I used to work for Nynex
Back in the dim and distant past (1996) the UK had not one but several cable TV companies, of which one was Nynex Cablecomms. Eventually they all merged/got bought out to become the mighty behemoth we all know and love as Virgin Media, but back then little mom & pop operations such as Nynex were very much a fixture of the televisual landscape.

I worked in the fault reporting call centre. I undertook six weeks' training before I was allowed near a customer unsupervised. Part of that training involved time on the road with both installers as well as repair technicians, to give I and my fellow droids a glimmer of an idea of what went into a customer's premises and where. Another part of the training was time in a classroom, learning about RF signals, how they were carried, and how they could be degraded by various failures. We also learned about telephone exchanges, twisted pair copper wiring, and why telephones sometimes failed during the rainy season. Stuff like that.

By the time we were let loose on the phones, we were expected to be able to fix almost every problem which reached our tender ears, from memory, without resorting to a moronic script, as a consequence of that six weeks' training. The mantra was, "truck rolls cost money." It hit the company's bottom line every time we had to send out an engineer. Now, that wasn't intended as a means of fobbing the customer off without actually fixing the problem; if the customer called back for the same issue that was heavily frowned upon. It meant the original droid hadn't done his or her job properly. No, we were instructed to reach a resolution - the correct resolution - then and there, during the first call. Be quick, and be accurate. If a technician was required, we should book a technician. Just be damned sure it was necessary and not because we didn't know our jobs. There was some pride in doing our jobs properly, helping customers and getting it right first time.

Now, of course, everything has changed. As long as you've got a pulse Virgin Media will stick you on a telephone with an idiot script to follow. God help you if a customer ever calls up with something which requires you to think...
( flake has nothing against your right leg, Sun 27 Sep 2009, 22:36, Reply)