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Aside from shaking hands with a U.S. President for the first time, the real thrill was observing the two Secret Service agents in action.

Matt Brunk

November 18, 2008

2 Min Read
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Aside from shaking hands with a U.S. President for the first time, the real thrill was observing the two Secret Service agents in action.

The Delta airlines guest of honor was President Jimmy Carter today en-route to Atlanta from Baltimore. Flanked by two Mack Truck-looking fellas with $600 oversized Scottevest jackets, President Carter shook hands with everyone aboard the Delta flight.Aside from shaking hands with a U.S. President for the first time, the real thrill was observing the two Secret Service agents in action.

First they appeared spaced about 3 seats/aisles apart and both wearing those cool jackets and had ear buds dangling with curly cords. Whatever headset these guys were using, required them to lean forward and down as if to speak in the air or towards their inside jacket area. When they did, their visual attention was momentarily distracted. They made a sweep of the plane pretty quickly and before anyone could guess, out came President Carter, shaking hands. Anyone crazy enough to go after a Secret Service agent may go for the dangling curly cord.

So I wonder about the technology these guys are using and still, they are cooler only because they got through airport security without any issues wearing their Scottevests. Not that I need their technology because my iPhone is pretty good by itself, and I'd wonder how the jacket would show under scrutiny to airport security if it has wires channeled through it connecting to numerous geek devices.

The Secret Service guys communicate agent to agent using a tool. Maybe it's not as effective or maybe it's tradition that they don't want to give up -that is turning their head and speaking downward and into their jackets. I guess it is cooler. Maybe it's in part cool and traditional. Either way, anything regarding telephony involving security seems to be recession proof. While this particular market is limited, my bet is security in VoIP isn't.Aside from shaking hands with a U.S. President for the first time, the real thrill was observing the two Secret Service agents in action.

About the Author

Matt Brunk

Matt Brunk has worked in past roles as director of IT for a multisite health care firm; president of Telecomworx, an interconnect company serving small- and medium-sized enterprises; telecommunications consultant; chief network engineer for a railroad; and as an analyst for an insurance company after having served in the U.S. Navy as a radioman. He holds a copyright on a traffic engineering theory and formula, has a current trademark in a consumer product, writes for NoJitter.com, has presented at VoiceCon (now Enterprise Connect) and has written for McGraw-Hill/DataPro. He also holds numerous industry certifications. Matt has manufactured and marketed custom products for telephony products. He also founded the NBX Group, an online community for 3Com NBX products. Matt continues to test and evaluate products and services in our industry from his home base in south Florida.