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DES Duo Nabs 3rd Place in Fortinet Security Challenge With the clock ticking, Jeff Wirtz and Will Turk entered a virtual lab environment and were given three hours to complete a vast array of cybersecurity objectives. Aug 30, 2021 DES networking engineers Jeff Wirtz and Will Turk recently attended Fortinet’s XPERTS Summit in Orlando. The five days of in-person, hands-on training covered today’s hottest cybersecurity topics from Security-Driven Networking, Adaptive Cloud Security, Security Operations and Zero Trust Access. The summit culminated in a race against the clock to secure a virtual lab environment. Each pair of 50 contestants entered a virtual lab environment and was given three hours to complete a vast array of cybersecurity objectives. With the clock ticking, Jeff and Will sped through the virtual office, located their mission from the CISO (Chief Information Security Officer), set up a security fabric to provide a unified foundation for the network architecture, discovered key managers in the virtual board room who told them about their remote worker policies, zipped to the corporation’s second branch to set up their NOC (Network Operations Center) and firewalls, and raced to the finish line with iron-clad cybersecurity in place. A crucial component to the lab challenge was the implementation of Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA). In today’s hybrid office environment, people access the network both onsite and offsite. To do this safely, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) provides offsite employees with a secure connection into the company network—and once safely inside, the employees can use all software applications. ZTNA is an evolution of a VPN. If an offsite employee wishes to use a third-party cloud application like Microsoft Teams or Adobe Creative Suite, rather than tunneling the employee into the company network and afterwards connecting the employee to Teams, the ZTNA provides a secure connection to Teams directly. This is because the ZTNA is designed to secure the software application layer—not only the network layer. One benefit to ZTNA is that it frees up the company’s network bandwidth by handling these remote applications independently. The prize for winning 3rd place? A sweet $50 cash card. And a public accolade to the duo’s deep knowledge of leading cybersecurity systems. Now Read These! FRIDAY15: AI-Driven Location Services with Juniper Networks READ End-of-December Checklist for When the Office Gets Really Quiet READ Q4 Cybersecurity Breakfast: Briefing & Guidance READ

From the White House to DES Chuck Reed is a systems engineer in our networks department. While the Pittsburgh Steelers play, you can find Chuck in a corner of the stadium, ensuring the technology systems play just as hard. We sat down with him to hear about his illustrious life before DES. Jan 2, 2020 I was raised in the South Side of Pittsburgh and I joined the army in my early twenties. I started out as a radio operator, maintaining trucks that were equipped with radio equipment. After a couple months, I was invited to interview for the White House Communications Agency. It was a highly competitive process and demanded a 100% pass rate. With my wife’s help, I memorized all the facts and joined the Reagan White House in 1984. Our mandate was to ensure the most advanced telecommunications equipment for the president, both at home and abroad. We traveled worldwide and set up the radio and phone systems for the president in advance of each visit. Every piece of equipment was loaded on to military aircraft and we would set up an alternate cabling system in the president’s hotel or residence. It had to function as safely and efficiently as if he were sitting at his desk in the Oval Office. I accompanied the president on his 1985 state visits to Bergen Belsen, Germany and to Madrid, Spain. Some of my travels were classified. I was once on duty when I was called away on an assignment. My wife had no idea of my whereabouts for two weeks until I was back on the grid! We worked closely with AT&T for our technology, pushing the limits of telecommunication innovation. We experimented with technology that wasn’t yet available for the general public. Laptops were not yet in circulation, but the White House used them. They were designed with measures to prevent espionage attacks and felt like they weighed 25 lbs. One assignment I’m most proud of was during President Reagan’s reelection campaign in 1984. He did a whistle-stop tour of Western Ohio in the legendary Ferdinand Magellan Pullman Railcar. We outfitted an empty railcar with a fully functioning communication system that was operational during locomotion, something unheard of at the time. At one point during the trip, I needed to troubleshoot the president’s phoneline. I entered the carriage and did my work a mere 3 feet away from the president– but protocol dictated not to talk with him. Eventually, the time commitment of the job was too disruptive for my young family. I exited the White House in 1987 with a rank of sergeant and a Presidential Service Badge. I am incredibly proud of my service. I’ve been at Dagostino Electronic Services for 16 years, with a tally of 37 continuous years in the telecommunications industry. I started off my career using the original 300 baud Hayes modem and I am constantly amazed at how much data can be crammed into a single communication signal. It’s literally exponential! I am a systems engineer, helping our clients when they encounter voice communication problems. It’s really rewarding to be on the front end of the client experience, working hand-in-hand with them until we get to the bottom of their issue and reach a solid resolution. Dagostino runs like a family – we honestly care about each other and about our clients’ success. I’m truly grateful for my career and my family. The Ohio Train A Plaque Commemorating Chuck's Work in The White House Chuck with his Wife, Receiving a Promotion Now Read These! Building Hope in Haiti: Bob Weiss on Faith, Partnership and Kindness READ Mighty Power with Mini Cost: How The Little Sisters of the Poor Upgraded to VoIP READ Jane Cushion Reflects on Multimedia, Motherhood and Women in Tech READ

