A Letter to Our Tele-NET Customers
September 13, 2005
For some time now, many of you have expressed dismay that when you call, you are not put through to me. I apologize for this situation, and ask for your understanding.
Please be assured that the reason I do not take all calls is not because I do not wish to speak with you (I enjoy doing so perhaps too much -- too much time gets spent in conversation).
It is due to the fact that I recognize the areas in which we have service issues, and am constantly working to find solutions to the many problems we can face on any given day (typically 14 hours or so -- ask my wife). This leaves me with the choice of stopping my work to pick up the phone and tell every caller the same thing, again and again, or continuing in my efforts to solve problems and improve service.
Even though I do not personally answer all calls, the person who takes your call is there to help you. If there is a known issue that relates to your situation, the person answering the call will give you that information. If we do not currently have knowledge of the factors affecting your connection, email, etc., we will initiate a trouble ticket to have our tech(s) check into the situation. The tech will investigate, and if needed, call for more information.
Your report of an issue may or may not result in a return call to you. If the tech requires more information, or needs you to reset your computer, router, etc., he will call you for that purpose. However, in the case of a slower-than-usual wireless connection, for example, the condition may be resolved or improved by the technician making some adjustments in traffic routing or bandwidth-shaping that do not necessitate your assistance. Because these types of problems affect more than just one user, in these cases, you will probably not receive a return call -- you will simply need to check your connection from time to time to find out if the issue has been resolved. (Think of it like the power company, or the cable company -- after a service problem, they don't call you to tell you it's fixed; you simply try the service.)
Please understand that we are constantly working to improve what we do. With this understanding, realize that a technician (me or Nick or Tony, or John) can be either working on a network problem or a computer, or talking with someone about it, but not both. The more knowledge and experience a tech has, the more likely that his time is better spent working than talking. This is why you will normally speak with a front-line person, such as Richard or Wally or John. Trust me that they do convey your messages to us, and we do work on the problems you report. (More analogies: Like an automotive service department, you will speak with the service manager, not the mechanic, unless the mechanic has a specific question he needs to ask you. Likewise, when you report a power or cable problem, you don't speak with the lineman or tech doing the work -- you speak with someone who takes the report and relays the information.)
The bottom line is: if I'm talking with you, I am not working to solve problems. I like talking with you, but I realize that I need to spend my time solving problems and finding answers. I do this to improve service for all of our users, and I ask for your understanding.
Thank You,
Bob Menesini
Tele-NET
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