'Tis a joy to be simple - redux
Friday, February 13, 2009 at 06:19AM
Our district began the process of selecting a new telephone system yesterday by inviting three vendors of popular VOIP (OK, Voice Over Internet Protocol) products into visit about what we should be looking for in a new system.
The conclusion was made that we need a consultant to help us make this choice.
I've long yearned for products that are "simple." Those that do one thing well and take just moments to learn. I am dismayed when my new electric toothbrush comes with a 14 page instruction manual. When my wristwatch's instruction booklet is three times bigger than the watch. That the instruction tomes for appliances and tools now take up a full shelf in the laundry room at home. When I feel guilty looking at the five remote controls that sit in my family because I know what only a fraction of the buttons are for.
After hearing the "feature sets" of tomorrow's today's telephone - interface with one's e-mail, automatic call routing to cell phones, "who's available" notification, caller ID, BlueTooth hand/head sets, etc. - I worry that we will taking a friendly, useful technology - the POT (Plain Old Telephone) - and turning it into something so confusing it will be used only reluctantly by our staff.
I am already imagining reaction to the six hour workshop on how to place a simple telephone call.
Maybe it is just me, but I'd trade a lot of functionality for a lot less manual reading every time.
The Shakers had it right - 'tis a joy to be simple.
Reader Comments (7)
Perhaps we can thank globalization for the large manuals since they have to be printed in 7 different languages?? It's hard to believe coming from a computer geek, but "feature" has always been a second to "function" in my opinion. To use an old phrase my grandfather often said, the new VOIP phone system vendors truly seem to be "putting the cart before the horse" and pushing features before function.
take it from someone who just went through this --- if you use CISCO networking equipment --- use the CISCO VOIP solution - will make your life MUCH easier --- you can actually make a very valid argument about additional support costs associated with going with something different!
If you have to read the manual the product's crap. If things are not self-evident with how to use any technology product then the design is lacking I reckon. :-)
Greg
Our district just switched over to VoIP three weeks ago, and while Jason has many insights to and lost a few hours of sleep because of the trials and tribulations from the behind the scenes of making the switch, for most end users...it's still just a telephone. it looks like a phone, smells like a phone, and rings like a phone. But, it has a lot of features some of us, and many in the future, will want, demand, and use. The unified messaging feature that delivers a .wav file of every voicemail to my email is proving to be pretty cool.
I have a theory that as technological advances generate more leisure time, that people create more complicated technology to fill that time and keep themselves busy. I think this is an attempt to fill an existential hollowness and to placate a fear of death. To quote Pink Floyd, "Fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way." My interpretation of that line is that when people spend their time on busyness, it makes them feel they are accomplishing something and / or that they have more time, as they have enough to squander it. And what can keep you more busy than new technology? All the bells and whistles cover up the ticking of the clock. To me there often is a sense of desperation in people's need to have the absolutely latest cutting-edge gadget. A search for meaning in the science. And is the new technology better? Well, I just ordered a heating blanket throw from Land's End, pretty pricey, and although it is very high tech and "smart," the darn thing keeps turning itself off after a few seconds. I ordered a replacement and the new one is doing it too. Now I definitely have better things to do with my limited time on Earth than to try to troubleshoot an electric blanket. If it weren't so "smart" I could be enjoying reading it with my cat curled on my lap. Consider all the leisure time it has consumed as I have dealt with the problem. Consider all the time the engineers spent designing it. Couldn't we have just stuck with the old type that simply worked when you turned them on?
We went through this in an organization about Mankato's size (maybe slightly larger) about 5 years ago.
What you will face is the notion that you have two very different types of employees - low use ones (teachers usually want dial-tone, vmail, and simple features), and you will also need to deal with people who's job it is to answer the phone for a building (pickup groups, call routing, automated attendants, snow-day switchouts, ...). You can usually design a solution to meet both needs without being overcomplicated or over-expensive for those who do not need complication.
In some ways, it helps to look past the features for the end-user as most systems will accommodate even the more complicated setups. It is helpful to look at what it can do for you as an organization on the back-end.
Can you consolidate cabling needs?
Can you leverage existing hardware / software / PBX / Handsets / Bandwidth?
Can you give greater access to dial tone and still maintain your department's sanity?
We all champion the idea of VoIP - but most of us go into it underestimating what it takes to analyze the return on investment as we get tangled up in replacing switches, providing power, management overhead, ...
Do not underestimate management overhead - the workload for dealing with adds/moves/changes skyrockets in August, and smooths out a great deal during other times.
If your department is not used to dealing with a very high uptime requirement, it can be a little painful. (The plain ol' telephone network was pretty darned reliable - can you provide that same reliability?). When poop hits the fan, the phones had better work.
VoIP - ain't nothin' simple about managing it (but, with good planning, it can be simple for the end user).
Joel
Hi Jim,
And all those features require maintenance by someone. After years of our department not worrying much about phones, I think we are in for a ride.
Read the latest comment on this post!
Doug
Hi Jason,
Cisco is one of the systems we're looking at and administration/management/upkeep will be a big part of the decision we make. Thanks for the comment.
Doug
Hi Greg,
I think Donald Norman who wrote the Design of Everyday Things would agree.
Doug
Hi gitsul,
I appreciate the encouraging note!
Doug
Hi Heather,
Great theory. Although my dental technician thinks my electronic toothbrush is doing a pretty good job ;-)
Doug
Hi Joel,
I really appreciate this heads up. We’ve got a pretty robust network, but we will take extra care.
I know phone systems are also available as ASPs where somebody else does all the work off site. Sounds tempting. I don’t think additional tech training is in the picture.
And I don’t want to be the one to tell the secretaries about this new learning curve. We really put them through the paces with the new student information system. They just might put a hit out on me!
Doug