Seasoned Systems Administrator with a strong focus on VoIP
I have been working in the IT industry for 15+ years, and have performed a vast array of work for clients as well as employers. For seven years, starting in 2009, I was the sole Systems Administrator/IT department for a prestigious accounting firm with four locations. In that role, I installed, secured, and maintained a Citrix XenServer virtualization farm, several Windows servers, specially-purposed Linux servers, Microsoft Exchange for email, as well as Asterisk/FreePBX. I created a VPN for all four locations to communicate and built Asterisk machines at each location, giving me the ability to tie all the PBXes together and eliminate the need for PSTN calls between offices. This slashed our monthly phone costs, and I was soon finding myself building similar setups for my local brick-and-mortar clients.
Since I started at that firm in 2009, I have since branched off on my own and have had had near-daily contact with Asterisk and FreePBX. My first foray into VoIP was with the now-defunct trixbox CE platform, which was based on Asterisk 1.4 and a modified version of FreePBX. As our needs and my expertise grew, I grew alongside the Asterisk/FreePBX project and kept up with its ever-changing and ever-improving features. I have experience with distributions such as the Elastix fork, PBXIAF, and my preferred platform, the FreePBX Distro. I'm currently maintaining several PBXes for clients and keep them upgraded regularly, which not only keeps my clients running well, but also keeps me current.
While I am very skilled in areas such as Active Directory, Linux administration, and virtualization, I feel that I've "found my home," so to speak, in the Asterisk/FreePBX world. I thoroughly enjoy building VoIP solutions for my clients, customizing their PBXes, and keeping them secure while maintaining optimum voice quality. Not only am I knowledgeable in regard to Asterisk/FreePBX, I am passionate about it, and I believe this sets me apart from many in the field.
Work Terms
I tend to work daytime, M-F, and occasional weekends where needed. My hours are fairly flexible. Depending on the project scope, I may work late into the night if necessary.
As for payment, if a project is done within a week, I prefer to be paid shortly after completion. I expect spend time with my client via phone or text and brief him or her on what work was done and train the client if necessary. Once everyone is happy, I will invoice for immediate payment for my services.
If the project spans more than one week, I prefer to be paid regularly for my hours every week, with the pay date depending on the start date of the contract.