How to expect the unexpected when working late at a client.
I had a fun experience when working at a client site on Friday night – all names have been erased (apart from mine) to protect the guilty……
A customer needed to switch to a dsl line for their internet connectivity which meant a disruption to their website, incoming email and outgoing internet so it had to be done out of hours. As it also involved changes to externally hosted dns it was better to do it at a weekend so that by the time users came back to work on Monday all the dns servers would be returning the correct data.
I picked up the key for the building earlier on in the week and agreed with the customer that they would not set the alarm that night (I’d be arriving shortly after they would have left for the weekend) and I’d just have to arm it when I left.
Friday night I turned up at the client site, unlocked the front door and hear a beeping noise coming from the alarm control unit – this was not going to be a good start to the evening. I fumbled in my coat pockets for my phone and also for the customers cell phone number on a piece of paper to try and get the code before the alarm went off – those alarm sound bombs are painful. I literally dropped everything and ran out of the door to where I could stand without my ears hurting. Fortunately I still had the key in my possession and the phone was in my jacket pocket (as I hadn’t been able to get it out in time).
I called the contact number for the client and received a “hello” and then the connection died. When I redialed I just received the voicemail so I then called our office to see if someone had a home phone number but they didn’t. In the meantime the client calls me
back but each time I call them I have to wait ages for them to answer. By the time I get to speak with them the alarm has stopped ringing but I didn’t want to open the door in case it set the alarm off again. The client gives me the code to enter and I go inside, reset the alarm and then hang up the phone. Just as I do this the police show up! I explain what is going on, show them that I have the key to the building so I’m not a burglar and have to produce id for him.
The cop leaves and I go and apologise to the cat that must have been in
REAL pain (turns out there is actually two pet cats in the building), and
start work. As I have to sit on the floor as there is no desk space I
spread my stuff out and the cats promptly come and sit on the pieces of paperwork making it hard to read the various passwords and details needed to complete the job. The job was actually a bit more complicated than I expected but I obtained some pdf’s from the manufacturers website and was able to move their internet connection across ok.
A very memorable evening but there are several things to learn from this.
- Ensure you ALWAYS have the alarm code for a customer site if working out of hours – do not rely on them turning it off before you arrive.
- Ensure you have at least one contact number for a client – preferably two in case the first does not answer.
- Carry some id with you – a company business card is good to prove that you are not just a member of the public – although I didn’t have a business card to hand (they were all in the computer bag inside the building) I had driven the company car with all of the advertising stickers on it.
- Cats love to sit on papers spread out on the floor – try and organise a desk to sit at when working – it can also get uncomfortable sitting on the floor for long periods of time.
- If you are allergic to pets check that customers don’t have animals roaming around the premises (especially if the customer is a zoo!)
- An external source of internet connectivity is great for testing and looking up results on the internet without having to revert to the customers network (which may or may not be working properly at the time)
