Our plans are seemingly so well made. We’re so confident in them that we come to believe they are set in stone, unshakeable. Then along comes something like Covid-19. Or a hurricane appears on a dark horizon, an earthquake shatters our morning quiet, a devastating tornado drops out of the night sky or any number of other reasons when those seemingly well-laid, rock solid plans are all of a sudden out the window. We are reminded all too quickly of just how tenuous are these plans we’ve laid.

There’s another side of the planning coin, however. It’s called preparation and it is something we do control and can remain in control of if we give it a little time and forethought. That preparation has to include the emergency kits, food and water, warm clothing, and other items we can assemble ourselves or purchase pre-made from any of a number of online suppliers. The web harbors a plethora of information on what you should have and where you can get it. As such, even though plans can be thwarted, there is simply no excuse for preparation to be scuttled or misunderstood.

OCENS is a connectivity company. We’re not to here say that staying connected with voice and data connections should be as important as having handy multi-day sources of food, water filtration systems that you know how to use, and lightweight and warm clothing. But it might be to some people, some families, some businesses. Perhaps it should be for subsets of these groups with special needs or dependencies.

This series is for those communities of individuals, groups and businesses who need to be sure they can stay connected during times of calamity. It is going to make practical recommendations respecting specific needs and recognizing budget constraints. Its going to draw from experience providing communication answers during natural disasters (e.g. Katrina) or supporting users who must routinely depend on off-the-grid connectivity solutions (e.g. satellite). Throughout though, it’s going to make clear that preparation means commitment, requires foresight and mandates action. In other words, preparing for our plans to be changed.

We’ll discuss each piece in the series in the same manner:

Need: What’s the specific connectivity issue we are trying to address.

Recommended Solution: Our 1st choice to address this issue
• Why:
  The obvious. Why we think this should be the preferred pathway.


• Downside:
  Nothing is perfect. This section references any weaknesses we perceive.


• Bundled Apps:
  Some solutions require or greatly benefit from apps. This section mentions those apps.


• First year minimum cost of ownership:
  What you pay for the hardware and the airtime service to keep that hardware active and available to you in year 1.


• Second and later years cost of ownership:
  After you have paid for your hardware, what would you spend in each subsequent year to keep that unit active. The most important communication lesson learned from Hurricane Katrina? No matter how much money you have spent on communication hardware, its pointless unless you keep that equipment active. Its already too late if you have to wait until the calamity to try to turn the service on. We will give you a hard number for annual cost of preparing you, your family and/or business for the next calamity and then put that in the context of what we all likely spend on a one cup of coffee a day during a year (1 12 oz Starbucks latte: $2.95 or $1077 per year). Hint! In most cases, we spend WAY MORE on coffee!


• Video:
  We'll include some links to home videos of the equipment we are discussing and how to use it.

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(COO = cost of ownership)