VDV Works
 
Tech Support For The Voice-Data-Video Communications Industry

 

 

 

 

Training:

VDV Academy

 

Free Online Tutorials Created By VDVWorks:

Lennie Lightwave's Guide To Fiber Optics

Uncle Ted's Guide To Communications Cabling


 
 
 
 

 

Contact us
VDV Works
Santa Monica, CA 90403
Tel  1-760-990-3936
email: jeh @ jimhayes.com
web: www.vdvworks.com



VDV Works offers tech support for the voice-data-video (VDV) communications industry. We lecture, teach and consult on fiber optics and communications, consult on technology and marketing for fiber optics and manage the Fiber Optic Association (FOA).
 
What's VDV?
Voice, data and video communications covers a lot of territory: telephones including wireless, the Internet, LANs (local area networks), OLANs (Optical LANs), SANs (storage area networks), data centers,, CATV and CCTV, security and even fiber optic networks in vehicles (MOST).
 
And What's VDV Works?
We're a husband (Jim Hayes) and wife (Karen Hayes) team with 40+ years of experience in communications, specializing in fiber optics and structured cabling. Our many years as successful entrepreneurs,including running Fotec, the fiber optic test equipment company we sold to Fluke Networks in 2001, has given us in-depth sensitivity to most business issues, including marketing, R&D, engineering, PR/advertising and manufacturing.

In addition, Karen's background includes public affairs and consulting on AT&T's divestiture in the early 80s and Jim has many years in semiconductors and instrumentation. This gives us familiarity with many networking technologies and applications and allows us to provide technical and marketing assistance that leads to market success, teaches effectively, creates the right kind of image for your organization and helps you support your customers properly.

In 1995, we co-founded the Fiber Optic Association, Inc. with the instructors and supporters of Fotec's Fiber U Training Conference. We had been training fiber techs since 1982 and training trainers to teach others. Since the beginning we have been involved in the FOA from both technical and operations sides and have been running the organization under contract for the last 15 years.

 
Consulting
Our broad base of experience has allowed us to help a wide variety of clients in a number of unique ways. 
We manage the operations of The FOA (Fiber Optic Association, Inc.), the professional society of fiber optics, including administering the FOA's certification programs, standards activities, creation of training curriculum, editing and publishing textbooks (e.g. The FOA Reference Guide to Fiber Optics and the Fiber Optic Technicians Manual textbooks and NECA-301 installation standard) and maintaining the FOA website. 
  • We have consulted with manufacturing organizations -large and small- to review their product offerings and provide assistance in developing products, specifying the products according to industry standards, developing marketing programs and strategies, developing customer training programs and training company personnel.
  • We have consulted with investment groups on markets and technology.
  • We have consulted with large training organizations to develop communications training programs, both basic and advanced, that have been enthusiastically accepted by commercial and military customers.
  • We help organizations create online training based on techniques we developed to offer Fiber U Online back in 1997.
  • We have done technical consulting on new produces and patents.
If you have a problem in fiber optics or VDV cabling, call us to discuss it. If we can't help, we probably know someone who can.
 
Training
Through The FOA we coordinate with FOA approved schools and the Master Instructors worldwide to develop training curriculum for students and instructors and self-study programs for technicians/installers available through the website of The Fiber Optic Association.

Our experience in training is extensive, including training over ten thousand students in person and hundreds of thousands through our online training (since 1997, the first in the industry.) Our "Fiber U" and "Cable U" programs were known worldwide and Jim was named one of fiber optics' "Luminaries" by Fiberoptic Product News magazine for his contributions to the industry through training and recognized by BroadBand Properties magazine as one of the "Pioneers in FTTH" for his education and recruitment activities. Jim Hayes Resume 
 
Free Online Tutorials
VDV Works created two free online tutorials for those getting started in fiber optics or structured cabling. These websites have been used by more techs to get started than any other website or publication because they are the best overviews of the technologies available anywhere!
Feel free to link to these guides from your website.
 
Lennie Lightwave's Guide To Fiber Optics (with "virtual hands-on" tutorials in termination and testing and a tutorial on OTDRs.)
 
Uncle Ted's Guide To Communications Cabling
Cabling (with "virtual hands-on" tutorials on terminating category-rated UTP cabling.)
 
In addition, the FOA offers free online self-study programs at Fiber U.
 

 
 
 


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