How to Handshake is a new series from Optigo Networks (https://www.optigo.net) that goes beyond the manual. Hosted by Optigo Networks’ Ping Yao and Ryan LaFlamme, we’re bringing together the brightest minds in OT from around the globe to talk shop, swap stories, and solve the industry's biggest connectivity headaches.
Whether we’re deep-diving into a complex BACnet Q&A or hosting a panel on the future of building automation, we focus on the connection—between devices, between protocols, and between the people who build them.
Well That was Interesting: Real Stories from Real Customers
For the last episode of Season 1, Ryan's playing Producer so Ping and Co-Host John Attala (Optigo's Chief Growth Officer) can show off some interesting situations where OptigoVN dropped an "ah ha!" moment on our customers. Have any of these happened to you?
They're joined by Gulab Karnani and Tristanne Whitham - who talk every day with our customers - and they brought the pcap files to share!
1 Sept 2026
How to Handshake, Episode 9: BMS & BACnet Trivia
Simon Britton, author of the new book BMS Fundamentals, joins Ping and Ryan to talk about the value in BMS as a pathway to employment, what's changed in 35 years, and faces off with Ping in the first (and most exciting) game of BACnet trivia we've played!
Take the BACnet trivia challenge yourself: https://www.optigo.net/bacnet-quiz (https://www.optigo.net/bacnet-quiz)
What is a BBMD? https://www.optigo.net/blog/what-bacnet-broadcast-management-device-bbmd/ (https://www.optigo.net/blog/what-bacnet-broadcast-management-device-bbmd/)
Subscribe so you catch future episodes:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1889945777 (https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1889945777)
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Jg2yumYXCV2dRl1sIuPHO (https://open.spotify.com/show/6Jg2yumYXCV2dRl1sIuPHO)
Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/us/show/1002831921 (https://www.deezer.com/us/show/1002831921)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzATddJ3Lh0Jvhf7UgxuiBFBjqMibitUt (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzATddJ3Lh0Jvhf7UgxuiBFBjqMibitUt)
30 Jul 2026
Livin' on the Edge (of OT Networks)
Computing at the edge isn't a new concept, but it's probably not one facility managers and SIs have grappled with... yet. Ping and Ryan are joined this week by Andrew Rodgers, Co-Founder at ACE IoT, and Aaron Brondrum, Sr. Director of Business Development at Neeve, to talk about the reality of edge computing design in OT networks.
Neeve and ACE take two different approaches to edge operations, but does that mean they disagree about it?
8 Jul 2026
Secure, Not Obscure, OT Networks.
Ping and Ryan are joined this week by Fred Gordy from KMC Controls, and James Roberts of Kelso Building Service to talk real cybersecurity for OT networks. We're looking at the differences between IT and OT security priorities, exploring how remote access and cloud-based frontends have shifted the security landscape, and pulling in real-world incident examples.
16 Jun 2026
"Advanced" Analytics and "Predictive" Maintenance
How to Handshake Ep. 6 — Advanced analytics and predictive maintenance for building automation systems. With Justin Carter and Rudy Bohince.
This one's on what "advanced analytics" and "predictive maintenance" actually mean in a real building — the dirty data problem, where these tools genuinely earn their keep, and why none of it works if your network isn't in shape first.
Our guests are Justin Carter, Controls Technologist at ENFRA, and Rudy Bohince, who leads the managed services and intelligent building services center at Alberio Energy. Between them, they cover both the SI side and the analytics platform side of this problem — which means you get the honest version of where this market is and where it's still catching up.
2 Jun 2026
EP. 5 - Skills to Pay the Bills
Is a career in OT still worth it? Which certifications are actually worth chasing, and which ones are mostly marketing? What's the real story behind the skilled labor shortage? And with all the AI noise out there, will these jobs even be here in five years?
In Episode 5 of How to Handshake, Ryan LaFlamme and Ping Yao are joined by Jon Spooner and Mike Conway, co-founders of Stacks and Joules (https://www.stacksandjoules.org) — the NYC-based nonprofit running a 14-week BAS field-technician bootcamp with a 92% post-graduation placement rate.
We cover what an OT job actually looks like on a Monday morning, why Stacks and Joules deliberately won't scale faster, the fastest path into the industry today (IT skills with a dash of mechanical context), where AI is actually chewing up jobs in the built environment, and the one piece of advice everyone considering the jump should hear: learn PoE, watch out for early-career poaching, and don't take this job if you don't like working with people.
Stacks and Joules: https://www.stacksandjoules.org/ (https://www.stacksandjoules.org/)
Subscribe to the podcast:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1889945777 (https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1889945777)
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Jg2yumYXCV2dRl1sIuPHO (https://open.spotify.com/show/6Jg2yumYXCV2dRl1sIuPHO)
Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/us/show/1002831921 (https://www.deezer.com/us/show/1002831921)
Read the full show notes and transcript: https://www.optigo.net/how-to-handshake-ep-5/ (https://www.optigo.net/how-to-handshake-ep-5/)
How to Handshake is Optigo Networks' podcast series on OT networking, building automation, and the conversations that actually move the industry forward. New episodes every two weeks.
19 May 2026
Ep. 4 - Navigating IT/OT Convergence
On this week's show, Jim Meacham from Altura Associates (https://alturaassociates.com/) and Douglas Plumley from Dartmouth College (https://home.dartmouth.edu/) are here to talk about what actually happens when IT and OT teams are told to work together. Where do they misunderstand each other on day one? Who owns what when a controller drops off the network at 11 p.m. on a Saturday?
And when IT security and OT security want opposite things from the same network, how do you write a policy that both sides can actually live with?
5 May 2026
How to Handshake, EP 3: Decrypting BACnet/SC
On this week's show…Nate Benes from the University of Nebraska joins Ping and I to break down BACnet/SC — is it really the next step in OT networking, should you be getting ready to migrate, and are your BBMDs headed for the recycle bin?
We get into the hub-and-spoke model, what zero trust actually looks like when the "user" is a VAV controller, certificates and who should hold the keys, how SC and BACnet/IP coexist, and Nate's honest take on when to migrate (and when to leave a working building alone).
Plus a quick rundown of what's new in OptigoVN — ARCNET support, device aliasing, the Niagara packet capture driver prototype, and the Neeve marketplace integration.
21 Apr 2026
How to Handshake, EP 2: Life after commissioning.
It’s Episode 2 of How to Handshake, Optigo Network’s brand new podcast series!
On this week's show… Saheel Chandrani from PingCx (https://www.pingcx.com) and Matt Miller of Fred Williams (https://www.equansmep.com/companies/fred-williams/) join Ping and I to dig into what happens after the commissioning team packs up and leaves. For a lot of people in this industry, that's the moment the real work begins—and the moment most buildings start to drift.
We talk early warning signs, documentation gaps, the case for and against predictive maintenance, and what it would take to make network health a standard commissioning deliverable.
1 Apr 2026
How To Handshake, EP 1: The drive for energy savings starts with OT networks.
It’s Episode 1 of How to Handshake, Optigo Network’s brand new podcast series!
On this week's show… Aaron Hastings from Apex Consulting (https://apexconsulting.ca/) and Alex Waibel of BuildingLogix (https://buildinglogix.net/) join Ping and I to talk about the growing demand for energy efficiency, energy as a service, and how the OT network has become a foundation for energy saving success.
Want the video? Subscribe to the video podcast anywhere you get your pods, or right here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpDsTJiKoQFRCGx_9hZ-iaA (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpDsTJiKoQFRCGx_9hZ-iaA)
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