 Live from the JSA Podcast Studio presenting Data Movers, showcasing the leaders behind the headlines in the telecom and data center infrastructure industry. Hey everybody, welcome, welcome, welcome to our podcast series, Data Movers. I'm your host, Jamie Scott-O-Kutaya, CEO and founder of JSA, along with my very fabulous co-host, top B2B social media influencer, Mr. Evan Kirstel. Hey Evan. Hey Jamie, hey everyone, great to be back. It's been a little while as we're scurrying around the world, going to shows and events, but so excited to sit down again with some of the leading and most influential men and women in today's data center and telco world, supporting the infrastructure requirements of this new normal speaking of infrastructure and phone calls. Jamie, do you still use the phone, answer the phone, make phone calls? What's your take on the old school world of communications? I'm the worst. My iPhone doesn't tell me, there's no name attached. I do like that new feature though, where you can hear the voicemail and then click in and pick it up afterwards. I feel like that's helping me get a little bit more brave about picking up calls that you just don't know who it's from. I don't know. Have you seen that feature yet? Yeah, that's a really good one. But sadly, the rest of the world who aren't as savvy as you are with new iPhone features, a lot of us have just stopped taking phone calls with all the scams and spam and people selling you car insurance and just unbelievable amount of nonsense. There needs to be solutions and there've been attempts to clamp down on it, but it's been a sad, sad situation for good old-fashioned phone calls, whether on mobile or fixed line for a long time. Yeah, I think about the millions of dollars that people have been hustled out of just from scams alone. Scams and also all those calls that you miss that are important, whether it's maybe your doctor or pharmacy. I mean, we're really in a bit of a situation with our telecom network and traditional telephony, which is part of the rationale for this gap today. That's right. That's right. Beautiful transition here as we bring on our guest of the hour. As you know, care data movers, we really like to dive into background stories, career highs and lows, unique perspectives of the future of our industry. I can't think of a more timely guest than our very own, Jeffrey Ross, the COO of OneRoute, a company that provides call service providers and mobile network operators within all in one, revenue assurance, fraud management, mobile money solution with real-time detection blocking analytics reporting the whole nine yards. Hey, welcome, Jeffrey. How are you? Great. Jamie and Evan, thank you so much. Jamie, that was awesome because it's a mouthful. She's good. It's amazing. Well, it's great to have you here. Great to have a real authentic Texan on the show. Maybe start by introducing yourself to the audience, your background in telecom, and your mission at OneRoute. Absolutely. No, I appreciate that. Again, my name is Jeffrey Ross and I work for OneRoute. OneRoute's actually based in Ireland, and I am based here in Texas, born and raised in Texas, so yes, I'm as authentic as they get. We also have a sister company, GBSD Technologies, which is based here in Texas, which does a lot of the development of the technologies used by OneRoute. So got those two things going on. Yeah, like I said, born and raised here in Texas. My background in telecom has actually been quite brief, and only for about four or five, coming up on five years. I was formerly in the military, did a stunt there, and then went into banking, because I didn't know what else to do. So after that almost sucked the life out of me. I knew a guy who had a business and right place, right time, so transitioned to a completely different industry, and I haven't looked back, truly enjoyed it. So, but yeah, I feel like I've been kind of in this business for quite some time, but at the same time, literally only for a few years, and drinking from the fire hose. But OneRoute, as you said so well, we do a lot of revenue assurance, fraud management, for layman's terms, or for people, non-technical people like me, it's just we are detecting and blocking in real time all of this junk that you were talking about. That's going on in the cell phone networks, and that goes into mobile money, which is a little different than we're used to here in the States. Mobile money being primarily in Africa, Southeast Asia, where there's no bank account, and your cell phone is actually, your cell phone and your cell phone account is actually your bank account. So cool stuff over there. And then finally I'll say we are involved with a program called Stir Shakin' here in the United States, which is really kind of the result of why you start seeing spam on your caller ID, or telemarketer, or potential spam. So we are a certificate authority here under the Stir Shakin' ecosystem. So that's a, it's a like 20 years worth of business wrapped up in just a few seconds. I know there's so much going back there. I'm like, wait, wait, I wanted to stop you 12 times. But by the way, thank you for the Stir Shakin campaign. Such a helpful note when I'm like, oh potential spam, I feel even more confident going to a voicemail or talking about it. So thank you. But I wanna rewind tape a little bit because you started off mentioning your military experience and as coming from a family of the military, how have you applied your experience in that military service? Thank you again for your service. Oh yeah. To the work that you do right now in our telecom industry. I feel like there might be a correlation there. There's a good correlation, yeah. So I did some time with the United States Marine Corps. I loved the Marines and being a former Marine, I would say you learn some of the greatest things you'll ever learn while you're in the Marines. You might learn some of the worst things you'll ever learn, but you learn a lot of the great things too. But really that transition into telecom is, I'll tell you, it sounds simple, but things like being honest. If you don't know the answer, it's okay to say, I don't know, but I'll get back to you at a later date or when I find out the answer. And I think it's just a novel thing that a lot of us take