Things in the U-verse Are Not What They Seem
Today is the day AT&T is scheduled to install U-Verse. I have been skeptical about the whole installation since I have not seen any new AT&T boxes anywhere near our house, but they assured me they could do it.
The installer called me from the elementary school down the road. Seems as if this is where the whole shebang is located for the area. When he arrived here, I pointed out that had an alarm system tied into the phone line. There is the question whether the alarm system is set up for a digital dial tone since the phone line will now be VoIP instead of analog. He said they had been given some grief by supervisors since some folks had them rip out the whole U-Verse installation when they found out their alarm didn’t work with it.
I called my alarm company who had a non-committal response: “Well, before the guy leaves, call us and set off the alarm and we’ll see if it works.” I then assured the AT&T guy that if it didn’t, I would have the alarm company come out and put in the needed equipment and, regardless, wanted him to go ahead.
Next he tested my incoming phone lines. They need two pairs for U-Verse. One of the pairs into the house was live, the other dead. He drove over to the terminal box on the street, then back to the elementary school, and then returned here. That second pair he needed could be connected to the house just fine, but it was not “conditioned” for U-Verse. While he knew exactly what had to be done and could do it, that would be stepping on the toes of another division’s employees and he’d get in trouble.
So, he called it in. Hopefully they will fix the problem within days and we can reschedule the installation. Ah, but who knows what still lurks ahead?
The installer called me from the elementary school down the road. Seems as if this is where the whole shebang is located for the area. When he arrived here, I pointed out that had an alarm system tied into the phone line. There is the question whether the alarm system is set up for a digital dial tone since the phone line will now be VoIP instead of analog. He said they had been given some grief by supervisors since some folks had them rip out the whole U-Verse installation when they found out their alarm didn’t work with it.
I called my alarm company who had a non-committal response: “Well, before the guy leaves, call us and set off the alarm and we’ll see if it works.” I then assured the AT&T guy that if it didn’t, I would have the alarm company come out and put in the needed equipment and, regardless, wanted him to go ahead.
Next he tested my incoming phone lines. They need two pairs for U-Verse. One of the pairs into the house was live, the other dead. He drove over to the terminal box on the street, then back to the elementary school, and then returned here. That second pair he needed could be connected to the house just fine, but it was not “conditioned” for U-Verse. While he knew exactly what had to be done and could do it, that would be stepping on the toes of another division’s employees and he’d get in trouble.
So, he called it in. Hopefully they will fix the problem within days and we can reschedule the installation. Ah, but who knows what still lurks ahead?
posted by Bud Hirsch at 12:17 PM
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