Brain Blurb – Technology blurbs from us to you

We run a fairly large network of DSL connections. In the past, when we move a store from one place to another we would put a new phone line in the new location and run DSL on it. When the store finished the move, we would make this new phone number part of the “hunt” group (rollover line) for their primary phone number. Doing this allowed us to eventually drop the old rollover line at the old location and complete the move without really adding any cost for phone lines.

To make a long story short, I was just told that we can no longer do this. At our most recently moved location, we now have a line that is being used for nothing but DSL. What a waste! This line has a wall mounted DSL filter installed on it to keep the DSL and dial tone separate, but we cannot make use of the dial tone now…although we are paying for it.  It may sound petty, but the extra monthly charges could really add up over hundreds of locations.

When I asked our AT&T rep what the reasoning behind this was, I got this REALLY informative response (and I quote):

I do not have a good answer for you, but there are rules for DSL that have to be followed.

With our next two store moves on the horizon, I’m going to push for a little more information in hopes I can continue doing things the cheaper, more efficient way.  To me, this whole fiasco smells pretty fishy.  I think it may be another way for AT&T to further pad their pockets.  I will post a follow-up to this as soon as I get past “Bob” in AT&T support and dig my way to the bottom of the mess.

Signed,

Ben Tover

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