for granted, but when you're open and honest with people, it just sets the tone and gets that trust level built up. But the main thing also I'd say the transition because telecom is such a global community and being in the military and meeting people from outside of Texas, from different walks of life, different cultures, different religions, different everything, you really get to translate that over into this global industry and have a respect for people in their backgrounds and where they come from. Well said. And speaking of global presence, one route, you are global, you're everywhere, supporting customers around the world, but what regions in particular of the world are interesting for you and from a digital infrastructure perspective? And why are they so relevant to the business? That's a good question, Evan. I would say the one that intrigues me the most will probably be Africa. Africa being, it's interesting for many reasons and I'll play the PC card. All regions are interesting in their own way, but Africa seems to be more, maybe not necessarily on the cutting edge of technology but more open to using newer technologies. And I think a lot of that's based on the lack of infrastructure in their rural areas. So no, in one case there was, in Mozambique, they had a project with Google or a subsidiary of Google and they were using stratospheric balloons to expand their network. So stuff like that, they're always looking at, okay, how do we expand? How do we reach people in these masses that are out there in these rural areas? And I always think that's so cool. Along with the fraud side, they deal with a lot of different fraud types that we don't hear in the States and they are very creative and they're very open to always creating and being open to using the latest and greatest technologies. Yeah, and to add further, I know they're cutting edge in sustainability as well because again, they don't have all that incumbent. Absolutely, I mean, you think about, they got in South Africa, they have rolling blackouts a lot as well. So much of their networks in the telecom industry, the fell over and redundancy that they have to have is unbelievable. But I would say that they intrigue me the most and they are always coming up, again, mobile money, I mentioned it earlier, that's something that's huge in Africa. And it's just because the banking infrastructure, they don't have a bank on every corner, like we do here, at least in Texas, but here in the States, bank on every corner, they don't have that. So the telecom industry created a way to bring that financial empowerment to the masses. Pretty cool. Really cool. You know, I noticed too on your site, one route's goal is to bring trust back to voice. I found that really a very moving sentence and hearing you talk about honesty, core values that are so important, really driving hopefully good business today, good business decisions. So can you explain what that means to you, bring trust back to voice? I'm glad you like that. And that's exactly what our whole goal is. And you both hit the nail on the head earlier as you're talking about not wanting to answer the calls, can you even trust who's calling you anymore? And you start thinking about, and maybe this is the three of us, we can remember a time where you answered the phone, but there was no caller ID. It's like, well, I don't know who's calling me, I better figure this out. And I think there's that point in time that we need to be able to trust that if it is my doctor or my bank or my kid's school, I need to know that it's my kid's school calling me. And it's not just some spoof number. And on the flip side, obviously with one route, looking at it from more of an international perspective, we like to look at it from, well, you know, there's good folks all over the world that are just wanting to talk to family. And if their calls are not being graded right or tested correctly, it might show up as spam or it might not get answered. And it might be an emergency. So Evan, I mean, you said it earlier, it's like, what if it's like a seriously important call? So that's the idea. And I realize we're in a day and time where texting and OTT apps and all of this stuff, but at the end of the day, bringing that back a little bit to just a regular old phone call and being able to trust that, hey, Jamie's actually Jamie and she's calling me, I'll answer it. Well said. Yeah, I basically trust no one now on the phone, whether it's between deep fates and spoofing, my bank sent me an email saying, if you see someone's calling from citizens, it's not us. It's like, what? It's like you can't trust anyone. But yes, I think we'll, you know, we get the message. So in addition to being COO of OneRoute, you're also host of a popular telecom podcast called OneRoute Roundup. First question, where's my invitation? Did it get lost in the mail or did you try to call me and- Try to call. With a voicemail? I'm gonna hold you to it, Evan, though. So I'm looking forward to that, but what are some of the interesting takeaways you've had with guests over the last couple of seasons? It's been fun. The OneRoute Roundup, I guess we needed a Texas twist with the name. We'll do a Roundup. Quick story, this all came about based on trying to learn perspectives from people from around the world. And we had a friend that was coming through Texas, friend in the industry that came through Texas, had him over to the house and he's from over in the European area. And this was around Halloween time and we had a little fire in the fire pit out back. We were cooking schmores and I mean, y'all know what schmores are, right? Sure. I love schmores. I love schmores. Of course. Schmores. Well, he had never seen a schmore before. He never had a schmore. He's like, what in the world? So we cooked some schmores and we just have this conversation about the industry and work, eating some sticky marshmallows and gaining perspective of where he comes from and not knowing what he called a sugar bomb was. And so I thought, you know, that'd be really cool to do like this idea of having schmores on a podcast and then the reality trying to get schmores to people all over the world was like, that is not gonna work. So it came up with the one roundup. Evan, that didn't answer your question at