sundance-communications.com/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information A Message to all newcomers & endusers

As a long time member of this board I have noticed many new faces, mostly I have noticed were endusers looking for a quick fix to a problem or just to ask a question.

Please take a moment and understand our industry. I know from past posts that prices were always the major issue and question.

We as every other service technician in any other field respond to a service call as prompt as possible. If its a program change or to swap extensions move a couple of cross-connects or whatever, if the job took 15 minuted or a couple of hours, this is how the scenerio develops:

The customer places a service call....

The interconnect takes the call, if it can be solved over the phone we do.....

If the call cannot be solved we dispatch a technician....

The technician shows up and solves the problem....

THATS WHAT WE ARE HERE FOR.......AND WE CHARGE ACCORDINGLY.......

If you take a survey you will find that we phoneman charge less as a service business then most other industries, so why moan & complain.....

Your business telephone system is your lifeline to the outside world or to conduct business....it is IMPORTANT.....
If your washing machine breaks down, you can wait a day or two...same as anything else...

I WILL GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE....a company calls and says they hired a new employee and need his office phone cable activated and programmed....the tech arrives and does what he has to do...NOW you receive a bill for let's use for example a couple hundred bucks...instead of complaining about the high cost, THINK ABOUT the productivity that new employee will bring....

We as phoneman just like every other industry have trucks, insurance, inventory, liquid gold (gas), girlfriends and wives that need pampering, and several other expenses....

We arent charging alot, so please be kind and understand what this bulletin board is about...

We are all here to help all of you and would even call ya to help ya...but if ya need us and we have to come to ya....greet us with kindness....

I would like for any of you to spend an average day with us technicians and see the jobs we go on and service calls we get...at the end of the day you will appreciate the work we do.......

Thank you very much and have a great weekend...

Mitch Taylor
"All Class All The Time"

Well put Mitch

I have only been here a little while, and it does seem that a lot of end users come here for help. Of the one's I have seen, no one on this board has said a bad word to them, everyone has gone out of their way to help. For this I would like to say thank you to everyone. You guy's help give us all a good name in the business. (just my 2 cents worth)

Nice Post

[This message has been edited by txfoneman (edited July 16, 2005).]

Well said.

Here Here well said.

well put! I was just called into a job that a electrical contractor had run some wires and walked away. No labels on the wires, I had to tone/jack ect. & the owner kept asking "how much longer?" while I was trying to fix someone elses mistake.

I'm a new guy, and from what I've seen, the "help" often is a single-line post. "Better call someone who knows what they're doing".

I have absolutely no problem with that advice. It is responsible, it protects (somewhat) the industry, and it's most likely to be the lowest cost option in the long run. The only problem is the advice is not realistic.

People come here for answers because they've been tasked with doing something they know nothing about, or don't know enough about. The internet is great for finding information. What someone does with that information is unpredictable. They may even generate more business for a local interconnect by completely hosing their systems. Most likely, they'll become the de-facto "phone guy" for their company after completing a simple MAC.

We all know that American businesses are not known for their long-term planning. The real cost of Joe Amateur will never even be considered, unless he screws up big-time.

The only way to compete with that mindset is to do the highest quality work, to be known for it, and to be relied upon by those who have already seen the light.

Unfortunately, what this ultimately means is a reduction in your income. Those businesses that only want something to work will never call you. They'll give it to an employee, and he/she will muddle through, learn enough to be dangerous and probably keep things running in a "good enough" state for a long time.

That type of thing is here to stay. You know instantly upon arriving on a job site that an "inhouse" guy has been working his magic. I'm primarily an IT guy, and that industry is no different, except we're a few years ahead. Now everybody's an IT guy and I make 55% of my previous salary.

Welcome to the brave new world...




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-Steve

"few years ahead" ??? Are you IT types done stepping on the telephony shoulders to get where you are? The IT controlling phones won't go away. The IP situation won't go away. It's the ISDN of the 80's. The IT people think in bandwidth, not time. They only understand imaginary details (pictures of clouds because they can't define true connectivity between sites). Hard facts are their enemies because they cannot justify their positions if they did use hard facts.

So, just remain years ahead and we'll plod along carrying the load in the real world.

Soap box, anyone?

I've worked many jobs where there was literally no source of information or someone to ask a question. Having this site around is a whole different world.

Before my post turns into a mud-slinging event let me clarify a few things........

FIRST....I understand that many company's are forced into a budget and trying to combine departments is a thing that is happening more and more today.....

SECOND....my post is for the end-users who are visiting here for an answer to their telecom needs....

Just because a phone sitting on a desk looks simply enough to program just by hitting a couple of codes and buttons....IT AINT...ever try to program Least Cost Routing on some older switches????

My point is that we are here to help...BUT, there will be occasions where we will have to pay a visit...

Try talking to a phone tech that walks onto a completely messed up install with no key sheets around....it could take a long time to program.......

PROGRAMMING a phone system isnt easy, leave it to a phone tech.......AS FOR YOU "IT" guys, eventually as you will find the job of a phone guy and network guy is becoming one...

Dont pick on the "IT" guy after all us phone guys mess around with networks dont we???
I do...a good part of my business is wiring up network wiring and "ACTUALLY" unboxing "Dell" computers and setting them up...

SO...BEFORE..this post gets into name calling...ONCE AGAIN, Im trying to explain to the end-users and companies paying us a visit here to understand that there will be a time when we have to visit your premises to solve an issue...AND WE WILL BILL ACCORDINGLY....

FOOD FOR THOUGHT...how much do electricians, plumbers, ac & heating companies charge for their labor??? The reason there are issues with pricing in our industry is because we have "FINE" boards like this one whereas you dont find boards for the other industry's....

SO PLEASE TO ALL....lets not get into mud-slinging...

Have a great day....and "ITS FRIGGIN HOT AS HELL HERE IN NJ"........