Crosstalk with Select Telecom (Spring 2011)
Every issue, “Get to Know Select” will feature a different employee sharing their experience at Select Telecom, along with updates about what’s going on at the company. Have a favorite employee you’d like to hear from? Email us to let us know!
Bobby Waters is an Installation Manager and works alongside Anthony Durante to oversee the installation process. Bobby is technically Select Telecom’s first hired employee and has been an integral part of the Select Telecom family since 1996. After the company was incorporated by President Mike Durante and Vice President Jerry Moscariello with Anthony Durante as technician and Susan Durante as bookkeeper, Bobby was the first person brought on to augment the team.
Prior to joining Select Telecom, Bobby had already spent 15 years building his expertise in the telephony industry. He started out in 1981 pulling cable for Rye-based telecom company Telecommunications Systems Incorporated – “making $5.74 an hour,” Bobby reflects – and worked his way through the ranks, learning the trade and earning certifications in almost every popular telecommunication technology along the way. In 1991, Bobby joined Williams Communications in Armonk, NY where he began working closely with Mike Durante for the first time, along with other current Select Telecom employees Paul and Stephen Burns. Their team was very successful and built great rapport. According to Bobby, “We had a hell of a crew. The best crew in the world, as far as I’m concerned.” That crew would soon become the core of newly-launched Select Telecom.
The day that Mike decided to leave Williams was one that Bobby remembers being bittersweet. “He pointed to the calendar and said ‘I’m out of here… but I’m going to grab you as soon as I can.’ After Mike left, I was very depressed. But he kept his word.” In the fall of 1996, just a few months after Select Telecom started, Mike called up Bobby and said, “I’ve got a spot for you.” As Bobby remembers it, “I got in my new company van – a green Chrysler minivan – and started our journey at Select Telecom, just me, Mike, Jerry, Anthony, and Sue.”
For the first couple years, “we were all just doing everything.” Bobby fondly remembers the first company holiday party, which was held at the Eclise restaurant across from Select Telecom’s original location in Stamford, CT. “After dinner, we went to see a play of It’s a Wonderful Life at the Stamford Center for the Arts. It was really cold that day, super cold, but we had a wonderful time.” Over time, things became busier and busier and the Select Telecom family continued to grow. Longtime customers like Reckson Associates, Klaff’s, and C.P. Eaton Associates, to name a few, started out with Select Telecom from day one and have stuck with the company as it has grown.
Over the years, Bobby has been impressed with Select Telecom’s ability to “keep up with the flow of technology,” especially the latest IP telephony systems, which require much more complex problem solving than older technologies. “We’ve been improving and getting better and better as the years go by.” He has also had the privilege to watch his two little girls (Amanda, 23, and Christina, 21) grow into beautiful, smart young women.
As Bobby says, “It’s been a good 15 years.” His personal philosophy is to work hard and learn as much as he can every day, offer a firm handshake, and to give credit where credit is due. “Throughout the years, we’ve really been blessed. You look at the economy the way it has been and there are so many people I know who are hurting really badly. I can honestly say I’ve never been in that position. I plan to retire at 62 and I look forward to finishing out my career at Select Telecom.”