January 18 - 22:  Installer I

February 15 - 19:  Installer II, Copper

March 15 - 19:  Technician

April 12 - 16:  Installer II, Fiber

May 17 - 21:  Installer I

June 14 - 18:  Technician

July 12 - 16:  Installer II, Copper

August 16 - 20:  Installer II, Fiber

September 13 - 17:  Technician

October 18 - 22:  Installer I

For questions or if you would like to sign up for a course, contact Rick Bowers at 740-964-7081 ext 2110 or e-mail rbowers@echo24.com.  Please note that applications must be received at least two weeks prior to the test date. 

Tuition is as follows: 

Installer Level I:  $1,050

Installer Level II Copper:  $1,200

Installer Level II Fiber:  $1,400

Technician:  $1,400

Application / Exam fee:  $200

ITSIMM Manual:  $139 

Workbook fees:  $65

Advance placement fee (if applicable):  $50

Our sources tell us that PT capitalizes on the customer’s trust in their expertise by intimidating them to accept every new software release regardless of whether it in any way benefits their business.  It certainly benefits the bottom line of PT because these software upgrades are very costly and sadly, often unnecessary.  Even worse, often these software upgrades introduce bugs, or problems which the manufacturer did not intend, but which must be dealt with and resolved.  These resolutions can often be time consuming, and we know that PT likes doing all this work on the customer’s dime.

At Echo 24, we believe “if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it”.  Our policy is to only administer software upgrades when there is a specific benefit to the customer.  Generally this would involve activating a newly released feature that the customer actually wants and / or needs.  We never use intimidation tactics to sell an unnecessary upgrade.

Since this company sells refurbished phone equipment, and the economy’s in the tank; people have been calling them looking for bargains.  PT customers have been calling to complain about being charged $500 for a new phone for starters.  But this is tip of the iceberg. 

For every service call, PT charges a $180 trip charge plus $180 per hour portal to portal!  This means a one hour service call costs the client $360 plus parts!  Their portal to portal policy means that PT is double dipping during the drive between client sites as they are charging cleint A to leave and go to client B while at the same time they are billing client B for the drive time from client A to their location.

At Echo 24, we never charge trip charges.  Our standard hourly rate of $88 per hour is competitive and fair for both us and our clients.  Furthermore, we only bill “portal to portal” if the call is out of town, after-hours, or otherwise a special trip.  Otherwise, we stop billing when we depart the client site and only bill travel time to the site.  That same service call that PT is billing $360 only costs and Echo 24 client $88!  In today’s economy, who can afford to waste 172 dollars?

Still, this is not the full extent of the ripoffs offered by PT.  Wait to I tell you about their software upgrades.

Prefer the rock solid reliability of TDM instead?  Also - no problem.

The Panasonic Network Communications Platform (NCP) is going to rock the industry.  After years of selling against Pure IP, we’ve finally found a reason to sell it.  This rack mounted telephony server was designed with the savvy IT professional in mind.   Configurable for Pure IP with SIP trunks and SIP or Proprietary IP stations, the user friendly admin interface is perfect for IT professionals who want to control and administer their telephone system on their network.

For the same professional with applications requiring POTS lines, PRI, T-1, Digital Stations, and / or Analog (Single Line) Stations, the Panasonic NCP is configurable to satisfy all your requirements.  I know of no other system where you can get Pure IP without sacrificing basic and advanced telephony features.  Priced very competitively, you’ll never consider Cisco or Nortel again.

Are you a small business owner without an IT staff?  The Panasonic TDE offers all the capabilities as the NCP above in a wall mount cabinet designed for maintenance and administration by the highly trained technicians of Echo 24.  The user functionality between the TDE and NCP is identical.

For years Panasonic has been the leader in Wireless Premises Telecommunications.  Our patented Multi-Cell DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications) System is a must have for mobile workers in campus environments, manufacturing plants, car dealerships, and more.  This reliable system does not require the expensive deployment of Wireless Access Points in order to be functional.  Not only that, sound quality is unparalleled in the industry.

