Celebrating Women in Tech at Total Communications

Each year, International Women’s Day offers an opportunity to recognize the achievements of women across every industry. It is also a moment to reflect on the progress still needed to create greater representation and opportunity. In technology, that conversation is especially important. Despite decades of innovation and growth, women remain underrepresented in the tech workforce.

According to research from the National Center for Women & Information Technology, women make up roughly a quarter of computing related roles in the United States. Increasing participation from women remains essential to building diverse teams, driving innovation, and creating technology solutions that better serve everyone.

At Total Communications, we are proud to have talented women contributing to the success of our organization every day. This International Women’s Day, we are highlighting several team members whose experience, dedication, and expertise help keep our business and our customers moving forward.

Beth Wallace: Decades of Dedication to Financial Operations

Beth Wallace has been an essential part of Total Communications since 1989, supporting the company’s financial operations through her work in accounts receivable. Beth works by balancing collaboration with focused work that keeps billing and customer accounts running smoothly.

Beyond meetings and reporting, Beth spends much of her time working directly with customers. She helps ensure prompt payments, resolves billing questions, and keeps account records up to date. Her attention to detail and decades of experience help maintain strong relationships with customers and support the financial health of the company.

Allison Thorp: Bringing Structure and Innovation to Projects

Allison Thorp is a certified Project Management Professional who has been with Total Communications for nearly three years. Her career spans more than two decades across IT, project management, and human resources.

Allison holds a Master of Science in Managing Innovation and Information Technology from Champlain College, bringing a strong foundation in technology strategy and change management to her work.

Her typical day involves creating and updating project plans, hosting status meetings with customers, and collaborating with engineers to configure communications platforms such as Cisco Webex and Cisco Unified Communications Manager phone systems. She also trains users on physical and soft phones, documents procedures, and helps develop solutions for unique customer challenges.

Outside of work, Allison volunteers with her local community theatre as an actor, singer, backstage crew member, production manager, and secretary of the board of directors. She also enjoys cooking and baking and spends time caring for her mother in her retirement years.

Rhonda Tassie: Building a Culture Where Employees Thrive

Rhonda Tassie serves as Director of Human Resources and has been part of Total Communications since the company’s first year in business. Her long history with the organization gives her a unique perspective on the company’s growth and the people who make that growth possible.

Rhonda is known as a true people person. She is passionate about creating a workplace culture where employees feel valued, supported, and engaged. Whether she is helping employees navigate their careers, providing guidance during challenging situations, or simply listening, Rhonda plays a vital role in supporting the team.

Outside of work, Rhonda enjoys spending time with her family, especially her five grandchildren. In fact, her own family story is connected to the company. She first met her husband, Mike, at Total Communications. Even when she is relaxing with family, Rhonda is always thinking about new ways to make Total a great place to work.

Kathy Pagan: Supporting Long Term Customer Relationships

Kathy Pagan serves as the Contractor Administrator at Total Communications and has been with the company for 11 years. She began her career in the finance department and later grew into her current role supporting the company’s maintenance and contract operations.

Today, Kathy manages maintenance renewals across the company’s entire customer base. Her work ensures that customers maintain the coverage and service agreements needed to support their communications systems and technology infrastructure.

Known for her attention to detail and commitment to accuracy, Kathy plays a key role in helping the company maintain strong relationships with customers while ensuring contracts and renewals are handled efficiently.

Sajia Karim: Engineering Expertise Behind Unified Communications

Sajia Karim has been with Total Communications for ten years and serves as a Unified Communications Engineer. Her role combines technical expertise, leadership, and collaboration to support complex communications systems for customers.

Sajia’s primary responsibility is to provide leadership and technical expertise in developing standard design, implementation, and support templates for Unified Communications environments. Her work supports customer installations, upgrades, configurations, troubleshooting, and project management for Cisco Systems Unified Communications solutions.

Her responsibilities include assisting the account team during the pre sales process, reviewing high level designs, and ensuring projects are properly scoped so statements of work align with customer business requirements. She also oversees system upgrades, ensures delivery documentation follows Cisco best practices and industry standards, and develops technical standards that other engineers can follow.

Sajia serves as a third level escalation point for the Network Operations Center and field teams. She also hosts monthly training sessions for internal engineers to help expand the team’s knowledge and technical capabilities.

Terri Warren: Supporting Network Services and Customer Success

Terri Warren serves as the Network Services Manager at Total Communications and has been with the company for nearly 30 years. Over the course of her career, she has played a key role in supporting customers and helping the network services team deliver reliable technology solutions.

Terri’s experience gives her a deep understanding of how communications systems and network infrastructure impact day to day business operations. She works closely with engineers and service teams to help ensure customers receive timely support and that projects and service requests are handled efficiently.

Her long tenure with the company reflects both her commitment to customers and her dedication to the team. Terri’s leadership within the network services department helps keep critical systems running smoothly for organizations that rely on their communications infrastructure every day.

Valerie Syme: Keeping Financial Operations Running Smoothly

Valerie Syme is an Accounting Specialist at Total Communications and plays an important role in supporting the company’s financial operations. In her role, Valerie helps maintain accurate financial records and supports the processes that keep the organization running smoothly behind the scenes.

Her attention to detail and commitment to accuracy help ensure that financial operations remain organized and efficient. Valerie’s work contributes to the strong operational foundation that allows Total Communications to continue delivering reliable technology solutions and services to customers.

Jan Halley: Driving Customer Relationships in Sales

Jan Halley serves as a Major Account Manager at Total Communications, focusing on sales and hardware solutions for customers. In her role, Jan works closely with organizations to understand their technology needs and help them identify the right communications and hardware solutions to support their operations.

Building long term relationships is a key part of her work, as she partners with customers to ensure they have the tools and infrastructure needed to succeed.  Jan’s experience in sales and account management helps customers navigate complex technology decisions while ensuring they receive solutions that align with their business goals.

Donna Heins: Keeping Systems Running Through Moves, Adds, and Changes

Donna Heins works as a Moves, Adds, and Changes Technician at Total Communications and is an important part of the company’s operations team.

In her role, Donna focuses on the updates and adjustments that keep customer communications systems functioning smoothly. Whether it involves modifying phone system configurations, adding new users, or supporting operational changes for customers, her work helps ensure organizations can adapt their technology as their needs evolve.

Donna works closely with the operations team to manage these changes efficiently while maintaining system reliability. Her attention to detail and commitment to service help customers stay connected and productive as their businesses grow and change.

Lauren Middleton: Connecting Technology and Marketing

Lauren Middleton recently joined Total Communications and brings more than 20 years of marketing experience to the team. In her role, she manages all aspects of the company’s marketing efforts, with a strong focus on digital strategy and cybersecurity messaging.

Lauren has spent much of her career working with information technology companies, helping translate complex technical services into clear messaging that resonates with business leaders. Her background in technology focused marketing allows her to bridge the gap between engineering teams and the customers they serve.

From developing digital campaigns and thought leadership content to promoting cybersecurity awareness and managed IT services, Lauren helps position Total Communications as a trusted technology partner for businesses navigating a rapidly changing digital landscape.

Recognizing the Impact of Women in Technology

Technology companies rely on many different skill sets to succeed. From finance and administration to project management, engineering, and marketing, every role contributes to delivering reliable solutions for customers. This International Women’s Day, Total Communications is proud to recognize the women who help power our organization and support our customers every day.