---

Happy Anniversary TeleBright
By Mellenie Runion, Marketing

Founded in November 1988 TeleBright, originally known as IntelliSales, kicked off the month of November with a celebration of the 20th anniversary of business. This proud achievement is a significant milestone, having survived the economic storms during the years. What is the longevity secret to business? The secret is having a dedicated staff who ensure client success, every day. This winning team is what keeps a business strong and healthy for 20 years.

Reprint from CoStar
Software Company Releases Energy Benchmarking Tool
TeleBright Packages Benchmarking and Trend Analysis in a New Energy Management Software Program By Andrew C. Burr

The cost of energy is altering the way businesses are being operated, and in some cases, opening entirely new doors.

TeleBright Software Corp., a Rockville, MD-based technology firm that helps companies manage their telecom expenses, has jumped into the energy efficiency sector with a new program that benchmarks energy use in commercial buildings.

"Building owners know what they’re spending on energy. They get their reports every month, they see the line items. What they don’t know is how efficient their building is," said Chet Thaker, CEO of TeleBright. "Benchmarking is the real needle you need to move."

The energy software, a modified version of TeleBright’s flagship telecom management program, generates detailed analytical reports on electricity, water and gas usage, including historical data. It even converts energy use to greenhouse gas emissions. And thanks to a partnership with the government’s Energy Star program, the reports also include a monthly Energy Star score, allowing stakeholders to gauge exactly how energy efficient their buildings are.

Buildings with scores of 75 or higher are eligible to receive the Energy Star label, a designation of the nation’s most energy efficiency structures. About 4,000 commercial buildings have earned the label so far, while about 8 billion square feet of commercial space has been benchmarked through the program.

But TeleBright’s software is more than just a fancy way to receive an Energy Star score, which building professionals can already generate online for free.

The program’s chief benefit is in the collection, organization and analysis of energy data, which is particularly useful across a portfolio of buildings that may house a variety of operations, or use different energy providers. The software allows customers to line-up buildings and compare things like peak energy consumption, utility rates and total energy costs, helping them identify consumption trends and locate expenses that can be reduced by applying energy efficiency strategies.

The program can also read submeters, which TeleBright provides at an additional cost. By feeding submeter readings into the program, a commercial tenant could monitor the energy use of its space, or measure the consumption of something as specific as a data center or single server within that space.

TeleBright said it has no intention of expanding into energy consulting, where energy service companies (known as ESCOs), commercial real estate services firms and a rapidly emerging sector of independent consulting groups are all battling for business. In fact, Thaker indicated that customers may appreciate the fact that the firm isn’t pitching its own follow-up services.

"We have no bias. We’re not on anybody’s side except the customer," Thaker said.

TeleBright is marketing its software to building owners and tenants, but its main targets are property management firms that handle big portfolios of buildings, and building systems manufacturers that Thaker says could potentially package TeleBright’s software with its own products, as an added service for consumers.

Eventually, Thaker would like to take the software directly to utilities, which he says could use the product to streamline invoicing. In other words, instead of receiving separate bills for water, electricity and gas, businesses could see all of their utility expenses in one place, and at the time same, have energy baselines and trends at their fingertips. "We would love to be that platform for the utility," Thaker said.

To learn more about the Benchmark Report watch a quick video by our own Patrick McGugan

Cell phones are made of various components which cause greenhouse gas to produce. Please do your part and recycle your old cell phone. If your phone is in working order please consider donating it to your local community. Contact your fire department or find another organization from this list.

EPA makes it easy for you to do the right thing and recycle your cell phone with eCycling. http://www.epa.gov/osw/partnerships/plugin/cellphone/

Cell Phones for Soldiers -- http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/ Started in April of 2004 by 13-year-old Brittany Bergquist and her 12-year-old brother Robbie of Norwell, Massachusetts. Their goal is to help our soldiers serving overseas call home.

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence -- http://www.ncadv.org/takeaction/DonateaPhone_129.html NCADV has partnered with The Wireless Foundation for over 7 years on the CALL TO PROTECT program. The lifeline provided by donated phones has literally saved lives over the course of the partnership.

Recycle My Cell Phone -- http://www.recyclemycellphone.org/ Recycle My Cell Phone is a grassroots campaign that seeks to educate consumers about the impacts of their purchases, beginning with the extraction of raw materials through the end of product life.  EARTHWORKS, an environmental non-profit organization has teamed up with CollectiveGood, a leader in responsible cell phone recycling, to either refurbish or recycle your old cell phone using the highest environmental and social standards.

If you haven't been paying attention to the newest additions in printing you are in for a big surprise.

COST: The price tag for these little machines have come way down and now that the sales are on for the holidays, you can pick up a color printer for the price of a nice lunch.

PORTABILITY: If you are always on the run, the new devices can come fully equipped with a Bluetooth card. A wireless Bluetooth has infrared so you can print straight from your PDA, in addition to a battery and parallel print cable. The carry case might be an option if you don't have time to be careful with the equipment.

PHOTO QUALITY: At one time color photos were given 20 years - tops for color correct stability. That's why you can visit your parents' house and see horrid pictures of family members in an array of non-natural colors. The prints have aged in various stages depending on the environment and the chemical structure that remained on the paper after the last wash. Today's ink jet and laser printers are providing a print life of 50 - 96 years (not in direct sun).

ALL IN ONE: These printers have all the functions of your office in one device. It practically comes with a cup of coffee, scan, fax, copy, print color, B&W, even duplex. One downside, when this puppy goes down you are left with nothing but your coffee.

This is definitely a time to see what's out there, but shop around there are hundreds of options.

Our blog is available for your thoughts and messages. We are posting messages as news becomes available during each month. You can find our blog from the Leadership page on the left side. Or the direct link is http://www.telebright.blogspot.com.