[cfgeeks] Anyone have BrightHouse in the Altamonte Springs area- 436/434 intersection...

[Andy Stetzinger]

I don't think I am alone in waiting in anticipation on the results.

Ya know, if you put up a simple series of pages (each page a day in  
this ordeal), and threw up some adsense... you might make a buck or  
two. ;-)

FWIW, my comment about the 3rd party monitoring service comes from  
experience. When I worked in Alabama for James Bond (no, really, I  
did...), we had some issues with what we were told was a "bundled T3"  
connection. We had our own inside documented proof of the issue, but  
they would blame faulty hardware inside our location for it. When  
they would monitor it, they logs they produced did not match the logs  
we were producing (go figure!). So, we used an outside source to  
monitor our connectivity... when we presented the provider with the  
logs from the outside source, suddenly action took place. Technicians  
came out to our location, and sure enough, found "something" in the  
lines outside of our location that was causing the issue. It took  
them less than 4 hours to find, diagnose, and fix the problem -- once  
they were cornered into seeing there was a problem.

I think you're doing the right thing by not dealing with the "front  
line" technicians. Their goal is to process a call, and move on to  
the next call, keeping call times low. I taught the A+ and N+  
courses, along with some vendor specific courses at a very large call  
center in Memphis, TN. While the courses were a little better than a  
basic understanding of how things worked, I felt that I would waste 8  
hours of my time by teaching a troubleshooting course (wish I knew  
Litt back then!). Once on the floor, taking calls... no  
troubleshooting would happen.

Tech: "Hello, this is Ralph, how may I help you?"
User: "Uh, yes, I'm trying to print to my printer, and nothing is  
happening."
Tech: "I'm sorry you're having a problem trying to print to your  
printer and nothing is happening. Have you rebooted your computer?"
User: "Uhm... no"
Tech: "I see. Reboot your computer, that should solve the issue.  
Thank you for..."
User: "Wait! Please stay on the phone with me... this should only  
take a moment."
Tech: "Very well." (slight audible voice in the background: "no, you  
put the red jack under the black queen...")
User: "Ok, it's back up now. Let me open a document and try to print."
Tech: "You're saying your computer has rebooted?"
User: "Yes."
Tech: "What you want to do is log in..."
User: "I'm already logged in, I'm trying to print."
Tech: "You're saying you are already logged in?"
User: "Yes."
Tech: "Ok, what you want to do is open a docum...."
User: "It's not printing."
Tech: "What is not printing?"
User: "The document I tried to print. Nothing is happening. The  
printer isn't responding. No lights, no nothing."
Tech: "I'm sorry you're having a problem with nothing is happening."
User: "....."
Tech: "Do you have your System Restore Disk that came with your  
system when you purchased it?"
User: "System Restore? What about all the stuff I have on here.. will  
I lose it all?"
Tech: "Of course not."

....  I'm sure we've all heard this type of story before... I was  
actually monitoring this call, took the call over, and had the guy  
turn his printer on. Turns out the last system he had used one of  
those "master power control" units, and his printer had an "analog"  
on/off switch, so he was used to flipping one big switch on his desk  
and having everything power up. Once he understood that his new  
printer didn't power on the same way, he was good to go. And he  
didn't have very many kind words to say about the person who was  
trying to help him.

BTW, we did institute a "legacy awareness" course after this  
incident. I left there a few months later and let another one of the  
instructors fill my role...