Applications for NCP, TDE, and Wireless DECT:

-         Hotel / Motel – Hospitality

-         Healthcare

-         K-12 Schools

-         Higher Education

-         Financial Institutions

-         Insurance

-         Retail

-         Car Dealerships

-         Government

-         Manufacturing

-         Sports Facilities

-         Religious Institutions

-         Law Firms

-         Businesses with remote “teleworkers”

-         Businesses with mobile workers

-         Businesses with multiple locations and a desire for seamless integration through multi-site networking

-         Businesses with the ability and desire to manage their network internally

-         Businesses that prefer Echo 24 manage their telecom services

The first mode is Traditional.  This is simply where the patient presses a call button, which in turn illuminates a dome light in the hall outside the room and simultaneously signals the nurse station.  The unit secretary answers the call (if she’s at the nurse station) then attempts to contact the appropriate care giver.  Common complaints about this method are:

-         inefficiency, too long to respond to the patient request

-         does not make best use of highly trained nurses’ time

-         adds to the noise on the unit, disrupting the healing environment and often making it difficult for patients to sleep.

-         higher upfront cost to install because master stations / call answer terminals are required at every nurse station.

Despite these problems, Traditional mode is by far the most prevalent operating mode utilized in most hospitals.

Next is Unattended mode.   This is where patient calls do not signal the nurse’s station but instead pages or calls the nurse associated with that patient.

Before explaining what is wrong with this let me point out an important fact.  47% of all patient calls have do not require an RN!  Another 18% have nothing to do with any kind of caregiver!  Examples of non-nurse related calls are:

-         requests for bedpan

-         requests for food / beverage

-         request for blanket

-         Is the pastor on the floor?

In Unattended mode, nurses are required to triage their patients’ calls.  What’s wrong with this?  There is a nursing shortage!  A Nurse should not be interrupted from providing care that is essential to their patients by responding to requests for soda that can be taken care of by an Aide. 

Why would anyone put their highly trained nurses in charge of triaging their own calls when we now know that the response to more then half of those calls can be handled by others?

What we want to talk about now is Centralized Nurse Call.  In this scenario, all patient calls throughout an entire hospital ring to a central location or call center.  Depending on the size of the hospital and call volume, the call center can be staffed with one or two highly trained operators. 

With Intego Pronet.net, operators are a mere click away from every patient’s assigned RN, LPN, and / or CNA.  The operators triage the call and send a detailed message to the alphanumeric pager of the appropriate care giver or aide.  Code Blue or Emergency calls are priority and get answered before all other calls.

Advantages of this system are:

-         RNs perform only tasks that require an RN (administer pain medication, etc)

-         Hospital units enjoy a reduction in the amount of noise on the floor enhancing the environment of healing.

-         Caregivers get to the patient faster resulting in increased patient satisfaction

-         Increased staff efficiency

-         Lower upfront cost to install, master stations are not required at every nurse station.

-         Lower total cost of ownership

Lowest total cost of ownership?  A 600-bed hospital in Illinois conducted a study and found that the increased efficiencies of Centralized Nurse Call saved their hospital $55,000 per month!  That’s more than $600,000 per year in operating costs!

We mentioned that caregivers get to the patient faster.  Our studies have shown some key differences in response times between traditional nurse call and centralized nurse call environments.

-         Average time to answer a call:

o       Traditional 90 seconds

o       Centralized 25 seconds

-         Average time for caregiver to reach the patient:

o       Traditional 11 minutes

o       Centralized 5 minutes

Not only does the nurse get to the patient faster, but she arrives at the patient’s bedside already knowing what that patient needs.  No more going to the patient room to find out what the patient wants, then walking back down the hall to retrieve the pain med, then walking back to the room to administer the medicine.  The nurse simply arrives with the pain med and administers it!

Other companies claim that their systems can operate in Centralized Mode, but the reality is that they are extremely limited.  Intego has more Centralized nurse call systems installed in the United States than all of our competitors combined times five!  Call Echo 24 to arrange a live demonstration of this powerful system.

Exchange Prepares New Outreach Speakers

The BX Student Outreach program is growing.  Not only are new schools taking advantage of the program, but new speakers are volunteering.  Last week, seven BX members took part in a training session designed to prepare volunteers for speaking to local middle and high school students about careers in construction.

New speakers include:  Arnold DeSena (Simplex Grinnell), Tim Ray (Echo 24, Inc.), A.J. Saunders (Bovis Lend Lease), Matt Sprinkle (Elford, Inc.), Todd Trigg (Unlimited Concrete Solutions, LLC), Jim Valentas (Corna Kokosing Construction Co.) and Pat Zollars (Contracting Solutions, LLC).

