Team Spotlight: Greg “Go Rams” Smith, Journeyman Lineworker
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The Future of the Internet is…Grandparents?
According to the Pew Research Center, 59 percent of seniors are active internet users, which means almost 32 million older adults are using the internet.
There is a whole new generation of older Americans who have had long, successful careers in technology and have a strong understanding of how to get the most out of the internet in their retirement. Others – you know who you are – have been early adopters of technology for decades, signing on for the first “brick” car phones in the ’70s, playing Pong on their Atari video consoles in the early ‘80s and wiring up their smart homes in the early 2000s. And yet another group simply wants to check their email.
Regardless of your current relationship with the technology, it’s advantages and opportunities to enhance lifestyles for all ages are growing, especially for older individuals who are finding more ways to use the internet for connection, convenience, as well as safety and wellness.
Connection
Connecting remotely with family and friends is one of the greatest advantages the internet can provide. Watching children and grandchildren grow and being a part of long-distance family events such as births, weddings, and graduations is truly priceless. Many people are using Facetime, Skype, WhatsApp and Zoom frequently to see the faces of the people who are important to them.
Reliable bandwidth with strong upload speeds is essential to these connections. Did you know that only 100% fiber connectivity gives you the same speed for upload as for download and that upload speed is about 100 times faster than any competing provider in the Estes Valley? Upload speed is how fast your data is sent from you to others, and it is necessary for them to see and hear you clearly on a video call. It is also needed for sending and uploading photos, videos and other data through email, social media and cloud services. Only Trailblazer’s fiber connection can provide that reliability when it matters most.
Convenience
If you’ve only used the internet in the past for video chats and a little email, then there is a world of time-saving opportunities to explore from the comfort of your home. Imagine it’s another snowy spring day in Estes Park and you have errands to run, bills to pay and doctors’ appointments. Here are a few alternatives that reliable high-speed internet can offer:
- How about placing an order for groceries online or ordering your dinner from a local restaurant through DoorDash?
- Make that mobile deposit to your bank account and pay some bills online.
- Curl up with a good book. You can buy ebooks from Amazon, Apple, Google, and other digital retailers, but why spend money when you can borrow them from your local library? If your library is signed up with Libby or Hoopla, you can browse, borrow, and read books directly through the app.
- Check out the latest weather, news updates and sports scores on your favorite apps, streaming devices, and websites or check out the webcams around town to see when it’s safe to go out.
- Entertain the grandkids at home if the day at Rocky Mountain National Park got rained out. You have the bandwidth for video games, movies and posting to social media to keep them happy.
- Maybe take a virtual tour of somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit. April in Paris anyone, even in October?
- You can even schedule a telehealth appointment with your doctor instead of a live visit when you need it to stay healthy and get the treatment you need.
Safety and Wellness
At Trailblazer Broadband, we do more than just provide the fast, dependable fiber internet you’ve come to count on for entertainment and productivity. We develop and maintain networks that keep your service as reliable as possible to facilitate wellness and life-saving technology in your home. Wellness often extends to concerns about the health and safety of remaining independent in their own homes, especially if they live alone. The concern of a medical emergency or fall is ever-present.
Fortunately, technology has dramatically improved safety and security at home—the kind of safety and security to keep seniors living independently in their homes.
And with today’s technology, seniors and their families can rest assured that they can enjoy their golden years and independence for far longer.
By utilizing today’s smart home technology and other safety and security features—enhanced by Trailblazer Broadband’s fiber internet—seniors can confidently enjoy their retirement in their own homes.
Below, we highlight some of the technology available to seniors today to help them live at home more independently and safely than any previous generation before.
Personal Emergency Response System
Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS), such as One Call Alert or Medical Guardian, form the cornerstone for seniors to be independent and confident while living at home.
This cutting-edge technology means that help during an emergency—from a medical scare to a fall—is always at hand, even when a phone is out of reach and a family member cannot assist quickly.
The Personal Emergency Response System is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
At the touch of a button, you or your loved one will be connected to emergency contacts to get help as fast as possible.
