Metroliner telephone article 4133

No argument there...

Yep... then the machines would be different on different sites with different maintenance scripts... So NON-BELL-STANDARD.

Sure... some of the issues involved union issues as well.

A group of AT&T techs tried to walk out of a course a friend was giving on Unix supermini maintenance because they had to work on them under the Unix operating systems instead of turning them down and booting a dedicated diagnostic monitor. AT&T was reselling these boxes and the techs probably would have had better and longer lived jobs if they didn't fight this.

Also my wife worked on a computer based system for programming Merlin phone system configs from a PC. The thing was shot down because of "undermining the dignity of the craft personnel," until they went out on strike and AT&T had to deliver a ton of Merlin systems to Merrill Lynch.

The PC based config tool did the job uploading to the Merlins in a tenth the time it took to program via touchtone... And guess what... the techs would have had a better chance at keeping employeed with the new skills.

It's partially the Management mentality on treating the techs as interchangeable bodies and the Union for not pushing in new skills to the staff.

Sure... The trick was these were internal maintenance aids and weren't too well known outside of the technical and maintenance staff. AT&T didn't advertise the tools used to get the uptime.

Computer run line tests were common. Something doesn't work on the automated test -- kick out a ticket to investigate.

Hell, I remember installations of SARTS, SCAMOS, COSMOS and other maintenance systems well before divesbreasture. Most running on DEC HW.

I was installing the stuff for DEC in the mid-80's as they converted the older SARTS 11-34A systems to VAX Systems.

This was at places like AT&T, NY Telephone, NJ Bell...

Bell so liked DEC they tried to outsource sysadmin to them in '84 or so.

Rumors at the Bell Labs Holmdel site (internal publication according to my wife) was a merger was a done deal in the employee newsletter.

DEC rumor I heard (unconfirmed) is Ken Olsen wasn't willing to turn over the reigns to Bell management and place Bell guys in all the DEC VP slots..

I was recruited to go from DEC Field Service to Sysadmin and operations of Bell Labs Vax systems in about 84 -- so it was being worked on by Human Relations at DEC.

Suddenly it all dissappeared... like a digital Area 51.

No one admits anything... even though the companies are gone and "the truth is out there..." The positions became UNPOSTED... and the meetings never happened...

And they managed to pee money away going into the computer business with the 3B2, 3b20 and 3b15 instead of putting data services out cheaply in '84 or so...

ISDN... It Still Does Nothing (that I can afford). Lived with the Telebit Trailblaser and 28.8 modem doing my newsfeeds because ISDN was too expensive per minute against flat rate non-metered services.

Sure could tie up a phone line... even long distance... but select forwarding of about 5 modem lines with friends gave me a flat rate dial up cross state to pull down Usenet News with CNews.

Hated to screw around like that but it was legal and cheap and available. One half ring and the call was forwarded to the next guys modem line... and the next and the next until a flat rate connection was built for UUCP.

Would've paid double my cable modem bill now to get 56k worth of ISDN connectivity to my ISP 24x7 back in the early 90's.

Bill

-- -- digital had it THEN. Don't you wish you could still buy it now! pechter-at-ureachtechnologies.com