The BX Outreach Program is always seeking volunteers willing to give a small portion of their time to help impact the industry’s future.  This is a great way for members, especially young managers, to get involved and make a difference.

For more information or to set up a quick training session, contact Deb Murphy or Kelly Purcell at the Exchange.

What is special about their IDC (Insulation Displacement Connection) technology?  Several things, from the silver plated contacts, to the gas tight 45 degree connecting blades, to the zero impact wire insertion (that is why we don’t call them “punch blocks” per se), to the fact that they can accept up to a 20 gauge wire.  None of these features exist with 66 or 110 blocks, but that isn’t the reason we specified ADC’s (Krone) 50 pair disconnect blocks.

When we design an Overhead Paging system, we prefer to specify home run cabling using category 3 cable.  Valcom’s 24 volt self amplified system is nicely facilitated by a structured cabling distributed type design and this in fact is one of their key selling points.  If you remember the old Christmas tree lights where if one bulb goes out the entire string goes out, you can appreciate at least one of the merits of this approach.  When a client expects to perform their own moves, adds, and changes on their overhead paging system there is no other way to go - one speaker, one cable. 

So, now we have a few dozen or several hundred speakers wired back to Telecommunciation Rooms and now we have to connect them to a signal source and power.  This requires looping several (sometimes all) of the speakers in parallel circuits.  Using 66 or 110 blocks you have to stretch out several feet of cross connect wire and flip your punch blade so that it doesn’t cut and then try to loop this wire to all the connection points all the while trying to make it look neat.

With 110 blocks, you’ll have a problem cross facing the label strips as they are designed to have labels in one space and cross connects in another.  Then after you have everything connected, if you have to remove a speaker from the circuit or add one, guess what?  You have to take the entire circuit down, remove all that cross connect wire, and start over.

That is, unless you have ADC/Krone 50 pair disconnect blocks in place.  The real reason we called out these blocks is their ability to accept two 24 AWG conductors per IDC!  What this permits in this situation is the ability to loop speakers in a circuit one speaker at a time and cut the wire at every single connection.  Then start the cross connect at that same speaker punching the new wire on top of the last and continue to the next cutting every wire all the way through the circuit as you insert (or punch) it into the block.  These blocks are designed to work this way and it is neater, cleaner, and easier to maintain.  The disconnect feature allows you to plug in an isolation module if you need to remove a speaker from service while maintaining service on the rest.

We had a chemical research and development lab northwest of Columbus that asked us to come in to document and assess their overhead cabling system.  The 70 volt system had been installed and added on to for thirty years by their maintenance folks.  Cables had been teed and wyed galore and absolutely nothing had been documented.   Forget all about shield integrity and proper grounding!

Our recommendation was to scrap the system and replace it with an all new Valcom solution.  The justification was that it would cost more to attempt to document and repair their existing system than it would have cost to replace it.  We gave them a firm fixed price proposal to do this and they rejected it insisting that we move forward with the documentation, troubleshooting, and repair on a time and materials basis.  Unfortunately, in the final analysis this ultimately cost 22% more than our replacement proposal and they were still left with an out-of-warranty system that is difficult to maintain and more costly to own.

ABSTRACT:  Patient care redesign involves people, processes and technology

coming together to meet or exceed patient expectations.  A centralized

communications system promotes professional nursing practice and optimizes all

the team member’s roles through more efficient use of staff.

As the healthcare environment increase in complexity, hospitals are looking for ways to improve the quality and outcomes of patient care while meeting financial goals.  Additionally, hospitals are reevaluating patient care delivery.  At Bergan Mercy Medical Center, a centralized communication system was a critical success factor when implementing a patient-focused care model.

The alpha-numeric pager

Although many aspects of patient-focused care involve decentralization of services, communication is one component of patient care that can be managed when centralized.  With centralized communications, the nurse is allowed the freedom to be at the bedside with the patient without the interruption of answering call lights or telephones.  This communication system also improves response time to patient calls.  A dedicated communication specialist answers the call lights immediately and notifies the appropriate patient care provider through an alphanumeric pager.  With computer interfacing into hospital information system, the patient’s name, diagnosis, physician, etc. are displayed on a central station when the call is answered, thus allowing the communication specialist to respond to the patient by name.

