Tom: I agree with your approach based on my dealings with large utilities and munis with wireless systems. Most CIO types have a hanheld PDA for remote monitoring/SMS/SSH/Remote VPN; and the technicians in the field have the laptop.+ the PDA Typically a message goes to a 1-800 Call Center (contracted or company owned) and the Call Center sends a "trouble ticket" to the technician and cc's the CIO/Chief Architect. The "trouble ticket' is really a pre-determined electronic message with an agreed upon emergency rating.
If I were a chief achitect or sales engineer, I too would like to receive messages on my PDA for all my customers to provide the best service. I would want to know all about their problems to get a feel of the OSS status of their systems. And whether or not a call is needed to their owner/operator on how we are resolving the problem. I would then want customer survey to see if the problem has been resolved. Two weeks ago in San Francisco there was a big power outage at the PG&E utility in downtown San Francisco. The event cause three critical NOCs to go down including Craigslist, and others. Read here: http://gigaom.com/2007/07/25/webs-weakest-link-the-power-grid/ Felix --- Tom DeReggi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Because its HEAVY! > Because you have to Wait while it Turns On! > Because you can't do it with one hand! > > We've been buying Used Vaios (12" screens 4lbs) on > Ebay, for new techs, and putting in the ATT Edge > Card. > Been working well to enable the techs to do > provisioning from the field. > > I've been using the PDA (mirosoft OS) phone with the > pull out thump key pad. The size is plenty adequate > for emergenecy access for maintenance. > The only problem I ran into was that Putty SSH does > not work on it with Manual Keys. Unless an extra > $100 is spent on SSH software :-( > > What we decided is Exec types like me would have the > Phone, s I would always want to maintain access, but > may not always have a laptop handy. > But our techs always would have their Laptops > around, thus use the AirCard. > > Tom DeReggi > RapidDSL & Wireless, Inc > IntAirNet- Fixed Wireless Broadband > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Travis Johnson > To: WISPA General List > Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2007 3:50 PM > Subject: Re: [WISPA] Managing your network on the > go-go-go! > > > For what it's worth, Circuit City had a cheap > (Everex) laptop for $349 a few days ago. Why mess > around with a small screen and keyboard on a phone > when you can just buy a laptop and have everything > you need? :) > > Travis > Microserv > > Clint Ricker wrote: > Well, to chime in late and throw in my two cents... > > Don't bother. Back when I was in that sort of deal, > I went down this road a > few times and the reality is that it is not worth > it. (I've done this on > about 6 different devices and none of them are > really viable for anything > more than a simple service restart...which I've > always been able to phone > in). > > Few points, mostly around the screen > 1. Do you really want to be editing access lists for > BGP or complex config > files on a 2 inch screen with a micro keyboard? The > reality is (from bad > experiences) is that typos are too easy to make with > such keyboards and too > hard to catch with the screen... > > 2. Outage resolution? Doesn't work...this isn't the > sort of environment you > want to be doing diagnostics in... Reading log > files where it wraps 5 times > for each line and shows 3 lines at a time is an > exercise in futility. > Switching between hosts is an exercise in futility > in this environment. > Simple fact--diagnostics is just bad at worse... > > Couple of points: network/system administration > should not be done with both > arms tied behind your back--which is exactly the > type of environments these > end up doing. At best, it is slow and frustrating > and often involves > overlooking major problems. At worse, you cause > more problems than you > create. There's not a single network engineer out > there who would even > dream of editing BGP in such an environment... > > Are you really telling us that things that you can > do things on a two inch > screen displaying complex (and lots of!) text with a > micro keyboard that > your staff can't do guided by phone? You may want > to re-evaluate who you > hire :) In any case, doesn't that scare you that > you are the only one in > the world who can possibly do this? Get a good > network guy on retainer... > you wouldn't (well, shouldn't) tolerate a single > point of failure in your > network; that applies to the administration as > well... > > At best, get a micro PC (like to OGO) and a cell > PCMCIA-based...this doesn't > catch "I'm in the bathroom and someone just stole my > car", but does cover > about 90% and gives you an environment that will let > you get stuff done, not > screw yourself over. > > -Clint Ricker > Kentnis Technologies > > > > On 8/7/07, Matt Liotta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > David E. Smith wrote: > Ah, but I'm at the baseball game. At best, my > laptop's in my car. (If > I felt like putting up with traffic, that means it's > in a nearby > parking lot, ten or fifteen minutes away, plus > however long it takes > me to find a wi-fi hotspot in an unfamiliar downtown > area. Most of the > time, when I go to Cardinals games, I leave my car > about 45 minutes > away and hop on a train. That still leaves the whole > "no Internet > connection" problem in addition to waiting for a > train, which often > adds another half hour.) > > It's more likely that my laptop is at home, which > under ideal driving > conditions is an hour and a half. Assuming I'm even > fit to drive; it's > a baseball game, and I do like my overpriced > watered-down beer. If I > were gonna drive that far, I'd just drive the extra > six minutes it > takes to get to the office. > > And no, I can't phone it in (so to speak...) and > have someone else do > it. Discarding for the nonce the fact that I'm > probably the only one > in the office that can even tell you what BGP means, > I'm sure you're > well aware that, for this kind of troubleshooting, > the ability to > actually SEE what's going on is amazingly valuable, > and no amount of > "dude on the phone typing stuff in and reading what > happens" can make > up for that. > > (Disclaimer: I'm exaggerating a bit, for comic > effect, but the point > remains. First-hand troubleshooting is almost always > better than > second-hand troubleshooting IMO.) > > Is it so comical though? You are suggesting > that there is a situation > where there is a problem so important or complicated > that only you can > fix it yet you want to be able to fix it remotely > via a cell phone at a > baseball game. It would appear you are trying to > solve the wrong problem. > Matt, you have some good ideas, but they're not > good for me, or for my > network. I'd love to be able to build some > super-duper do-it-all > widget in-house, but as I'm the only developer here > (and that's > certainly not what it says on my business card), > it's not gonna > happen. The odds of finding a developer who can do > all this for less > than the cost of a handheld gizmo and a couple years > of service for > said gizmo are very nearly zip. > > You have convinced yourself of what you need > and can't see anything that > could compare. The problem with your straw man is > that no such device > exists. > If you've used one of the small portable devices > I was asking about - > actual first-hand experience - and can comment on > compatibility, let > me know. > > Yes, I have a Motorola Q with EVDO that is a > very effective device. I > have access to our web-based OSS as well as tons of > web === message truncated === ____________________________________________________________________________________ Choose the right car based on your needs. Check out Yahoo! 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