we believe that we can effectively process all membership transactions. Any individual issues will be handled by the CSRs on a case-by-case basis. - As already reported, the Publications Group is up and running remotely and our magazines are going to be distributed on schedule. The printer is an essential business in the states in which they operate and is reporting normal operations. News items are continuing to flow and are being posted to the web site and other social media accounts. - I’ve already reported on the ARRL VEC which I sent the other day. - All awards submitted through LoTW are being processed but certificates and plaques are not being processed and mailed as that is an HQ process. - We’re handling LoTW questions remotely and we set up a process for the periodic signing of LoTW certificates so, while happening, these will be delayed slightly. - The ARRL DX contest is being adjudicated on schedule. - Field Organization communications are on-going and being handled remotely. The next round of SM election ballots will be mailed from the mailing house ahead of the deadline.
Overall, it’s been an interesting and challenging week for the entire staff particularly since the Governor gave no indication of his actions prior to the moment he announced the order last Friday. Everyone has accepted the challenge, no group more so than the IT infrastructure team who did yeoman duty to ensure that anyone who could, was set up to work remotely. And they did it in a very short period of time and continue to resolve issues as they arise.
If you have specific questions, please let me know and I’ll try to get them answered.
73,
Barry, N1VXY
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