Once the patient’s need is determined, the appropriate care provider is notified.  Using the alphanumeric pager, staff are given the patient’s request and can return to the patient’s room prepared to meet his/her needs.  By providing the appropriate level of care (i.e. nursing assistant paged for bathroom assistance), time is used efficiently.  In addition, with alphanumeric pagers, staff are made aware of the patients specific request (i.e. pain medication) and obtain the necessary items before entering the patient’s room.  This creates fewer interruptions to the work-flow and decreases the number of unnecessary trips to the patient’s room. 

One intangible benefit of a centralized communication system is the decreased amount of noise on a unit, thus promoting a healing environment. Traditional nurse call systems have been used as intercoms to group page staff throughout units for phone calls, lifting help, etc.  An alpha-numeric pager will continue to allow the staff to group page; however, now it can be done with silent vibrating pagers versus noisy intercoms.

…versatility

The most common function of the central communication system is answering patient call lights; however, many other applications exist.

• Auto page.  Using alpha-numeric pagers, phone calls and detailed messages are processed without spending time at the desk searching for someone to answer the call.  In addition, the system is able to auto-page designated team members to respond to emergency situations such as “code blue” or “delivery”.  To automatically group page a button is activated at the patients bedside rather than paging each staff member individually.
• Ancillary departments.  Orders entered into the hospital information system (HIS) can be automatically paged to the appropriate person. For example, when an order for oxygen is placed into the HIS, the assigned respiratory therapist is automatically paged with a message indicating the patient’s name, room number, time and details of the order.  This feature requires no human intervention, thus saving valuable secretarial time.
• Inter-departmental communication.  Any staff member can be paged via his/her name, pager number, patient name or medical record number.  This feature also decreases the number of phone calls to the patient care units and allows ancillary departments to deliver messages, reports or other patient information directly to the designated staff member’s pager.
• Family members.  Family members in surgery waiting areas feel more comfortable leaving the area (i.e., to go to the cafeteria) without the fear of missing a surgeon’s update.  Through the pager, messages can be sent to the family regarding the progress of the surgery, thus decreasing the amount of time operating room staff spend searching for families to deliver messages.
• Critical care.  Families can be encouraged to return to work or home with the comfort of knowing the staff can reach them should there be a change in the patient’s condition.

These applications improve guest relations as well as patient and family satisfaction.

• Security.  The system can be used to assist the staff with infant security, tracking mental health patients and dispatching security officers.
• Answering service.  Hospital based answering systems appeal to physicians; an integrated system transmits collected messages to a physician’s pager, home, office computer or voice mailbox.  This application is not only cost-effective for the physician, but it also is a recruitment and marketing tools for the hospital.

In order to effectively manage the change to a new technology, a communications committee was formed to coordinate and plan the implementation process.  This team’s responsibility included the development of timeliness, protocols and education.  In addition, the committee continues to serve as a forum to the users of the system for troubleshooting and addressing day-to-day issues.

One of the most significant challenges was assisting the nursing staff through the change.  The entire process of communication changed from one that was driven by human contact to one that is completely driven by technology.  The more complex pager was selected over the simpler pagers due to its ability to communicate more effectively with extensive free text messages.

Managing the change

Has the system decreased the interruptions to the staff or has it made them so accessible we have actually increased the number of interruptions?  A year and a half later:  we realize all interruptions are now funneled through one source–the pagers.  Rather than responding to the telephone, call light, alarm, or other staff, the primary pathway for communication is the pager.  The pager’s benefits were realized when staff worked on units without the new system.  One staff member describer the “old” system as archaic.

Training is a critical element for successful implementation and should not be underestimated.  Although some of the training concern is basic to all uses, each unit addressed specific training needs.  In addition, ongoing education for new staff and float personnel needs to be developed with the initial implementation plan.  One goal is to develop a computer simulated orientation program for new staff.

The applications are endless:  the benefits numerous.  In this era of high tech, high acuity, shortened lengths-of-stay and cost containment, a communications system is vital for a hospital to maintain the human elements in patient care.  They system allows staff to use their time in more valuable ways—at the patient’s bedside.

