zeroql.com

Well, where should I start? Maybe with the main reason I was calling the expensive Alice support hotline.

When I came home on Thursday the 28th of September, I had to recognize that my Internet connection was running at around 1000kbit/s instead of more than 10000kbit/s which was a bit disappointing. After some router resets and restarts still the same situation, so I thought the best thing to do would be to call the Alice support hotline. Good idea, at least I thought so, until I tried to call Alice via landline and recognized that the telephone is not working at all. Well, in that case there was no other possibility than using my iPhone to call them…

The first call: After a long wait (maybe just 5 min. but while paying a shitload of money per minute, it felt like half an hour) a support guy answered the phone and after the first usual questions like: “What is your customer ID or telephone number?” and “What is your personal telephone password?”. His first question was about which operating system I am using, XP or Vista. I answered “Windows 7″, big mistake, because “We’re not supporting Windows 7, yet” was the first thing which came through the phone. After a little discussion where I tried to explain that I don’t need support for my operating system but for my dsl connection, he eventually gave in and put me through to a fellow employee in the technical department who seemed to be a bit more qualified. He measured the line with and without my components plugged in the TAE- socket.
Result: My line is running just one cable on the last meters to my telephone socket. So he mentioned that there is only one thing we could do: make an appointment with a technician of the Deutsche Telekom AG. And bam there is the first problem. The time range for the technician appointments. Monday to Friday, either from 8 AM – 12 PM or from 1 – 5 PM. Somehow or other it meant half a day of my annual vacation.

To cut the long story short: After 4 hours of waiting in my apartment for nothing, I called Alice again and we found another appointment for the next day. So together with the first one I spent a whole day of vacation in vain because there appeared nobody on tuesday as well. A a lot of calls, line measurements and “express- appointments” later, it is 8:40 PM on Monday after the first date and finally, after speaking with a – I have to admit – very qualified Alice technician, I just got a call from a DTAG employee who will come by later this night – at least this is what he said.

Update: 9:50 PM
Yeah, he was here, the technician appeared (finally, on the 6th appointment) and left just five minutes later. He needs to check the main distributor which are very bad news, because now I have to find a date where a technician, the janitor and somebody of the flat share can make it. Why has this thing to be locked in an extra room in the basement in addition to the lock it already has? Ahhhhhh…

Other than this story, there is one thing Alice is really really good at. In not telling you when products you already own are getting cheaper. Ups, my fault, Alice doesn’t made “HomeTV” – a product I’m paying for – cheaper they created a new product with exactly the same qualities and named it “TV Flat”. And, surprise, “TV Flat” costs just half as much as “HomeTV” and nobody is telling you that. You really have to ask if there is anything cheaper. