
By Greg Elliott, Director of Business Development at 1102 GRAND
The Kansas City area is an exciting place to be right now. The region is buzzing about innovation, household gigabit fiber and entrepreneurship.
As I’m attending numerous events surrounding these topics, I have noticed a trend in the types of questions and increased interest in data centers, colocation, networks, private cloud, public cloud, hybrid cloud, carrier hotels, disaster recovery and the list goes on. So, in the coming months I will work to share with you what I see, hear and learn. If you would like to see a particular topic covered, send me an email at greg@1102grand.com or give me a call at 816-213-7731.
The most common question I have received lately is what is a carrier hotel? (Disclaimer: 1102 GRAND is Kansas City’s carrier hotel and colocation facility.) The simple explanation is that they are facilities almost always found in a downtown area where the fiber is the most dense, close to the ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) and have an abundance of carriers/providers with fiber built into the facility. Typically, carrier hotels are identified by their address and they are found in Tier 1 (sometimes multiple) and Tier 2 cities.
Carrier hotels provide a neutral place for carriers and providers to connect their networks. For example, 1102 GRAND has over 30 ISPs (internet service providers) in our Meet Me Room where all the passive connections occur. With so many possibilities for direct connections to multiple networks, carrier hotels make ideal colocation facilities, or offsite data centers, for businesses of all sizes and government agencies that need access to multiple providers, or have large bandwith appetites. The Meet Me Room’s location within the facility where clients already collocate allows clients to easily change or add network services as their model scales or evolves. Additionally, in most cases, access to a network becomes less expensive at a carrier hotel because the end client has a direct gateway to the ISP’s network. The local loop or access charge goes away or is minimal. Sites such as 1102 GRAND are used as primary/production data centers, backup sites or PoPs (point of presence) on the client’s nationwide or global network.
That is a high level overview of the carrier hotel, but if you want to come check out our facility, give me a call and we will make arrangements.
By: Darren Bonawitz
Thank you for taking the time to read our blog. Here is a special feature on Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C. about who it is, who it serves, how it’s associated with 1102 Grand, and why Kansas City!
Company Description: Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C. (MHM) is a national independent CPA firm – 3rd largest in Kansas City and 8th largest in the country – that is dedicated to providing high quality audit and attest services including: Financial Statement Audits, SAS 70 Audits, Employee Benefit Plan Audits, Reviews and Agreed Upon Procedures. They are guided by their core values of competence, integrity, respect and value, and with more than 30 locations nationwide, they are a nationally recognized alternative to the Big Four.
Who it Serves: While MHM provides services to a variety of industries and companies, their primary focus includes mid-sized and growing companies (public and private) in the construction, nonprofit, life sciences, manufacturing, financial institutions and other professional services industries.
How it is Associated with 1102 GRAND: We provide SAS 70 services to 1102 GRAND.
Why Kansas City: MHM’s roots in Kansas City can be traced back to 1954 when Ernest D. Mayer opened a small accounting practice. After years of steady growth, Mayer Hoffman McCann’s tax practice merged with CBIZ, Inc. in 1998 while MHM began to focus strictly on audit and attest services, and continued to acquire other independent CPA firms across the country. Even though MHM quickly became one of the Top Ten accounting firms in the nation, they recognized Kansas City as both a strategic location and strong foundation for the company, so remained in the area and established it as their national headquarters.
The Best Part of Doing Business in Kansas City: There is such a vast amount of different businesses and industries in the Kansas City area, that as a Consultant, we learn so much about how these businesses operate, what their target market is, where they can improve, etc. We can then help them by applying the services our company provides or introducing them to others that can assist.
The Benefits of Working in Kansas City: I have lived in Kansas my entire life so helping small, medium and large sized businesses locally is very rewarding.
The Economic Incentives to Living in Kansas City or the Metro Area: There are a lot of areas you can reside in Kansas City that are safe and have great schools and not have to pay a premium to live there. I think convenience is also a big factor as you can get around the city without having to wait in traffic for the most part.
By: Greg Elliott
1102 GRAND (www.1102Grand.com), a Midwest Internet Hub and Collocation Facility, and CPI Communications (www.cpitelecom.net), co-hosted a lunch and tour for the Kansas City Association of Call Center Professionals (ACCP)
ACCP is a professional, non-profit association whose members represent customer contact organizations and the vendors who support them. Membership consists of organizations of all sizes, from a variety of industries including manufacturing, healthcare, financial, outsource, legal, technology, staffing and more. The company has first and third-party focused members, including telemarketing, call centers, collections, customer service facilities, help desks, client retention, etc.
1102 GRAND shared the benefits that a carrier hotel can offer:
CPI Communications shared the benefits that a carrier neutral telecommunications provider can offer clients:
After the lunch, ACCP members embarked on a guided tour of 1102 GRAND’s collocation areas including private cabinets, cage space, and the 1102 GRAND Network Operations Center.
Thank you to the KCACCP for visiting 1102 GRAND!