Technology Center Buzzing With All the Bells and Whistles

In April 1997, Caltrans and Thousand Oaks city officials unveiled the Telecommunity Center. The 2,000-square-foot office space on the second level of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza was set up to study the impact that telecommunications technology can have on communities.

During the 2 1/2 years since its debut, the center has provided computer and Internet classes, teleconferencing, a telecommuting station and other demonstrations of the vast possibilities of computer networking.

But as successful as the center has been, it hasn’t reached its full potential because of its already aging technology--56K modem lines that transmit data at speeds no longer considered extraordinary.

Now, however, officials of the Telecommunity Center are prepared to move into the fast lane of the information superhighway.

The center today is scheduled to crank up a high-speed system that combines the cable modem technology of GTE Americast with top-of-the-line Pentium computers and network hubs and servers provided by Blue Max Technology of Newbury Park.

The state-of-the-art setup, donated by the two technology firms, will allow computer and Internet data to be transmitted at speeds 50 to 100 times faster than on the 56K modem lines.

Operating through a network, the new connectivity system links the Telecommunity Center’s dozen computers to each other, something that wasn’t before possible over basic telephone lines. Wendell Hahm, program manager for the Telecommunity Center, said he and fellow staff are thrilled at the possibilities now available.

“The first thing we had was that candy store effect--where we were just standing there drooling, looking at these Pentiums,” Hahm said.

“Our mission is largely to work with the community, to help them gain access to the information highway--that includes educational groups, business groups and community groups in general--and we’ve been doing it very well,” he said. “But this really gives us a big boost infrastructure-wise. It means we can show people a lot more about the Internet. They can learn a lot more, with less delay.”

Hahm said that along with the additional tools came the obligation to put the computers to the best use possible. The Telecommunity Center staff, he said, spent considerable time figuring out what to do with the technology.

“We had to decide what classes we wanted to [offer] families, or people in school, or business owners,” he said. “We created one machine that looks like a home machine, that has a television that looks like a postage stamp in the corner of the screen. We have other machines clustered together as if they were an office and we had to decide, ‘If this were an office, what would people need access to?’

“We want to stimulate home offices, small companies, medium-sized companies and to demonstrate on those scales, we had to think very hard on how to configure the computers,” added Hahm.

The new system will allow the Telecommunity Center instructors to offer more advanced and more up-to-date computer and Internet classes. In the past, instruction was offered solely on the basics, such as introduction to Windows, a beginners guide to e-mail and how to access the Internet.

“The first step was to learn the skills; now you have to realize that you’re not alone on the network,” said Hahm. “You’re at home and interacting with people across the state or nation, or you’re at the office and there are people working [on the floor] above you.”

A new list of courses will also reflect the great amount of data and information that is available through the Internet and computer networks.

The courses also will help students determine how much speed they really need from their modems and whether they really need all the bells and whistles, Hahm said.

“When does it pay to network? Is it for you and how do you make the most use of it?,” Hahm said. “We’re going to continue to have the 56K line here still. We’re not throwing them out because for some they’re more than enough.”

The Telecommunity Center, Hahm said, will allow corporate clients to see what is available and to test the waters before creating their own network.

“A big part of this is to help the community evaluate things,” he said. “GTE Americast and Blue Max have brought some very current things to us.”

Dwight Brown, president and chief executive of Blue Max, said he saw the potential of the Telecommunity Center and wanted to help. Brown was able to bring in GTE because of an existing working relationship between the two companies.

“I realized what a wonderful, wonderful thing this was for the citizens of the community, to have the computers, docents and classes to help them experience the Internet with some help, so they’re not so intimidated by it,” Brown said.

“They needed computers, they needed a lot of things,” he said. “But the one thing they needed most was connectivity.”

Brown valued the donated cable modem system and computers in the tens of thousands of dollars. The system will also be used in the New West Symphony offices down the hall from the Telecommunity Center.