Staff Bios

Larry Treas

Founder and President

Larry Treas is founder and president of The Michael Group, an independent telecommunications consulting firm. The Michael Group specializes in assisting companies understand, manage, streamline, negotiate, and audit their telecommunication expenditures in the areas of local, long distance, wide area network, and wireless services. Finding ways to save clients’ time and money - in employee productivity and cost savings / cost reduction - is the primary goal.

Treas has a diverse background and extensive knowledge of the telecom industry, which affords him the unique ability to assist companies in obtaining the maximum results in the shortest time frame. His knowledge in the areas of local, long distance, wide area network and wireless services has saved clients millions of dollars per year, as well as recovered additional millions in billing errors. His analytical expertise and problem solving ability allows him to see all aspects of a problem or situation and find solutions that others cannot. Treas uses “Return on Investment” procedures and methodology to ensure sound business decisions are made by his clients.

Treas has a Bachelor of Science in Electronics Engineering Technology (EET) from Oklahoma State University and has been a member of the EET Industrial Advisory Council at OSU since 1996. He spent four years with Centel Business Systems in Oklahoma City where he performed the duties of a sales engineer, including systems design, pricing and engineering, installation, and technical management functions. He also served as Installation Manager, overseeing new installation of key and PBX systems. While at Centel, Treas was also certified in applications engineering and traffic engineering by Northern Telecom and Siemens/Rolm.

After founding The Michael Group, Treas served as Interim IT Manager for a major client with revenues of approximately $100 million. During this time, he began developing a strategic plan as well as supervising development of a technical training process for the IT staff, including individualized testing to determine the specific training needs of each employee. In addition, Treas supervised the design and completion of specialized training facilities, and implemented Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) as the process for managing projects.

Keeping abreast of technology advances remains a priority today for Treas. He is an active member and past Vice-President and Treasurer of the Society of Telecommunications Consultants (STC). Treas is a recent member of the Consumer Advisory Committee of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and he sat on the Consumer Complaints Education Sub-Committee, the Outreach Working Group Sub-Committee, and the Truth-in-Billing Sub-Committee. Additionally, Treas is on the ISM (Information Systems Management) Program Advisory Committee at Francis Tuttle Technology Center.

Professional Staff

Don Rowe

Don Rowe is a Business Analyst and Client Liaison. Don's main focus is analyzing a client's telecommunications services to ensure accuracy and efficiency; he also assists clients in developing better relationships with their service providers. His extensive work in wireless telecommunications and customer care enhances his ability to negotiate the best rates for clients, identify savings opportunities, and resolve billing issues quickly and efficiently. His skills and experience include:

Analyzing a client's billing against contracts, tariffs, and pricing schedules to identify billing errors

Working with the carrier(s) to obtain refunds for clients

Benchmarking pricing for various services

Negotiating the best rates for clients

Working with both in-house and outside attorneys to obtain the best terms available

Coordinating vendors and clients when overseeing implementation of new services and/or contracts

Prior to joining The Michael Group, Don served as a manager with AT&T, formerly Cingular Wireless. He spent five years in the customer care division, earning numerous recognitions for outstanding service, training, and management. After completing more than 200 hours of coursework, Don graduated from AT&T's first management academy. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Eastern Oregon State College, La Grande, Oregon.

Professional Staff

Raj Pathmanathan

Raj Pathmanathan has over ten years of experience in the telecommunication industry. He has a rounded background in the areas of telecommunications systems and sub-systems hardware and software, along with local area network hardware and software, all of which provide him a unique ability to understand and manage clients’ billing in the areas of local, long distance, wide area network and wireless services.

Raj’s skill and expertise in these areas include:

Analysis of billing against contracts, tariffs, and pricing schedules to determine billing errors

Working with the carrier(s) to obtain refunds for clients, in excess of hundreds of thousands of dollars

Benchmarking pricing for the various services

Negotiating the best rates for clients

Working with both in-house and outside attorneys to obtain the best terms available

Coordinating vendors and clients when overseeing implementation of new services and/or contracts

His experience with clients ranges from those with one location to those having multiple locations worldwide, and from 100 employees to tens of thousands of employees.

Raj is a 1989 graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering. He is certified as a Novell CNE, and participates in Confidential Product Briefings and Continuing Education Seminars with CISCO Systems and Microsoft.