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So I go to a customer today that is a branch of a very large fortune 500 company. I am installing a new device on their network. I have a simple request, an available IP address.
Customer states that we need to call the help desk. We call the help desk.
Hello help desk, I need an available IP address for a new device. Ok sir, let me connect you with that department.
So 10 minutes go by and the help desk guy comes back on and tells me they are experiencing high call volume but to please be patient. Ok sure, I am 55 miles out of town and I damn sure do not plan of going back in the morning so I do not have much of a choice. 10 minutes later, the same the response. Then another 10 minutes go by and he is apologizing and tells me he will try and get a supervisor for me.
Sure enough, 2 or 3 minutes later, the help desk guy comes back on and tells me he is putting a manager on the line with us. She picks up and I give her my request. She then asks me to hold on while she puts a guy on the IT staff on the phone. He comes on the phone. Now we have the HD guy, the supervisor and the IT guy having a three way conversation about what I need.
So he gives me an IP address which I enter in my device and get the warning that there is an IP conflict. I disconnect my device and jump on a workstation and ping the address. Sure enough, I get a reply. I tell the guy I am getting a reply on that address. He kinda freaks and ask me how I was able to ping that address because they have the Run command disabled. I nicelyy told him I went to Programs, Accessories, Command Prompt. Huh, he says, that should be disabled.
He gives me another address and I ping it and get a reply. Nope, I say it is in use. I hear the sound of head scratching. So I keep pinging until I find an open address and tell him which one I found available and he asks me to use that address.
Now keep in mind that all three people are still on the phone with me this entire time just to freaking get an IP address. But hey, I got what I needed and I am happy. Just one more task for them, could they install the device drivers on their end or could I do it locally. No can do. The branch must submit a "service" request. The supervisor jumps in and asks the IT guy if she can just convert the "change" request to a "service" request and get it done. Keep in mind that the customer had already submitted the "change" request two days ago to inform IT that a new device was going to be installed. The three of them go back and forth discussing this option and decide that the branch must put in a new "service" request.
So I hang up and inform the customer. They shake their head and call the help desk and after 15 minutes of creating the service request, they hang up.
Now what should have taken all of two minutes to completely finish this simple task, involved several people for almost an hour and they are still not up and running. And they wonder why they are so backed up.
Sorry for the long story, I just needed to vent.
Customer states that we need to call the help desk. We call the help desk.
Hello help desk, I need an available IP address for a new device. Ok sir, let me connect you with that department.
So 10 minutes go by and the help desk guy comes back on and tells me they are experiencing high call volume but to please be patient. Ok sure, I am 55 miles out of town and I damn sure do not plan of going back in the morning so I do not have much of a choice. 10 minutes later, the same the response. Then another 10 minutes go by and he is apologizing and tells me he will try and get a supervisor for me.
Sure enough, 2 or 3 minutes later, the help desk guy comes back on and tells me he is putting a manager on the line with us. She picks up and I give her my request. She then asks me to hold on while she puts a guy on the IT staff on the phone. He comes on the phone. Now we have the HD guy, the supervisor and the IT guy having a three way conversation about what I need.
So he gives me an IP address which I enter in my device and get the warning that there is an IP conflict. I disconnect my device and jump on a workstation and ping the address. Sure enough, I get a reply. I tell the guy I am getting a reply on that address. He kinda freaks and ask me how I was able to ping that address because they have the Run command disabled. I nicelyy told him I went to Programs, Accessories, Command Prompt. Huh, he says, that should be disabled.
He gives me another address and I ping it and get a reply. Nope, I say it is in use. I hear the sound of head scratching. So I keep pinging until I find an open address and tell him which one I found available and he asks me to use that address.
Now keep in mind that all three people are still on the phone with me this entire time just to freaking get an IP address. But hey, I got what I needed and I am happy. Just one more task for them, could they install the device drivers on their end or could I do it locally. No can do. The branch must submit a "service" request. The supervisor jumps in and asks the IT guy if she can just convert the "change" request to a "service" request and get it done. Keep in mind that the customer had already submitted the "change" request two days ago to inform IT that a new device was going to be installed. The three of them go back and forth discussing this option and decide that the branch must put in a new "service" request.
So I hang up and inform the customer. They shake their head and call the help desk and after 15 minutes of creating the service request, they hang up.
Now what should have taken all of two minutes to completely finish this simple task, involved several people for almost an hour and they are still not up and running. And they wonder why they are so backed up.
Sorry for the long story, I just needed to vent.