NEW! Hire a Virtual Guard Stop vandalism, Stop false alarms, Lower security costs Mar 1, 2022 Engage a Virtual Guard in your security strategy. DES’ highly-trained agents use the most advanced technologies available to proactively prevent security incidences. Fully customizable, our virtual monitoring service can supplement your existing protection services or boost your current defense. Reduce Stop false alarms and unnecessary first responder dispatches. After an event trigger, our video verification agents manually validate the incident before taking action. Detect We combine the most advanced video technologies, operating platforms and mobile management applications with cloud triggers and software analytics to detect early and accurately. Deter Our situationally-trained specialists use two-way voice to actively engage with potential intruders, effectively nixing criminal behavior before it occurs. Patrol Set your preferred route and schedule, and our virtual guards will patrol your premises. Our enhanced monitoring center is multi-redundant, ensuring uninterrupted guardianship. See a Flyer Please Contact Us for more info. Now Read These! New PCCD Grant Update: $100,000 Instant Funding for School Safety READ PCCD Grant Deadline: Plan for School Emergency Alerts Ahead of Alyssa’s Law READ Alyssa's Law: Strengthening Emergency Response in Pennsylvania Schools READ

5G Scores in the Steel City Dagostino Electronic Services deployed 5G ultra-wideband in Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium Jun 24, 2024 Originally printed in Electrical Contractor, Summer 2024 . Since opening its doors in 2001, Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium has been the beloved home of the NFL’s Steelers and the NCAA’s Pitt Panthers, while also playing host to professional hockey games, concerts and other special events. Originally known as Heinz Field, financial tech and insurance company Acrisure acquired the naming rights in 2022. The stadium, nestled comfortably alongside the banks of the Allegheny River in the Steel City’s North Shore neighborhood, enjoys a rich, eclectic history. From the Super Bowl winning campaigns of the 2006 and 2009 Steelers, to the 2011 NHL’s Outdoor Winter Classic, to comedians Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock rocking the house, to a record-setting 73,117 jubilant fans at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour stop last summer, the stadium offers an oasis of entertainment and fellowship. And now attendees can look forward to a more convenient, differentiated stadium experience courtesy of 5G ultra-wideband service. The installation was carried out by Pittsburgh-­based Dagostino Electronic Services (DES), the “Preferred Technology Provider” of the Pittsburgh Steelers. A serious upgrade Founded in 1973 by Pittsburgh native and company president Bob Dagostino, DES has been overseeing the telecommunications needs of the stadium from its beginning as Heinz Field to the present day. The cabling infrastructure is huge, with a whopping 240 miles of cable that includes 747,000 feet of Cat 5e cable, 238,000 feet of broadcast cable, 169,000 feet of security cable and 36,000 feet of fiber optic cable throughout prior to the 5G upgrade, for point-of-sale systems, display monitors, sideline communications, cable TV connections, security cameras and Wi-Fi networks. “Yep, we know that place inside and out,” Dagostino said. So when the NFL issued a directive stating that all 30 stadiums in the league must be 5G-enabled by the opening kickoff of the 2022 season, it was clear who would tackle the assignment. The project, started in early 2022 and completed in August, involved a crossing over from a lower-capacity 4G LTE network—which can be slowed by many users coming together on it at the same time in one place—to Verizon’s higher-capacity 5G millimeter wave network. The 5G network is supplemented by edge computing, allowing stadium attendees and service providers with compatible devices a faster, more robust experience through access to greater coverage areas, an increase in speed range and a decrease in latency, or the time it takes data to be processed on the network. Diligent work by the team of 25 technicians from DES all but guaranteed that the stadium would meet the opening day deadline to the delight of football fans and more. The 5G upgrade chiefly enhances the Steelers’ immersive fan experience platforms. Stadium-goers can access live action or replays from multiple camera angles on enabled devices; real-time, in-game performance stats; up-to-the-minute player information and scoring; heightened engagement through augmented reality and virtual reality experiences; and interactive games. Social media sharing is made easier through faster uploading and receiving of content on apps. Plus,in-stadium transactions for concessions and merchandise sales are easier and more convenient. 