DNR:
I am in full agreement with you there about working with CLECs. We only choose (as in refer business to) one, which is XO Communications. They are really good about direct or cell numbers. Honestly, we only have to work with one number; the Rep we work with. He's available 24/7 and gets problems resolved quickly.
In the few instances where necessary, we have returned the favor by having a technician on-site to test LEC circuit failures in an effort to restore service. Cutting out one step of the troubleshooting process speeds service restoral along for a mutual customer.
Out comes the soap box........Sorry, folks:
DNR, on another note, you have never had to deal with Bell Atlantic (the real Verizon) who purcased GTE in your area. If you ever worked with Bell Atlantic, you would be cleaning pools for a living now, and happy to do so.
They are so inept, it's beyond comprehension. They implicate us when they get sued as being jointly-responsible for incorrect orders. They never succeed, but we still have had to pay to defend ourselves out of their frivilous "joint" legal actions since we placed the initial orders on the customer's behalf.
We actually were excited when Bell Atlantic and GTE merged; we looked forward to GTE people teaching these Bell people how to communicate with their customers.
Our first PRI cutover in former GTE territory that was handled by a former Bell Atlantic rep:
40 days past the due date with our equipment on the wall waiting for the circuit to be completed. Rep "forgot" to actually place the installation order.
Second (although in Bell Atlantic territory): A health care facility that has lost their PRI (100% outage) twice in sixty days. Both due to errors in order entry and records resulting in disconnects.
Give me back the local Bell Atlantic and GTE business offices any day. Now, we place orders with someone in CA, someone in TX confirms it, someone in VA is supposed to provision it, someone in NY actually does it, and when something goes wrong, they all deny any involvement after someone in FL investigates and determines that someone in AL messed up.
I thought the divestiture of AT&T in 1984 was intended to protect us from this stuff. Wasn't that the intent of Judge Greene's decree? Seems like SBC and Verizon are neck-in-neck to see who ends up buying Qwest and BellSouth now. Once they finish that battle, they will shake hands, merge, and then own ALL Bell territories, ALL GTE territories, ALL AT&T long distance networks, ALL MCI business and Lord knows how many brand name contracts.
Thank goodness that Sprint had the wallet available to pick up United Telepone System and Centel. I hate to think of what would happen had the "VZ" or SBC beat them to the punch.
Wasn't the whole intention of the Judge Greene's action to eliminate a nationwide monopoly in telecommunications? AT&T managed our nation's telecommunications network for 100 +/- years and did it well, yet that was determined to be a bad thing for consumers?
Now, 20 years later, it's not only OK to ressurect this monopoly, but to throw a few other names and categories into the mix. Let us not forget that while SBC gobbled up AT&T, Verizon swallowed MCI.
How many millions of dollars can you even fathom that AT&T and our government spent in an effort to result in "1984". What a waste of money. Our nation's telecommunications infrastructure monopoly is now back to exactly, if not more, than it was prior to the decree. Maybe David Bowie saw someting coming with his song.