all. But the most interesting thing I would say is industry wide over the last two coming on we're starting the third season is compatibility. Excuse me. Compatible technology. That just seems to be the most thing that echoes through every single episode is the need for more risk, risk officers or revenue assurance, fraud management, business assurance. There's all kinds of different names throughout there but compatibility seems to be the underlining tone every season of why we can put a man on the moon, we can collaborate different countries and put somebody on the moon, but we still get this crazy spam call for warranty. So yeah, collaboration and compatibility, that's the big one. I do it. Well said, well said. Well, that brings us to my favorite, one of my favorite sections here, our rapid fire. I love it. So first thing that pops into your mind, we'll do this super quick, but it's fun. It gets a little more fun here. All right, so what has been the most interesting international trip you've ever been on and why? Good or bad. No, just good, good, good. Oh, good, good trip. So international, Ethiopia. Ethiopia was a fascinating, fascinating trip. And I can tell you right now, one, you gain a lot of perspective and two, you drink some of the best coffee you've ever had. It is amazing. Birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia. It's fantastic. I don't know. I have to get over there and get some coffee. So we're all techies here. What's some of the most interesting, futuristic tech, emerging tech that you're excited about personally and professionally? Well, if you asked my kids, they would tell you I'm not excited about technology. They feel that way. It's like they don't have phones. They don't have, you know, like throwing me off a screen. What are you talking about? No, it's like no screen time. You're walking to school, you know. That works. Exactly. Now I'd say some of the stuff that's coming out revolving around education, I find that fascinating. More so, I know that's not necessarily for the telecom industry, but technology-wise in general, the education stuff, Vodafone Foundation, they are doing virtual classrooms now for rural areas and countries across the globe. And stuff like that, when you're able to use a, we'll tie it into telecom, use your network, create a virtual classroom and be able to educate young girls and young boys in rural areas across the globe. That's got my vote. That's cool stuff. Probably the best answer I've ever heard to that question. Well, all right. One more stumper for you. What is the last book you've read and which you recommended? Oh, yes. Storyteller by Dave Grawl. I'm writing that down. Dave Grawl was the lead singer, front man for the Foo Fighters, former drummer for Nirvana, his book, Storyteller. It's a fascinating read and it's so open and honest about how a lot of his life has just been dumb luck or it's been right place, right time, but then how he's transitioned through dealing with and overcoming losses with Kurt Cobain and then most recently with Taylor Hawkins. Obviously I love music, but all in all, even if you don't like music, it's a great read and just going through life and being open to opportunities. Really cool. Wow, I'm going to read that one. If I read books anymore, which I don't. You can listen to it. I do audio books now, so that's a much more easy format for some reason these days. I guess one last thing, advice to up and comers in the telecom industry, maybe veterans like yourself who are getting out of service and maybe are confused or disorientated where to go, what to do, what's one piece of advice you'd give them? Sure, take a deep breath. No, in all seriousness, the transition from military life to commercial life, it's harder than you realize, and it took me a long time to figure out that it was a struggle for myself. Took a lot of years to do that, so definitely take a deep breath. It's okay to talk to people, but to up and coming young people that maybe not from the military background, I would tell them learn another language. It's never too late. They have all this, like I said, education technology. They have all those cool apps out there. Learn another language, and that alone breaks down barriers and really kind of good ice breakers if you go to another country and just say, hi, how are you doing in their language? And you'd be amazed from a business standpoint, globally, how much you connect more with people when you're just putting forth that effort to speak in someone else's language. Yeah, I gotta say, I feel like I've been talking with Matthew McConaughey because- Yeah, all right, all right. Beautiful accent, so Texan, but so global. I'll say thank you, ma'am. You're welcome. But truly, it's been so fascinating. It's Matthew McConaughey with less hair, but otherwise, yes. Man, that's the truth. Yeah. This is gonna go sideways so fast, so maybe we should stop now before we get ourselves in trouble. But thank you for joining us, Jeffrey. Really a great mission. Can't wait for you to fix globally this scourge of fake and phony and fraud calls out there globally. And onwards and upwards. Well, Jamie and Evan, I really appreciate y'all, appreciate your time, and thank you. And Evan, I'm gonna hold you to it, boss. Yeah. Come and help me throw. I'm gonna wear my best cowboy hat and we'll get on with it. I like it. Good to know we have good people solving for some serious issues we've got going on in telecom, so thank you, thank you. Thank you, ma'am. And guys, if you enjoyed today's Data Movers podcast, as we did, please be sure to check us out at jsa.net slash podcast for upcoming Data Movers episodes released around every other week. And of course, other episodes of our JSA podcast series. And? Yeah, be sure to follow us on TwitterX at Jay Scott, Evan Kerstel. Jamie, you gotta start posting more. This whole motherhood thing, like looking after a child is really taking away from your TwitterX time. So it's time to get your priorities right. But look at TwitterX. That's just cool, you know? Like, I think it should be the new brand, you know? All right, let's do it. I drive a Tesla X, so I kind of feel like it will be in brand for Elon. Anyway, but oh my gosh, guys, always a pleasure. Thank you for tuning in and happy networking.