Alan Sparks
President With a combined 15 years of experience in telecommunications,
including engineering and operations management, sales and marketing,
Alan Sparks is responsible for supporting the TeleSys staff and
setting the strategic direction of the company. He also is the managing
partner for Gemma
Companies; a Scottsdale-based firm specialized in investor due
diligence, financial analysis, and valuation. Gemma owns TeleSys
Communications where Alan serves as president.
Having begun his career in sales for Cablevision Systems in Long
Island, New York, Alan later became the firm’s director of
engineering before accepting a position as vice president of operations
for Cox Communications. He brings expertise in fiber optic networks,
point-to-point microwave, and satellite communication systems. As
Gemma’s founding partner, he has performed consulting assignments
for Sun Microsystems, Amazon, Deutsche Bank, Equant - U.S., and
numerous smaller companies.
Alan graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in Business
Administration, and earned his M.B.A. in 1999 from the UCLA Anderson
School of Management. He has taken post-graduate courses on corporate
finance and mergers and acquisitions. He currently serves on the
Dean’s Council at Arizona State University’s College
of Extended Education and is past president of the Board of Directors
of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Central and Southern Arizona. When
not at work, you can usually find Alan hiking and climbing in the
local mountains, or trying to play his new piano.
Chris Parsons
Vice President & General Manager Chris has 17 years experience working in the telecommunications
industry, 13 of which were spent with Cable and Wireless PLC. Over
time, his role in the company expanded from direct sales to Vice
President of the B2B Markets Western US. He has the distinction
of being the only Manager in the history of Cable and Wireless to
be recognized as the top performer in every post he held during
his tenure. Chris also designed and developed the Cable and Wireless
Customer Retention Programs for Western U.S. Chris left Cable and
Wireless in June of 2001 to form his own company, LinkSource Communications
with 2 other partners. After 5 successful years Chris sold his ownership
interest in LinkSource in February of 2006. Chris is now ensuring
the future growth of TeleSys through strategic planning and execution
of the business plan. He is responsible for growth by creating a
safe, educational, and challenging work environment that employees
and independent contractors want to be part of. With his understanding
of the needs of customers, suppliers and vendors he takes overall
responsibility for the daily operational functions of TeleSys Communications.
Chris enjoys spending his free time with his family and close friends.
Holly A. Clayton
Director, Business Development and Operations Holly's friendly but all business approach to telecom sales
is backed up by 7 years of industry experience. She started her
career with EchoStar Communications and later joined Qwest Communications
as a data account executive. She has been selling voice, data, and
managed services since 1998. Her background and familiarity with
Qwest is a resource for the entire TeleSys team and any of our customers
fortunate enough to come into contact with her.
Holly specializes in complex data circuits, virtual private networks
(VPN), metro optical Ethernet, and voice over IP, in addition to
the more traditional switched voice products. She graduated from
Barnes College in Denver and has earned several industry certifications
for data networking and customer premise based hardware applications.
Besides telecom, Holly has a diverse set of interests that range
from volunteer work with North Point Church's worship band to her
starring role with TC & The Domestic Engineers. She is the lead
vocalist for this Denver based group performing in various venues
from downtown Denver to Colorado Springs.
Susan Barfoot
Operations Manager
Susan Barfoot started her career over 25 years ago with Mountain
Bell Telephone Company, the predecessor to US WEST. At Mountain
Bell, she worked in customer support and engineering positions,
including account assignment, field support, trunking, technical
writing, and inside the switching control center. While with US
WEST, Susan was ranked as a 5ESS switch engineer and earned the
rigorous TEC-44 certificate, enabling her to design highly complex
customer applications.
In recent years, Susan has worked for Qwest Business Partners. As
operations manager for TeleSys, she provides full customer support,
working carefully to specify the technical attributes needed to
optimize each circuit to unique customer applications. Responsible
for all aspects of a customer circuit once an order has been received,
Susan’s daily focus is on customer service and account accuracy.
Susan has earned numerous Qwest Business Partner certifications
and continues her telecommunications education by attending classes
at Rio Salado and Scottsdale Community College. She volunteers in
the Phoenix community at the Child Crisis Center and with other
child/parent support centers.
TeleSys customers love Susan. She is always pleasant to deal with,
even when everyone calls at the same time. Susan likes to scuba
dive, and was recently honored as Volunteer of the Year at the Child
Crisis Center.
