Good article:
Having a single service centre for the whole continent is not necessarily
very efficient, because the people answering the calls don't have a clue
about the local situation. My son used to work for Gandalf (large Canadian
computer networking company, which has since gone bankrupt). They set up a
continent-wide service centre in New Jersey. Within a few weeks my son, a
senior technician in Toronto, was fuming because the National Trust network
was down for several hours before New Jersey notified Toronto. Down there
they hadn't a clue that National Trust was just about Gandalf's biggest
client in Canada.
-----Original Message-----
From: Cordell, Arthur: DPP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Futurework <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: December 14, 1998 12:34 PM
Subject: technology changes community
Technology changes the job market. Bit by bit. Job by job. Community by
community.
Globe and Mail. Op-Ed.
That phone doesn't ring here any more
Monday, December 14, 1998
MARJORIE DOYLE
IN NEWFOUNDLAND -- Some years ago, I phoned a florist
about a mile from my house to
ask whether the shop was open that evening. A woman
answered, said no, and gave me the store
hours. Her accent was musical and charming but clearly
not from these parts.
Where are you? I asked.
Virginia, she drawled.
I had dialled a St. John's phone number and the
business, I'd thought, was a local one. But
someone, somewhere, had decided that lean and
efficient business practice meant farming out
services.
Since then, I've had dozens of similar experiences. I
call a local phone number to request servicing
of a product. The call is answered on the mainland,
and the arrangement (between me and a guy
mabe two streets away) is made in an office maybe
2,000 miles away.
<snip>
Suddenly eyeglasses and dental work
shift into the category of luxuries. Worry turns to
fear, even panic, as the new lay of the land
becomes clear. Everything has changed.
All too true even for people who do hang on to low-paying jobs with few or
no benefits.