Joyce Underwood,  MSN, RN is the Manager: Nursing Services in charge of patient communications at Aelegent-Bergan Mercy Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska.  The author wishes to acknowledge Dee Anesti, Rich Schuler, Dottie Brown, and Sally Leninman for their assistance.

One of the three oldest VA facilities in the nation (opening in late 1867), The VA Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio had housed and cared for more veterans than any other VA facility in the nation from 1865 to 1930. The Dayton VAMC currently serves approximately 6,500 inpatients and 200,000 outpatients each year.  The challenge was to improve staff efficiency, patient care, and patient satisfaction by tying the overhead paging system together throughout 18 buildings (ranging from the modern day 10 story hospital tower to outbuildings over 140 years old) through the existing fiber backbone and Cisco network.

In September of 2006, Echo 24 received a Notice of Award from the Dayton VA Medical Center to upgrade their existing Bogen paging system to a Valcom Voice Over IP solution. By the end of this two-phase project, we had built the new Valcom head end in a new building, installed 32 LAN devices and 671 speakers throughout 18 campus buildings (including their 10 story main hospital).

Phase one of the project included the installation of a new Valcom head end, integration of 28 Valcom LAN devices, installation of 231 overhead ceiling speakers, 15 volume controls, twelve 120 volt/20 amp circuits and we supplied the necessary equipment for integration of their Cisco telephone system. As part of the contract, we were required to maintain the integrity of the existing Bogen system and speaker functionality earmarked for replacement in phase two. This was an incredibly important aspect to the project. If the existing Bogen system was “turned off” prematurely, quality of patient care would have been compromised. We had 150 days to complete phase one – our deadline was March 15, 2007.

The project began several months prior to stepping foot on site. Two technicians and I took a road trip for technical training at Valcom’s state-of-the-art facility in Roanoke, Virginia. We learned the ins and outs of working with a total VOIP solution with their proprietary programming tool. When the project commenced in late November 2006, our plan was pretty simple; get the head end built and all of the cabling for the speakers and network connections ran; mount the LAN devices, then cut the VA over to the new system. Our RCDD and owner had engineered a home-run wiring design utilizing Krone blocks (to accommodate the daisy chaining of the speakers with the LAN units). Sounds simple enough, right? I really had my rose-colored glasses on the early days of phase one. It wasn’t too long after the onset of the project that I realized we were running cable in 140 year old structures. While I had spent weeks researching this customer and planning our installation strategy, I had missed an important aspect to the successful deployment of our application. While we had some very trying locations, we were able to identify, adapt and overcome those challenges with the cabling.

While the wiring was being installed, I was on site every week meeting with the VA to not only project manage, but to determine zones for this system. This was no small task – not only did I have to worry about phase one, but phase two had to be accounted for (of which no scope had yet been determined). In addition, not only did the system have to work for every employee, but the system had to be easy enough for them to understand, memorize and use. When it was all said and done, over 70 group zones and 100+ channels were configured – each designed to hit a specific building and/or floor. In addition, ‘All Call’, ‘Emergency’ and the all-important ‘Kill Page’ zones were programmed.

Going “live” with the Valcom solution was relatively smooth; turning up each zone one-by-one. Although it provided for another lesson learned. As with any project, there are adds here and there. With this project, two additional LAN devices were required. Hence, the installation of new firmware devices.  There was point in the cutover when we completely lost the Valcom paging (thankfully, we had the Bogen backup) due to these firmware issues. The issues were so substantial and the customer so important, that Valcom flew their best tech and engineer to Dayton to assist in the resolution on a moments’ notice!

Ultimately, we brought this challenging $180,000 first phase in on time and on budget. The customer was incredibly satisfied and, to date, has only had one issue with the system – a VLAN issue brought about when the VA upgraded several switches throughout the campus. While we were not responsible for the problem, Echo 24 was there and assisted in the system fix with the VA IT personnel.

Phase two, valued at $202,000, was significantly smoother – a handful of LAN devices were added, but with twice the number of speakers. The biggest obstacle during phase two was obtaining access to all of the IDF closets. The VA adopted several new security measures between phase one and phase two which had a direct impact on our forward progress.

