So, I have an very heartwarming story today related to the WISP industry.
So this started back in March. A client was having issues with a circuit. The transport provider had so many fails in troubleshooting the issue from the start. First, the tech from the transport company did not have the tools he needed (we found this out 12 hours later) and could not troubleshoot the problem properly. Secondly, the Transport company (okay let’s just call them Zayo from now on) had little to no documentation on this issue.
So after 12 hours of back and forth troubleshooting the transport provider finally sends a tech out. The tech gets on site, and is told he should be in another location because they finally found a problem on the switch port. If the tech would have had the proper tools this process wouldn’t have taken 12 hours. But that’s another story
So, and here is part one of the heartwarming part, the problem is determined to be a cross connect at the data center. I call Eric Rogers at 3AM and he is at the data center at 4am tracking down the problem with the backbone provider. The problem ends up being a loose jumper inside the Backbone providers cabinet. It seems about the time the circuit started having issues someone from Zayo was inside the patch panel doing work. The knocked the jumper loose and when it was opened back up it just kinda fell out. A simple plug in and it was fixed. It shouldn’t have taken 12 hours to fix, but thats not the end of the story.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago. Keep in mind the above happened in March. It’s now September. Zayo sends the client a substantial bill for their techs time that night saying it was a cross connect issue and not a Zayo issue. There are threats to turn off the services if this outrageous bill, which was their fault to begin with, is not paid. So, here is where heartwarming part #2 come in. Eric Rogers takes time out of his very busy day to write a letter detailing what he saw that night, and what the problems were. After submitting the letter to Zayo the client has received word from Zayo they have credited the account. In the provider world this is as close to a win as you get.
So, it’s thanks to guys like Rick Harnish who have fostered the willingness to work together which has made situations like this possible. Not only did Eric get up at 3AM to help another WISP out, but he took the time to put words to paper to help correct a resulting bad call. We could go over all the fails in this issue, but the wins are what makes it great!