5G also allows for improved security and crowd management through advanced video surveillance systems and wearable communications devices for staff. The 5G installation The 5G installation involved laying in 90 radios, 440 antennas and over 100,000 feet of fiber optics throughout Acrisure Stadium. DES’s expertise in fiber optic installations, and the use of Digital Electricity to push energy to a vast densification of wireless endpoints, ensured that the project was completed efficiently and on-time. A VoltServer transmitter sends “safety packets” of Digital Electricity to a receiver unit. Digital Electricity Patented by VoltServer, East Greenwich, R.I., and operational in major venues nationally, including casinos, airports and stadiums, Digital Electricity is a means of transmitting significant power over long distances while using the same safety requirements as low-voltage cabling. The technology behind it is a fault-managed power system (FMPS), which works by “packetizing” or splitting an energy stream into smaller “safety packets” and then sending the packets from a transmitter unit to a receiver unit on the other end, where they can be converted to power AC endpoints. Leaders in the industry see a bright future in the use of FMPS, which has been classified under Class 4 Power in the 2023 National Electrical Code . The expansive footprint of Acrisure Stadium made it an ideal candidate for Digital Electricity. Whereas the traditional architecture of electrical distribution would have meant power sourcing and all that accompanies it (conduits running to each radio location, 20A circuit panels, etc.) running out of multiple UPS systems, the greater distances enabled by Digital Electricity allow for data and power to be centralized in one location. The Class 4 wiring can push loads of up to 1,500W for distances of more than a mile. Digital Electricity also offers greater levels of control for technicians, such as the ability to reboot an antenna remotely rather than needing to be on-site to do so. “When I first started in the business, we were changing fuse panels to circuit panels. This to me is probably going to be one of the next evolutions of controlling energy. Overcurrent conditions, ground faults, fibrillation—a fault-managed power system mitigates all those issues,” Dagostino said. Air-blown fiber optics A preferred technique of DES, air-blown fiber optics can best be described as the placement of microtubes within a cable framework into which fiber strands are blown through controlled, compressed air. The air acts as a lubricant between the fiber’s cable jacket and the inside of its tubing. After installing a backbone of more than 100,000 feet of tubing throughout the stadium, the DES team blew strands of fiber optic cable throughout the facility using compressed air before connecting the signal portion of the radios back to the host. DES is a regional leader in fiber optic cable installations. Feedback, and the future Feedback on the upgrades from officials, staff and public users at Acrisure Stadium has only been positive. Fans attest that the features make their stadium visits more enjoyable, and these comments fall in line with national surveys showing that overall consumer satisfaction with 5G is high and growing, along with the still-evolving system. But technology marches on, and glimpses of the future are on the horizon. According to Dagostino, “There [are] a lot of studies going on right now for the 6G initiatives, and what that is going to do—smart cities, vehicle-to-vehicle communication. It’s gonna be a big lift when you get 6G.” Research and requirements gathering on 6G technologies have already started, and with tentative plans calling for the beginning development in 2025, another upgrade may be in the stadium’s future. But Dagostino was unfazed about a possible future 6G install. “What you need to do is an RF study of how the 6G antennas and radios would function,” he said. “The nice part of it, though, [is that] the majority of the pathways have already been put in.” This will be a good thing, because there is also talk of yet another technology coming around the bend. “Light fidelity [Li-Fi] is going to come into play here sooner or later,” Dagostino said. This might mean the pairing of 6G with Li-Fi, a wireless communication technology that transmits data by modulating the intensity of visible light from a light source. NASA is one of the biggest governmental users currently of Li-Fi, but applications are currently being adapted, and further use in the private sector is being explored. Until then, thanks to DES, visitors have plenty of technology to make any event at Acrisure Stadium unforgettable. Now Read These! Technology "Lives Well" at GNC READ WATCH: DES Techs Pull Fiber in Acrisure Stadium 5G Deployment READ Morgan State University Enhances Student Life with Wi-Fi 6 READ

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The ABC's and 123's of securing a daycare center There is nothing more important than the safety and security of the children at a daycare center. DES has the tools you need to keep the kids safe and ease the parent's worries. Jul 26, 2019 There is nothing more important than the safety and security of the children at a daycare center. Just this week, there was a police shootout in Pittsburgh in the parking lot of a busy daycare. In their quick thinking, the daycare activated the locks on their exterior doors and placed the center on lockdown. In a chaotic situation, they were able to maintain control and secure the students. DES has worked with hundreds of school districts over the past four decades to provide security, voice, and learning technologies to create a safe environment for children to grow. Below are some basic security measures that every daycare should have. Access Control Access control on the exterior doors can integrate with fire alarms, provide front door security, and allows for a secure parent check-in. If there are custody disputes, the daycare is liable for the child leaving with an unauthorized person. Secure options include a video intercom system, biometric readers, or keypad locks with unique parent codes. Cameras Many daycares now offer the option of live streaming video from specific rooms so that the parents can check in on their child throughout the day. Not only are you able to monitor spaces in real-time and review situations if something were to occur, but it adds a marketable asset to your daycare. Emergency Notification System An emergency notification system is essential for this day and age. Parents expect to be notified the moment a situation occurs. Each room should have a panic button that feeds into a connected system to alert the director of an emergency, who can then follow an emergency plan that is already put in place. A mass notification system allows the director to easily update the parents through their preferred mode of communication- voice, text, and/or email. Cybersecurity Let’s not forget the importance of your network being secure. Your computers store essential, important information regarding tuition payments and medical records. If you do not have a system in place to secure the data, daycares can be easy targets for cyber criminals. DES has the tools you need to keep the kids safe and ease the parent’s worries. Our talented team of engineers can provide a free security assessment of your space and create a plan to keep your children safe. Call us at 1-800-864-4166 to schedule it today! Now Read These! FCC Launches Cybersecurity Pilot for K-12: What You Need to Know READ New PCCD Grant Update: $100,000 Instant Funding for School Safety READ PCCD Grant Deadline: Plan for School Emergency Alerts Ahead of Alyssa’s Law READ

STEM Students Use School Lab Software Virtually The computer lab is loaded with heavy software. The students are home with iPads. A network solution that provides seamless and systematic access to the school lab. Aug 28, 2020 Resembling a space-age army, thirty powerful computer workstations line the perimeter of the school computer lab. Each unit is harnessed with the graphics interface and processing power to handle the most intensive technology applications. Loaded with leading software, including AutoCAD for 3D modelling, Adobe Premiere for video editing and Adobe Photoshop for graphics, these computers are essential to a STEM – or STEAM - curriculum. Just one glitch. The students are locked down at home. As schools continue to navigate their safe reopening plans, some schools are going fully online while others are opting for a hybrid blend. Either way, those computer labs, with their wealth of resources, are not being utilized fully. While remote desktop is possible, orchestrating it systematically for several hundred high schoolers involves a system-wide intervention. These were several Allegheny County school districts’ conundrums as they planned their academic year. Turning to DES as their technology provider, DES network engineers merged these computer lab timetables with the schools' remote access system. When the clock hits 10:05 AM on a Monday morning, Mrs. Garcia’s ninth grade sketch-up class gets automatic access to the computer lab when they sign into the network. Once that class period is over, tenth grade virtually enters the lab for multimedia. With the virtual system, the lab is fully utilized as if the classes were taking place in-person. In some cases, the instructor can be physically present in the lab and rotate from computer to computer observing the students’ work. As an option, the school could enable the students to talk with and get assistance from their teacher in real-time. One school district that DES worked with provided Bluetooth mice and keyboards to augment student iPads. While the screen size is not as large as the lab computer monitors, the zoom function and interactivity still allow for a detailed workflow. One user described the usability as so immersive, they completely forgot they were working on their iPad from home. Greg DiFiore, network manager at DES, explained the ease of implementing the system. “For those customers already using the Fortigate firewall from Fortinet, it’s a matter of configuring the advanced settings. We use the existing network infrastructure - no additional hardware is needed.” For clients without Fortinet software, DES can still work with you to arrive at the same solution. Please call our account managers with your network conundrum. Together, we can keep school doors open during these unsettled times. Now Read These! 5G Scores in the Steel City READ Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) Eliminates Cellular Dead Zones READ Morgan State University Enhances Student Life with Wi-Fi 6 READ

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Wirelessly Connect to your Conference Room AV See how the Dante System allows you to wirelessly connect your devices to your favorite legacy audio gear. Apr 11, 2022 Start a call on your mobile, walk into your conference room and seamlessly continue the call using the room's mic and speakers. Choose a playlist on your laptop and wirelessly stream it to the overheads. See how the Dante System allows you to wirelessly connect your devices to your favorite legacy audio gear. Now Read These! DES Audiovisual Enlivens Duquesne’s New School of Osteopathic Medicine READ A Spectacular Entrance for Steamfitters 449 READ The DES Solution Toolkit for K-12 READ