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Tech View
John Agsalud
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Technology is not always the culprit
A few years ago, we were writing some software for a client, and one of his clerical staff was having problems with the phone system.
"I know you guys aren't responsible for the phones" he told us, "but you folks are techies and maybe you can help solve my problem."
His main issue was that he would experience a number of disconnections immediately upon answering the phone. There was no rhyme or reason; it would happen at any and all times of the day, every day of the week.
This particular company had an older phone system, so it did not have caller ID, or any other means of determining who was calling.
We helped out the best we could. We checked out the cabling, even running a temporary cable, called in from various locations, rebooted the phone system, called other folks who had the same system, etc.
There were two interesting facts: One, the regular receptionist did not experience this problem. And two, no one ever called back after a disconnect. These facts helped to solve the problem.
Apparently, this guy had previously held a more senior position, but had been demoted to a clerical position due to incompetence. His new responsibilities included answering the phones when the regular receptionist was tied up. Because of this demotion, he was not a happy person.
The problem turned out to be a few of his coworkers. If they called into the office and he answered the phone, they would hang up on him rather than deal with his surly attitude.
The point is that many times we blame technology for problems that are caused by humans. While the above example may seem extreme, we often find ourselves searching for technical solutions to problems that are not technical in nature.
Most folks would benefit from the principle of Occam's Razor. Often attributed to 14th-century English philosopher William of Ockham, this tenet suggests that, all else being equal, the simplest explanation is usually the most accurate.
The problem of contemporary society is that all too often, we blame things we don't understand. If our example had happened 30 years ago, in the days of simpler phone systems, we would have known that disconnects were rare. Our suspicions would have immediately turned to the calling party hanging up on us. But because phone systems became much more advanced, most folks didn't understand how they worked. As a result, the blame went on technology as opposed to a simpler explanation.
John Agsalud is president of ISDI Technologies Inc., based in Honolulu. He can be reached at
jagsalud@isdi-hi.com