^{Maine Discovery Museum Receives Communications Upgrade}

^{Oxford Networks donates a new phone system and telecommunication services to Maine Discovery Museum to help them better serve the community.}

Lewiston, Maine – The Maine Discovery Museum today announced the donation of a new communication system courtesy of Oxford Networks. The donation consists of a new internal phone system, phone service, and Internet service. The new system will provide a much needed upgrade to the museum’s communication structure, and will enable them to better serve the many children, families and school systems that visit the museum.

According to Museum Executive Director Andrea Stark, the donation will enable staff to better meet the needs of visitors. “Maine Discovery Museum serves families from across the state of Maine and beyond, and Oxford Networks’ generous donation both improves our communications systems and allows us to allocate more of our dollars towards programming and exhibits.”

Matthew Jancovic, director of marketing & customer service for Oxford Networks, said the company was very pleased to help out the museum when they learned of the telecommunications need. “As a new business in the community we were introduced to the museum and all of the wonderful programs it provides to the state. When we became aware that they need an upgrade to the phone and internet system we were happy to help.”

The phone system upgrade was engineered, configured, and deployed by Know Technology, LLC, an independent Information Technologies firm with offices in Camden and Portland, ME. Know Technology procured and deployed this comprehensive IP Telephony system at a much reduced rate. “We were thrilled to help the Museum and Oxford Networks with this effort. Maine Discovery Museum is an important part of the Eastern Maine community, so helping them to connect with more people really made sense to us,” said Michael White, director of vendor management and strategic sourcing.

Maine Discovery Museum offers exhibits and interactive learning environments for children of all ages. They recently opened a major new exhibit, “Tradewinds,” which explores the surprising ways Maine is connected to countries and cultures around the globe. Board a cargo ship bound for Brazil, practice Japanese calligraphy, and pretend to have a "pasto veloce" [light lunch] in the Italian trattoria.

Maine Discovery Museum is northern New England’s largest children’s museum, with three floors of interactive exhibits. Located in the heart of historic downtown Bangor’s arts and culture district, the museum opened in 2001 and welcomes 65,000 visitors each year. The museum offers a changing weekly schedule of arts and science programs, summer and vacation camps, classes for homeschoolers, and special events for all ages. The museum’s gift store, “Too Much Fun,” carries a unique selection of well-made toys and games and is open to all. www.mainediscoverymuseum.org

Oxford Networks is one of Maine’s leading local communication providers. Founded in Oxford County, Maine in 1900, Oxford Networks serves a territory from Bangor through Portsmouth, New Hampshire with its own high-speed fiber optic network. Oxford Networks also provides the first fiber to the premise technology in Maine, which brings competitive choice to businesses in local and long distance telephone, high-speed Internet, wide area networking, and advanced fiber optic services. www.oxfordnetworks.com

Know Technology, LLC’s IT solutions and support services free businesses to create new value for their leaders, for their employees, and for their customers. Know Technology helps businesses put proven technology to work, and empowers them with the knowledge of IT best practices. Know Technology is in the business of collaborating with businesses to develop better solutions and maximize return on technology investment. www.knowtechnology.net