All hail the manual....

[feren]

Thanks to my curious nature, and the fact that our facilities department is easily manipulated, I was able to procure a copy of the manual for our phone system (or at least a brief synopsis of it). With the information I gleaned from this ancient text of days long past, I have been able to force all the calls that come in to my extension to go directly to voicemail, where they are treated to my voicemail message (see my earlier entry on the "service clause" about requiring a helpdesk ticket for me to consider doing anything for you).

I get an immensely pleasant feeling out of this.

I ended up resorting to this because 95% of all the phone calls that come into my extension are salesman spam or people looking to get help out of me without going through the proper procedures (read: obtaining a helpdesk ticket and waiting their turn). I grew weary of having to listen to the phone ring four or five times before it was sent to cover, and I discovered that even when I had the ringer volume turned all the way down that annoying sound still persisted. By having every call go to voicemail I have taken control of things in a manner that I approve of: I am now able to pick and choose whom I call back, thus weeding out the salesmen and leeches, and allowing me to perform my job duties in a much more efficient manner. Why is this such a big deal? Well, it's really because my employer won't give me a display phone for my desk (My department is the only one in the entire office building that does not have display phones. No, our phones aren't old, they're the same model as everyone else minus the LCD display). The rationale behind refusing my request for a phone with a Caller ID display? "Oh, we're concerned that you'll pick and choose whom you take calls from."

Isn't irony delicious?

Comments

Bad, bad, naughty kitty!

[daveqat.livejournal.com]

I heartily approve.

Keep this up, and you'll be a BOFH in no time. ;o)

Re: Bad, bad, naughty kitty!

[feren.livejournal.com]

Been there, done that, burned the t-shirt. BOFH was a fun job for a while but this new position gives me ever so much more creative freedom.

[frostyw.livejournal.com]

Heh, that's why display phones at my company are only given out to those who have "been around" for a while. They also still hit us $150 for refurbished display phones, and $300+ for the new 6400 series phones.

Actually, I got my phone by speaking to my (then) boss's boss while my boss was on business outside the country. We were moving locations, and I mentioned to him that there was a display phone left in the old area from which we were moving. It turns out that phone was already spoken for by another person we'd eventually call our fellow cellmate, but he offered to order me a display phone. It got charged to our budget, but since he thought it okay, my boss didn't question it.

Sometimes you just have to look for the opportunities. (Hey, that's what my (then) boss (now my boss's boss) used to tell me when she gave me assignments. :-) "I'm always on the look-out for opportunities.")

[frostyw.livejournal.com]

> With the information I gleaned from this ancient text of days long past, I have been able to force all the calls that come in to my extension to go directly to voicemail, where they are treated to my voicemail message ...

Now, if we're talking the Definity phone system, we're talking about *2 (activate feature) and #2 (deactivate feature), right? ;-)