In addition, the PERS features two-way voice communication right on the device, so there is no fumbling around for a phone or even a need to dial a phone number—just a simple press of the button and the connection to trained emergency assistance is immediately available.
Smart Home Technology
Today’s smart home technology makes basic, daily tasks easier and safer for seniors. For example, by utilizing smart light bulbs, seniors can turn the lights on or off by using their voice, reducing the need for awkward positioning and bending, which can sometimes lead to falls or other injuries.
Smart light bulb voice activation also means there’s no need to search for light switches in the dark, making nighttime walks to the bathroom or kitchen far safer.
Many smart light bulbs are compatible with Amazon’s Alexa, Google Home, and other Smart Home devices, which connect to Trailblazer Broadband’s reliable fiber internet.
So, your loved one can easily integrate smart light bulbs into their smart home through easy-to-use voice-controlled devices.
Smart Security
Smart home technology can also help seniors be more secure in their homes.
And recent innovations go well beyond traditional security systems like burglar alarms or surveillance cameras. Smart home security technology can integrate across the home’s fiber internet, providing protection almost anywhere in the house.
Exterior smart cameras allow a loved one to know if an unknown person approaches a senior’s property.
And indoor smart cameras can let family members check in if they cannot contact their elderly parents.
Other smart home advances like glass break detectors can alert a loved one to intruders and help deter property crime. These state-of-the-art technologies can help seniors feel safer and more secure in their homes.
Your neighbors at Trailblazer Broadband are honored to be a part of helping seniors live more fulfilling and self-assured lives at home. And because Trailblazer Broadband’s fiber internet is so reliable, you’ll be confident that your smart home and its safety and convenience features will always be there for you.
Trailblazer Broadband is municipally owned and is Estes Park’s only locally supported high-speed broadband service provided over fiber optic lines. The Town of Estes Park provides information only and does not endorse any of the listed companies, the views they express or the products/services they offer. For more information about internet service, contact Trailblazer Broadband at info@trailblazerbroadband.com or (970)577-3770. More Trailblazer news is available at www.trailblazerbroadband.com and https://www.facebook.com/TrailblazerBroadband/.
Trailblazer Internet Connectivity During Power Outages
Springtime in the Rockies is always full of surprises, which recently included a system-wide power outage for the Estes Park Power and Communications service area during the evening of March 30th. Estes Park Power and Communications line workers worked to restore power quickly and safely in less than three hours. During the outage, a number of questions came into Trailblazer Broadband’s 24-hour customer service line about the impact of a power outage on broadband service, and the Trailblazer team thought it was important to share the answers to those questions publicly.
First, in the event of a power outage such as the one on March 30th, Trailblazer Broadband internet service is available and accessible, thanks to backup resources that power the broadband network combined with redundant fiber paths out of Estes Park. If one fiber path is compromised, another one is instantly and automatically used to reroute internet traffic. If an outage is caused by fiber damage rather than a power interruption, the internet connection may be lost until a repair can be made. In that case, Trailblazer clients can go to www.trailblazerbroadband.com and click on “Status” for updates.
The second part of the connectivity answer depends on the internal workings of your home or office. Assuming your home is still connected to the internet, the next link is your Trailblazer Nokia Gateway modem/router which requires power to operate the same way your TV, monitors, and gaming devices do.
Of course, anything with a charged battery will work – a computer, laptop, tablet, smartphone, etc. For that reason, anyone who depends on the internet for work or school may want to consider investing in an Uninterruptible Power Supply, commonly called a UPS. Basically, a “battery in a box,” a UPS is a backup power supply for your Gateway and other essential devices, which can provide power for periods of time ranging from minutes to hours during a power outage.
If your Gateway has power from a UPS and the batteries are charged on your other devices, those devices can connect to the internet via WiFi or a hard-wired connection during a power outage. Many UPS products have multiple outlets and/or USB ports, much like a power strip, so you can power other essential devices as well as your Gateway modem/router as needed. Costs and capabilities of UPS backups range greatly across a variety of potential purchase options.