Many lessons have been learned throughout this project; the majority of them technical in nature. However, as I walked those halls during this project, I cannot help but become overwhelmed by the history and purpose of the Dayton VAMC. With this VoIP installation, the staff has been given the ability to page over the entire campus whereby getting the appropriate staff member to their patients even faster thereby increasing staff efficiency, patient care, and patient satisfaction. Knowing that I had a small part in the implementation and forward progress of such an important entity fills me with a sense of pride that is indescribable.

The next day I called to RSVP, very curious as to what it was all about and why I had been invited.  The gentleman who took my information was very polite, but when asked her merely stated, “it’s an opportunity to interact with the governor”.

Okay, sounds good.  But I’m still curious what it was all about.  Did it have to do with our State Term Schedule and all the business we do with the state?  Perhaps it was our EDGE certification and he invited all the Ohio EDGE contractors.  It could be the fact that we won the “Project of the Year” award through the Ohio Statewide Development Corporation in 2007. 

I knew that in 2007 we were also a nominee for the Governor’s Award for Safety Excellence.  We didn’t win the award, but maybe we would be more fortunate in 2008.  Of course, there was always the possibility he wanted to discuss our political differences (doubtful), but who knew?

Well, before I knew it the day (December 9th) had arrived.  Everyone knows that the Governor’s mansion is in Bexley,  one of two “old money” parts of Central Ohio, despite the Columbus address on the invitation.  I arrived in darkness, promptly at 7:30pm with a light drizzle wearing my Sunday best. 

Immediately I could see that the place was hopping and parking was scarce.  I parallel parked on the street three blocks away and walked to the residence with my big OSU Buckeyes golf umbrella.

(Aside) I got my hair cut the day before and told that lady who cut my hair about the event.  She got very excited and wanted to make sure I told her all about it.  She was certain that they would be serving cocktails.  I had my doubts.  I know a few things about our governor and one of them is that he is an ordained minister and I would have been surprised had there been any drinking at the function.

I checked in at the reception tent (guarded by one of Ohio’s finest state troopers) and picked up a name badge.  I asked the lady who greeted me if she could tell me how I was chosen to come and her reply was “it was completely random”.  Well, okay I’ll just go with it and see if I recognize anyone.  First order of business was to hit the open bar and grab a Bud Light (glad I didn’t bet on that!)

Soon, I spotted Darla King, owner of King Business Interiors.  I have been affiliated with her company going back to my NaCom days where we sold them their Vodavi telephone system and shared leads with some of their sales staff.  Last year her company provided the interior design and furnishings for our new facility.  She had her sales manager, Dick James at her side and when we spoke, her theory was that the function had been extended only to EDGE companies.

Wandering through the crowd I noticed “Buckingham Coal” on another business man’s name badge.  We installed a paging system at their mines in Glouster this year as a subcontractor to DP Sciences.  I spoke to him and his wife awhile and he was beaming over what an excellent year 2008 had been for his company.  Buckingham Coal was not EDGE however.  Still no sign of the governor.

Returning to the bar for a second Bud Light, I spotted Michael McClintock and his wife.  Michael is the owner of McClintock Electric out of Wooster, OH and although I had never met him, had over the years (again going back to my NaCom days) come to respect his company as a worthwhile competitor in Northern Ohio.  We had a great conversation about our businesses and concerns we share going into 2009 and discussed the possibility of collaboration on future projects.  After an hour of socializing, we finally saw the governor mingling, enjoying beer, and providing photo ops for his invited guests.

He took the stage and said some words of thanks and encouragement, led us in singing “America the Beautiful”, and handed the mike to his lieutenant, Lee Fisher.  It was Lee who finally revealed that all the invitees had been chosen as a result of being Ohio businesses named on the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest growing companies.

Echo 24 debuted on the list in 2007 with a national ranking of 1809 and central Ohio ranking of 10th.  In 2008 we dropped to 2,377 nationally, but ranked #1 in Ohio Telecommunications Companies (77th nationally)!

The experience at the Governor’s residence was very pleasant.  I got to tour The Residence, meet Governor Strickland and get in a picture with the Governor, Darla King, and Dick James (can I get a re-take, please?)  During his speech, Lee Fisher stated that the Ohio business community has no greater friends in Ohio than himself and Governor Strickland.  I followed up my visit with a letter of thanks and a personal invitation for the Governor to visit our office so that I may offer a tour of our award winning facility and discuss my concerns for the direction Ohio is headed.   Hopefully he will take me up on it.