Helper Woes

[Airdorn <a-i-r-d-o-r-n@xxxxxxxxxx-m>]

Lately=20it's=20been=20very=20hard=20to=20rely=20on=20help.=20IE,=
=20good=20help=20seems=20increasingly=20hard=20to=20come=20by.

Because=20of=20some=20tragic=20events,=20we=20had=20to=20cherry=20=
pick=20an=20installer=20to=20transition=20to=20a=20service=20tech=
=20role.=20This=20was=20about=202=20years=20ago.=20It=20hasn't=20g=
one=20well.

Latest=20example:=20The=20other=20day,=20this=20tech=20was=20taske=
d=20with=20hooking=20up=20a=20new=20customer=20that=20had=20an=20e=
xisting=20Concord=204=20system,=20something=20we=20generally=20don=
't=20deal=20with=20but=20not=20beyond=20our=20ability=20to=20monit=
or.

Today=20I=20had=20a=20service=20call=20to=20go=20check=20that=20ne=
w=20customer's=20system=20because=20it=20was=20acting=20strangely=
=2E=20What=20I=20found=20was=20shocking,=20and=20makes=20me=20wond=
er=20if=20it's=20time=20to=20clean=20house=20and=20get=20some=20ne=
w=20help.

The=20other=20tech=20has=20never=20dealt=20with=20a=20Concord=204,=
=20but=20he=20proceeded=20anyway.=20He=20installed=20one=20of=20ou=
r=20generic=20summary-only=20communicators=20on=20the=20system=20a=
nd=20tested=20it.=20It=20worked=20fine.=20He=20used=20his=20phone=
=20to=20look=20up=20how=20to=20change=20the=20master=20code=20on=
=20the=20panel.=20He=20was=20able=20to=20complete=20this=20because=
=20the=20customer=20happened=20to=20know=20the=20existing=20code=
=2E=20Our=20tech=20then=20left=20the=20call.

Today,=20I=20found=20the=20Concord=204=20in=20a=20trouble=20condit=
ion.=20The=20previous=20alarm=20company=20had=20alarm.com=20instal=
led,=20which=20includes=20an=20integrated=20communicator=20that=20=
enrolls=20as=20a=20superbus=20device.

I=20used=20my=20laptop=20with=20an=20EEPROM=20reader=20to=20discov=
er=20the=20installer=20code,=20accessed=20programming,=20changed=
=20the=20installer=20code=20and=20deleted=20the=20alarm.com=20supe=
rbus=20device.=20The=20thing=20works=20perfectly=20now.

I'm=20dismayed=20that=20my=20fellow=20tech=20either=20didn't=20kno=
w=20or=20care=20(or=20both!)=20to=20make=20sure=20any=20previous=
=20company=20comm=20is=20removed,=20and=20left=20a=20new=20hook=20=
up=20without=20knowing=20the=20installer=20code=20and,=20thus,=20h=
aving=20full=20control=20over=20the=20system.

It=20hasn't=20always=20been=20like=20this.=20Us=20technicians=20us=
ed=20to=20kind=20of=20battle=20it=20out=20constantly,=20in=20a=20f=
riendly=20way,=20as=20far=20as=20to=20knowledge=20and=20know-how=
=2E

My=20question=20is,=20is=20this=20my=20own=20unfortunate=20experie=
nce=20or=20are=20others=20seeing=20a=20general=20decline=20in=20qu=
ality=20and=20care=20about=20their=20tech=20work?