Crosstalk with Select Telecom (Fall 2014)
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!
Congratulations to Technical CSR Krystal Macpherson, who is celebrating her one-year anniversary with Select Telecom this month! One of our celebrated veteran employees (the other being Stephen DiBella, who was featured in last quarter’s issue), Krystal joined the team in October of 2013, after a one-year tour in Afghanistan as an Information Technology Specialist with the Army National Guard.
She initially contacted Select Telecom while still in Afghanistan, but had to wait a few months until after her return to truly begin the application process. (“We wanted to do a phone conference, but there was such a lag that we would have been talking over each other!” Krystal laughs.) Once she began her new role, Krystal was surprised at how easy her transition back into civilian life has been. “Everyone at Select Telecom has welcomed me with open arms,” she remarks.
Of course, Krystal is an easy colleague to appreciate – having extensive experience maintaining Cisco phones/switches and keeping a network secure during her time in the Army National Guard, she’s been a quick study with other technologies like ShoreTel and Brocade. “I’ve learned so much since I got here,” Krystal observes. “This job has really opened my eyes to other technologies. Danielle [Crawford, CSR], Jerry [Moscariello, VP], and Anthony [Durante, Installation Manager] have taught me so much.”
These days, instead of managing a group of six soldiers, Krystal finds herself helping out with a wide variety of technical work. From remote service tickets and on-site installations, to configuring ShoreTel servers and training customers on their new systems, Krystal pitches in wherever the technician and customer service teams need assistance. “That, and anything else Jerry throws at me!” she quips.
Like Technician Stephen DiBella, Krystal is currently on drill status, and serves actively one weekend a month as a Staff Sergeant. She’ll be celebrating six years with the Army National Guard in January. “I originally joined because I wanted to go back to school, and they offer great educational benefits,” Krystal explains. Though she hasn’t yet finished her degree, she is actively working toward it and proud of the progress she’s made. “I have a lot more credits now, and even earned some expensive certifications through the Army,” she beams.
Prior to enlisting, Krystal spent five years as a restaurant manager for Chili’s, at multiple locations in the Hudson Valley (including the Palisades Mall, Somers, and Poughkeepsie). Needless to say, it was a very different lifestyle than what she encountered as a new recruit. “Basic training is very much like what you see in the movies,” Krystal explains. “It’s a shell-shocker! But it teaches you a lot of life lessons.”
Coming back to the States, Krystal was eager to find a company that had a similar feeling of camaraderie and familial trust like she’d gotten accustomed to in the military. “I did look at big businesses like Verizon,” she recalls, “but I really wanted to work for a company that was family-oriented. That’s a big positive of being here at Select Telecom.” She also appreciates all the interaction she gets with Select Telecom’s wonderful family of customers. “I like working with the customers and talking to different customers each day.”
Outside of work, Krystal and her husband (another Army soldier and Iraq veteran, whom she met shortly after basic training) are busy settling into their new home. As any new homeowner can attest, it hasn’t been all roses, but when it comes to the trials and tribulations of owning a home, some advice her husband gave her back during her tour in Afghanistan has come in handy: “’You’re a soldier,’ he said. ‘Suck it up!’” Nevertheless, Krystal and her husband are thrilled to be together in their own space, and back on US soil – and Select Telecom is proud to call this talented young solider part of our company family!