For home use, a UPS can keep you from losing your work or forcing a hard shutdown due to a sudden power outage. If the power is out longer than the battery life of the UPS, you have time to properly save your work and shut down your device. It is also necessary to have battery backup if you use a computer-based or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone. Some UPS units protect your equipment from power surges, often absorbing any voltage irregularities without you even realizing it.
When considering a UPS purchase, first determine which devices besides your modem that you may want to power during an outage, keeping in mind that some devices such as TVs take a great deal of power and will drain your UPS more quickly. Some devices may already have battery backups of their own. For example, Medical Device Uninterruptible Power Supply Systems (Medical Device UPS Systems) are designed to provide uninterrupted power precisely for your particular medical device. Most home security systems are programmed to switch to backup battery power during a power outage. In both of those examples, it is important to double-check your system’s unique requirements.
Beyond purchasing a UPS, you may consider other long-term back options such as generators, cellular hotspots (assuming that the cell towers are operational), and heavier-use UPS units for businesses. To be prepared, assess your own situation and what is critical to you, your family and your business in the event of a future outage. As with fire and other weather dangers, it is advisable to have an emergency contingency plan for your technology as well!
Trailblazer Broadband is municipally owned and is Estes Park’s only locally supported high-speed broadband service provided over fiber optic lines. The Town of Estes Park provides information only and does not endorse any of the listed companies, the views they express or the products/services they offer. For more information about internet service, contact Trailblazer Broadband at info@trailblazerbroadband.com or (970)577-3770. More Trailblazer news is available at www.trailblazerbroadband.com and https://www.facebook.com/TrailblazerBroadband/
Trailblazer Introduces MyBundle for Streaming
Trailblazer is pleased to announce that it is partnering with an independent company called MyBundle.tv to provide Trailblazer Broadband clients and Estes Park residents and with a free resource that recommends streaming services and packages based on your own unique TV-watching preferences.
You may already be streaming a few things on Netflix or with your Amazon Prime subscription, but what about Live TV, news, cooking shows, sports? Is it really possible to cut the cable TV cord altogether and stream everything? The answer is YES!
“From the beginning, Trailblazer made the conscious decision not to offer a TV bundle with our internet service because there are so many options out there,” says Kim Smith Trailblazer Customer Experience Manager. “We are not in the TV business, so we knew we would not be able to satisfy the unique preferences of all our internet clients at a competitive price in today’s ever-changing streaming market. That’s why we are letting people know about MyBundle, to make the streaming process easier.”
Here’s how it works.
Get Started With the Find My Bundle Tool
The best place to start on MyBundle is by using the Find My Bundle Tool. At its core, this tool is essentially a “quiz” leading you through simple questions about your existing streaming apps, channels, and services and your content needs and preferences. All it takes is a few minutes to find out how you can cut the cable cord and potentially save hundreds of dollars a year.
Once you’ve finished the quiz and picked the channels you still want to watch, the Find My Bundle Tool quickly configures packages and bundles to meet your needs and presents their price points.
It expedites and simplifies the research process so you won’t miss out on your favorite shows and movie apps or any of the sports and teams you follow. Be sure to check out the Great Value option for even more savings.
Building a bundle with the Find My Bundle Tool lays a strong foundation for all your streaming home entertainment.
Best of all, it is based on your preferences and viewing habits, including what you need for LiveTV and up-to-date news. No more cable packages or lineups with channels you don’t even watch. And with MyBundle’s tools and features, you can see the cost savings over cable with your own eyes.
Discover New Content and Receive Recommendations With a Personalized Streaming Guide
Once the Find MyBundle Tool has created your bundle and saved you money, it’s time to let MyBundle’s technology help you find new shows and movies you’ll love.
By creating your free MyBundle Profile and selecting your existing streaming subscriptions, MyBundle can offer recommendations from any of them, streamlining the search for your next great binge.
MyBundle’s intelligent algorithm searches for content based on your previously entered preferences and viewing habits. Then, it proposes specific shows and movies to fit those preferences, whether the show or film is on Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Peacock, or Paramount+.
Then, based on your viewing history and recommendations, MyBundle generates and displays a personalized streaming guide unique to you and your tastes. Unfortunately, your cable company and its locked-in channel lineup lack MyBundle’s sophisticated abilities.
