if( $options{protocol} eq 'ssh' ) {
    unless( defined $options{userid} ) {
      die "userid is a required parameter when using ssh\n";
    }
    if( $options{login} and not defined $options{passwd} ) {
      die "passwd is a required parameter for ssh if login is true\n";
    }
    @args = ( '/usr/bin/' . $options{protocol}, '-l', $options{userid}, '-p', $options{port}, '-q', '-o','StrictHostKeyChecking=no',$options{target} );
  } elsif( $options{protocol} eq 'telnet' ) {
    @args = ( '/usr/bin/' . $options{protocol}, $options{target}, $options{port} );
    if( $options{login} ) {
      unless( defined $options{userid} and defined $options{passwd} ) {
        die "userid and passwd are both required parameters for telnet if login is true\n";
      }
    }
  } else {
    die "Unknown protocol specified: $options{protocol}\n";
  }

  if( $options{logging} ) {
    unless( defined $options{logfile} ) {
      $options{logfile} = "$options{target}.log";
    }
    open( $options{fh}, ">", $options{logfile} ) || die "Can't open file $options{logfile}: $!\n";
  }

# =============================================================================
# Spawn the child process to contact the target device
# =============================================================================
  $options{pty} = IO::Pty::Easy->new;
  $options{pty}->spawn(@args) or die "Unable to spawn child process: $!\n";