sundance-communications.com/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Moving Phone Systems

I have a question to ask and I do not by all means wish to be nasty...

I notice that there are alot of posts in various telecom boards from techs who relocate systems that they seem to not have a full working knowledge of them.

Please, I do not mean to be nasty but why do some of you guys attempt to handle systems that you are not to familar with? You do know that if by some chance something terrible happens you could be held liable for repairs, unless you get it in writing from the customer that you are not responsible.

I for one do the above at all times. If I get a call on a customer owned system in which they are needing repairs or refurbishing, I always require that the full amount be paid for in advance.

We all know by now that a system thats over 5 years old usually means a dead cpu battery and by relocating the system, programming is gonna be lost.

I do understand that in these times we have to do what ever it takes to make a buck...buy dont you think its better to be safe them sorry. I would appreciate to hear some responses. And I do not mean to offend anybody...last week I worked on a 1032 trillum, so Im in the same boat.

I agree. But, will occasionally move a system with which I'm not too familiar and include in the cost of the move a new manual. If no manual is available - no move.

AMEN to you groundstart.

A computer guy I do cabling for wanted me to install a UPS on a system brand that I don,t normally work on and I did't risk it. I couldn't imagine making less then $100 and risking MANY hours of work.

though out the years as a telecom tech I have become friendly with other local telecom guys. what we do is basically help each other out. if I get an install on a system that I'm not to familiar with I get in touch with one of them that know the system and let them know what I'm up against and ask if I can call them in case I have any trouble. most issues can be troubleshooted over the phone and on a few occasions a site visit is suggested.
the only time we charge each other is when we have extensive programming to do

I agree with Ground Start. It's a huge risk to start screwing with systems you don't know & isn't even supported by the mfcter( i.e. Trillium).

But we all have to keep our jobs and end up doing what we're told. In this case it's the company taking the risk. Fortunatly, in my company, the owners see it the same way GroundStart does. This makes life a bit easier.

Hey DMCSALES......just curious...where in NY are u???

I worked in NYC for several years until the travel back and forth to NJ took its toll on my nerves....so I moved to Baltimore...NOW I TRAVEL TO DC EVERYDAY.....just as bad....but lots of fun....

gret cigar bars in DC....

specializing in one or two systems makes a lot of sense. it's always a judgement and communication thing with the new customer.
i have many good longtime customers who i might not have if i hadn't been willing to take a chance when they needed help. every single one has eventually upgraded to a system i can install and administrate efficiently.
m

As long as I know I have the right manual and customer knows up front that there will be an extra charge if I have to spend time to reprogram the system if it loses data, I'll move anything. I've always been the kind of guy you should'nt tell you have a headache if I've been reading a book on brain surgery. If I had been scared to move some of the sytems that I have, I would have lost what have turned out to be really good customers. And like Martin said, most of those I have been eventually able to sell them another system down the road, and in other cases I've liked their systems better than the ones I had been using.

[This message has been edited by JOHNYREB (edited November 07, 2003).]

groundstart,
I'm located in the city, midtown 36th and 7th ave.
i have always loved the city and thought i would never move., but with all the crap mayer bloomberg is putting us through i have been having secound thoughts

I'll second Johnnyreb's comments -
There's a lot of customers who were sold equipment by some fly-by-night ma-and-pa who took the money and moved out of state. They're looking for help, and there's no dealer within 100 miles. They don't want to buy another system, and they're desperate.

We're up-front that it's not our specialty, and we don't have many parts in stock, but we'll try to help if they want. Most have no other choice, and they're thrilled when we treat them fairly. We'll even add a set or two, if they have ports on the KSU and we can get it on the secondary market.

Then we sell the add-ons like VM, or the new system when it's upgrade time, and of course all the maintenance stuff like coil cords and handsets.

Funny thing is, after a while we've picked up all the customers the other guy left behind, and we've got spares for most of the common failure parts. When we upgrade, the customer tells us, "That old thing? It was a nightmare - take it away!" and we have that much more in our parts stock to service other customers!