Crosstalk with Select Telecom (Summer 2016)
Every issue, “Get to Know Select” will feature a different employee sharing their experience at Select Telecom, along with updates about what’s going on at the company. Have a favorite employee you’d like to hear from? Email us to let us know!
Take it from your author, who has spent his whole life around Select Telecom – Fred Pell’s arrival at Select has been a long time coming. Mike Durante and Fred Pell worked together in the ‘80s and ‘90s at TSI, and then again at Wiltel. In the last twenty years whenever staffing problems crop up, you could be sure to hear Mike say, “I’ve gotta get Fred to come work here!”
Several of Select’s veterans worked with Fred at TSI and Wiltel, so his onboarding last October was much like a homecoming. For Fred, though, the job has sometimes been like remembering how to ride a bike. Fred has worked in the communications industry for more than three decades, so he’s seen a lot. But as Project Manager he’s asked to oversee all kinds of jobs, from cabling to PA systems to phone systems, and often that means getting up on a ten foot ladder to fix a speaker or servicing a phone system he hasn’t worked with in twenty years. Fred takes it all in stride; just ask how he’s doing and he’ll tell you: “I’m livin’ the dream.”
Fred got his start in telecoms in 1980. Frustrated with his job as a caretaker on a Greenwich estate (about which he reminisces fondly), his roommate Bob Capasso helped him get a job at TSI. That started a 35 year career in communications that continues at Select Telecom. About his decision to join Select, Fred knew, “It was time for me to come back and work with my friends.”
Fred enjoys his family life. He and his wife, Sue, get away to the beach or a for weekend up in Vermont whenever they can. Though Fred is just as happy to relax at home, cook a meal, and sip good ale. Fred and Sue’s kids are grown up and out of the house: Sarah is finishing up veterinarian school and David works as an engineer.
Among telecommunications service providers, Select Telecom stands out for our team’s commitment to premier customer service. Fred has spent a career with a kindred attitude, and feels at home here. He speaks for all of us when he says, “my favorite part of working at Select Telecom has been getting to work with a dedicated team that’s highly motivated by customer service, and that also happens to be a bunch of my friends.”