Sometimes it's nice...
Feb. 9th, 2008 12:43 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
...when you get someone that knows more than you'd expect from an end-user. Observe:
This lady's phone is not working properly. Oddly (i don't quite understand why), our phone service operates via co-ax. The same co-ax that feeds our internet and CATV services. You can probably guess that there are splitters involved.
Me: Ma'am, could you check and see if the phone box (essentially a signal converter) is on a splitter?
She: Oh, it sure is. *rummaging around in the tangle of cables our techs are prone to leaving* Wait...there's another one...and...another? What th...Okay, this is ridiculous. You've got 10 dB coming in, and it goes to a 3.5 splitter, and there's another one even further in...so, *does some math and figures out - in her head - that the signal is way too low to support the phone signal* Yeah, that's probably it. Man, your field guys are idiots, if they thought this would work.
Me: Erm...right. So... i can send in this ticket, and we'll see if we can get someone to straighten that out for you.
She: Oh! Don't worry about it. I've already gotten it straightened out. The only thing i can't do is bring in my spectrum analyzer, but i'm pretty sure i can get it taken care of this evening. Thank you!
Me: Okayyyyy...have a good evening...
Turns out she's an electronics tech with 30 years under her belt. 0.o
This lady's phone is not working properly. Oddly (i don't quite understand why), our phone service operates via co-ax. The same co-ax that feeds our internet and CATV services. You can probably guess that there are splitters involved.
Me: Ma'am, could you check and see if the phone box (essentially a signal converter) is on a splitter?
She: Oh, it sure is. *rummaging around in the tangle of cables our techs are prone to leaving* Wait...there's another one...and...another? What th...Okay, this is ridiculous. You've got 10 dB coming in, and it goes to a 3.5 splitter, and there's another one even further in...so, *does some math and figures out - in her head - that the signal is way too low to support the phone signal* Yeah, that's probably it. Man, your field guys are idiots, if they thought this would work.
Me: Erm...right. So... i can send in this ticket, and we'll see if we can get someone to straighten that out for you.
She: Oh! Don't worry about it. I've already gotten it straightened out. The only thing i can't do is bring in my spectrum analyzer, but i'm pretty sure i can get it taken care of this evening. Thank you!
Me: Okayyyyy...have a good evening...
Turns out she's an electronics tech with 30 years under her belt. 0.o