[AusNOG] TPG NOC CONTACT

[Alan Maher]

As in an independent contractor, I have a whale of a time with this stuff.
For every client stuck in a loop, attempting to talk to some call centre 
somewhere,
and following a script, which the individual doesn't understand, nor 
care, they
hang up and call their local "go to" guy.

And I spring a few dollars out of them for resetting the router, 
checking the line, and
making sure the DSL connection is up and running. And maybe spring 
another few dollars
checking they actually do have anti-virus, and not an ancient 
subscription to Nortons
that expired in 1999.

It isn't hard, but I can understand how the average punter feels about 
all this.
They bought a service, and it stopped working.

So.... they call the provider.........and it all turns to custard after 
that.
A bunch of people who talk a different language- and I'm not talking about
call centres in the Philippines, just the guy on the phone.

Joe Blow wouldn't know a DSL filter from a Rothman's Filter.
And more importantly, he doesn't care.

Something broke, and he wants it fixed.

If you are an ISP, you need to sort this stuff out better, or cut me a 
slice to
do it for you. (Sorry-delete that... I already have enough ISP fallout 
to deal with)

Not that it matters too much, I already do this anyway.
And I take the dollar off the end user, rather than rely on some 
corporate payment
scenario that often gets "delayed".

My reputation is good- how about yours?

And don't get me started on the price of spare parts for HP/Compaq gear.
Yes, I am an electronics bod, with a few clues on the rest of the stuff.

Fighting the FUD is my mission.
Computers are simple.
Corporates complicate things for a reason, mostly to do with marketing.
Routers are simple- see the above.
People are complicated, and need to be restrained.
Or re-trained.

Alan




On 11/11/2014 8:55 p.m., Mark Dignam wrote:
>
> Real World CEO Answer: Cut both – Engineers are only a drain on the 
> spreadsheet, and customer facing staff just need to knuckle down and 
> work harder. And less wages means happy shareholders and more options 
> for the board.
>
> the sad fact is – its often a true answer L
>
> dig.
>
> *From:*AusNOG [mailto:ausnog-bounces at lists.ausnog.net] *On Behalf Of 
> *Shane Short
> *Sent:* Tuesday, 11 November 2014 3:33 PM
> *To:* Shain Singh
> *Cc:* ausnog at lists.ausnog.net
> *Subject:* Re: [AusNOG] TPG NOC CONTACT
>
> I'm not saying I disagree/agree either way, but would you rather cut 
> costs on some customer facing staff which a smaller percentage of your 
> customer base utilises day to day, or do you cut it from 
> infrastructure/engineering, which all your customer base uses?
>
> It's a tricky one that I don't have the answer for.
>
> -Shane
>
> Shain Singh wrote:
>
> On 11 November 2014 18:11, Shane Short <shane at short.id.au 
> <mailto:shane at short.id.au>> wrote:
>
> To be honest-- getting someone who's capable of doing that level of 
> troubleshooting ad-hoc is hard, especially if you don't have the 
> budgets because you're in a price war with your competitors.
>
> Bingo! And that's the mindset across the board with small and large 
> players - that budgetary constraints mean that staff is typically the 
> first place to look for cost cutting.
>
> When I worked years ago at KBS Internet and also Connect.com we only 
> had a T2 helpdesk to deal with corporates/wholesales. I also had 
> config access to ALL core/dist/edge routers and sudo access to hosting 
> servers, etc. Things have changed since those days, but they could do 
> it, so surely others can....
>
> We are now stuck in a world where the members of this list hire T1 
> people themselves and expect better service from the T1 staff of their 
> transit providers. T1 skill-sets don't really change much in 
> companies, and nor do their pay grades.
>
>
> -- 
>
> Shaineel Singh
> e: shain.singh at gmail.com <mailto:shain.singh at gmail.com>
> p: +61 422 921 951
> w: http://buffet.shainsingh.com
>
> --
> "Too many have dispensed with generosity to practice charity" - Albert 
> Camus
>
>
>
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> AusNOG at lists.ausnog.net
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