Build Watchlists for Movies and Series Across All Your Streaming Apps
Now, it’s time to let MyBundle better organize your content into more efficient, accessible watchlists.
MyBundle lets you create a Watchlist for shows and movies that encompass all of your streaming apps, channels, and services into these universal watchlists. So, rather than switching between apps trying to find a new series or movie that piqued your curiosity, you can see content in your MyBundle Watchlists.
So check out your MyBundle Watchlists and choose what you’re in the mood for on a given night. Maybe it’s a suspenseful police show or a workplace comedy. MyBundle’s Watchlists present all your content across all your streaming apps in simple, well-organized lists so you can get right to watching.
Whether you’re trying to cut the cable cord completely or just adding to your entertainment options, using MyBundle’s tools, you’ll understand how to find the streaming apps and content you’ll actually use and enjoy—and save you money! With Trailblazer Broadband’s high-speed fiber internet, MyBundle can help you cut the cord for good!
MyBundle is independent of Trailblazer Broadband, and using the Find MyBundle tool to get a streaming recommendation is free. Anyone – whether they are a Trailblazer Broadband customer or not – can go to take the Find My Bundle quiz with no obligation.” To learn more about MyBundle and all the great entertainment it has to offer https://mybundle.tv/trailblazerbroadband.
Trailblazer Broadband is municipally owned and is Estes Park’s only locally supported high-speed broadband service provided over fiber optic lines. For more information, contact Trailblazer Broadband at info@trailblazerbroadband.com or (970)577-3770. More Trailblazer news is available at www.trailblazerbroadband.com and https://www.facebook.com/TrailblazerBroadband/.
The Difference is Clear: Trailblazer Broadband Saves You Money
With Trailblazer, customers can save up to 50% on their monthly bills compared to other providers (see price comparison below).
Enjoy up to 1 GIG download and upload speeds, no data caps, and no long-term contracts when you make the switch. So why wait? Check our construction map to see when Trailblazer will be available in your area and sign up for email alerts to get notified of updates.
Community Owned.
Local Support.
Nothing Like It.
*Trailblazer Broadband does not provide TV or phone service. It is not affiliated with nor does it endorse any specific TV or phone service. All cost comparison data is based on published rates by a competing internet provider as of 5/31/22. The 1st Year Cost in the Trailblazer scenario includes a $99.99 one-time charge for Ooma equipment. The comparison information provided is based on examples of many possible selections for independent TV and phone service to demonstrate potential savings. Trailblazer does not warrant or guarantee any pricing information except for that of its own service at the time of this writing. Pricing is subject to change at any time.
Mayor of Estes Park Receives Trailblazer Broadband Service
We are continuing to roll out our fiber-optic one-gigabyte internet services to different areas of Estes Park. Two weeks ago, Wendy Koenig, Mayor of Estes Park, received Trailblazer Broadband services at her home. She has been a major part of this project since the start by advocating for options and ultimately bringing the dream of better internet in Estes Park to life with the creation of Trailblazer Broadband.
In her most recent article, she discusses how her installation process went. She says “Two weeks ago, the one-gigabyte Internet service that Trailblazer provides, arrives at Roger and my home. During the three hours James Webb and crew take to install the service, I can’t help but think about how, what presently is a town run broadband utility was set in motion during my time as trustee. The unique way the lines and dots of dreams connect to form boxes. How within the boxes, the needs of students, business and homeowners and tourist merge.”
With her installation finished, Wendy says “I know that now while video conferencing, there will be no notice of an unstable Internet connection. Nor will the video freeze on the computer screen. I possess the capacity for meeting the video demands that the pandemic is making on me, both as a mayor with obligations to fulfill and as a grandmother with grandkids I love in Lakewood and Slovakia. And, I am beyond thrilled about the way you, the townspeople of Estes Park stepped up to connect the dots so everyone wins.”
We are excited to continue bringing our services to the rest of Estes Park. Stay informed about when service will be available in your area here.
And read more from Mayor Wendy Koenig by clicking here.
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