Stephen Leaden is President of Leaden Associates, Inc., an independent Telecommunications and IT consulting firm in business 19 years, providing specialized support in telecommunications technologies and ROI strategies. Enterprises in the health care, education, manufacturing, financial services, publishing and government market segments have relied on Leaden Associates for Voice over IP/Unified Communications consulting and telecommunications expense management/telecom auditing. Clients are both national and internationally based. Stephen Leaden has been in the Telecommunications field for more than 25 years. 

Leaden Associates focuses as an extension of IT staff to facilitate the design, procurement, project implementation, and outsourcing for converged voice and data solutions. During their engagement, Leaden Associates proactively adds value via ROI strategies integrated into the projects they serve on. 

Leaden Associates has focused on Voice over IP and Unified Communications and key market trends in these areas – the firm has performed Strategic Planning, Needs Assessments, Procurements, and Project Management of national and international VoIP/UC projects, which has included converged Wide Area Networks carrying IP voice, video, and data. Leaden Associates has employed best practices for VoIP/UC deployments including Quality of Service/QoS, voice and video prioritization, change control, network management tools, and a depth of knowledge of all touch points affecting VoIP. 

Mr. Leaden has spoken at national and International conferences on VoIP and is a frequent speaker for VoiceCon, Information Week, the Voice Report, and other conferences. Mr. Leaden has written papers on VoIP and UC strategies, troubleshooting and security, and has been quoted in national industry publications including BCR Magazine, NoJitter, Computer World, Information Week, VoIP News, and the Washington Post among others. Mr. Leaden is a principal with TelecomUCTraining.com, a successor to BCR Training which provides expert independent Telecom training – he teaches courses on Cost Control of Wired and Wireless Networks, Best Practices and Optimizing Enterprise Networks.  He is past president and member of the Society of Telecommunications Consultants, a national telecommunications association that requires objectivity and professionalism as a prerequisite for membership.