Local firm helped upgrade El Toro Youth Center computer system
Published in the June 11-27, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Staff Report
Armando Garcia with his Dicar Networks crew in their Morgan Hill office. For more information, call (408) 850-6400 or visit dicarnetworks.com. Photo by Marty Cheek
Starting at 8, Armando Garcia spent many childhood hours bussing tables at his grandfather’s restaurant and dreaming of owning his own eatery one day. His dining enterprise dream changed with the training in electronics that he received as a sailor in the U.S. Navy.
Following years of working in the Silicon Valley IT industry after leaving the military, Garcia started Dicar Networks in San Jose. The company recently moved to Morgan Hill to help local individuals and businesses with computer and telecom challenges.
Morgan Hill Life asked Garcia about Dicar Networks and how he and his team of experts help customers.
The mobile market is driving companies to install or upgrade their wireless networks. How can you help ensure system security as firms build their wireless networks?
One of the more interesting and challenging areas is the growth of wireless networks. With users having two or three wireless device, the need for scalability, reliability and security are of utmost importance. The challenge is that there are two frequency bands that are used, with the lower one, 2.4 GHz, being used for most remote control appliances and this causes interference with wireless networks. The higher band, 5 GHz, is much cleaner and is available on most devices and wireless access points. My suggestion is to use the higher band and also ensure that the access point can handle the number of devices, not users, at peak load. Security is addressed by your enterprise grade wireless network equipment. The major concern is having rogues in your network. When, for convenience, someone attaches a wireless access point to the network, this becomes a point of entry for intruders. This can be detected and re-mediated with the security features on wireless networks.
Dicar partners with Digium to provide customers with a system that integrates office communications, including phone, fax, chat and web mashups. What are some features of the Switchvox system that might help businesses develop their communication at the office and in the field?
One of the vendors we represent is Digium, which manufactures the Switchvox VoIP PBX that allows businesses to increase their customer support and communications. This is accomplished by call center technology providing a business of any size to have the same basic capabilities of large businesses.
The system will send voice mails to your email as wave packets so that they can be listened to on your mobile device. Remote workers can be reached at their office number and have all of the PBX functionality at their location. Call conferencing allows for multiple callers to access a virtual conference room and communicate with each other.
What benefits does Dicar’s partnerships provide in quality service for your customers?
We have partnered with six manufacturers that we found to be the best value for our customers which include Aerohive, WatchGuard, Digium and Lenovo. In our business there are partners and then there are partners. We made a decision to only represent those products that we used ourselves and could support them at a high level.
Dicar helped Morgan Hill’s El Toro Youth Center build its computer base and Internet technology for the education of local children. Why did Dicar decide to get involved with this center?
Dicar Networks moved its office to Morgan Hill about a year and a half ago. To gain visibility, we decided to award a wireless network along with a unified threat management firewall including cabling and installation. We awarded the system to El Toro Youth Center based on their entry application. Working with them, we discovered one of the best youth programs in the county. The supervised homework time, athletic activities, reading programs and social time was being delivered all with a severely limited budget. At times the center was in danger of closing down due to lack of funding, but the Morgan Hill community pitched in to keep it operational and help the children who use it.
