Jen...tel said:
Geez you alarm guys have no idea what you're talking about. All it
takes is one alarm "technician" to say something and the rest of you go
babbling as if it's truth.
From the sounds of your post it would seem that you're more involved
with the regulations than with the actual conditions in the field.
Between the power companys, the communications industry and the
government, there are so many regulations and codes that hardly anyone
knows what rules to follow. When a problem arises, the first attempt is
made to put off the call, by trying to convince the homeowner that the
problem is in the house and that it's probably the alarm system, if all
the handsets and answering machines hooked to the line have been
eleiminated. Little does anyone at the telephone company know, that the
alarm systems connection to the telephone circuit is simply a double
pole, double throw relay ( no electronics at all). Now all of this
takes place over the telephone before a service call is ever set up by
the telephone company. The telephone compmany has little concern about
the fact that the homeowner is likely going to have to pay for a
service call to the alarm company to come out, (even though he's 99%
sure that there's no way a set of relay contacts can be causing a
problem with the telephone lines and the client has already pulled the
plug on the RJ31X) to tell the customer that the problem still exists
on the telephone line.
If alarm companies don't know what the rules are concerning telephone
communications ........ then that goes for the telephone field techs
too. Around here, we call them Seven Day Wonders. The telco hires
people who have once seen a wire somewhere. Sends them to school for
seven days to learn where the green wire goes and where the red wire
goes. Then sends them out in the field to do hook up and repairs. After
they've hooked up the red and green wire and don't get a dial tone on
their butt set, they tell the home owner it's something "inside". This
is primarily so that the "technician" can leave the scene so that when
the call back occurs, "he" will not be the one to respond, as "someone
else" will get the ticket. Now that the homeowner hasn't had phone
service for two or three days, has had to pay the alarm company for a
service call, the next "technician" to arrive, still not being able to
discern why the thingy doesn't work, even though the green and red
wires are where they're supposed to be, will give up and refer the call
to a "Supervisor", who shows up in a day or two. This is a person with
maybe six months experience and who not only has a butt set, but has
earned the privilege of possesing a meter too. If he can't convince the
homeowner that the problem is still inside because he's afraid the vein
on the guys forehead will burst should he persist, the "Supervisor"
will proclaim the job requires a "lineman" to "check out the lines".
Usually, the lineman shows up the next day in a big truck. This guy has
been climbing telephone poles for 20 years. He listens on the line and
says, I'll be back in about 20 minutes and he is, stating that some
idiot didn't close the enclosure and rain water got in and we've been
having problems in the area for the last couple of weeks. You offer him
a cup of coffee and a $10.00 tip, which he graciously declines and
says, "it's all in a days work."
So, you can proclaim where and what is "supposed" to be, but in fact,
it isn't anything like what you say. The demarks are put anywhere by
anyone, at anytime. Some are 40, 50, 60 years old and located inside
the house. some homes don't even have any block at all. Some have two
three or four blocks, demarks, NIC's all interconnected or with dead
lines from past hookups .......and some have strange looking devices
that no one has ever seen before. Some are in attics, closets, garages
and crawl spaces. Some have even been buried in the wall when new
additions have been added to the building.
So you can cite all the regulations that you want, but you should get
out in the real world and see what's actually there. And you ought to
try calling for service sometime too. Example: I haven't met a
telephone field service tech in (10? 15?)years, who knew what an RJ31X
jack was, or if they did hear of it .......knew what it did or what it
was for.
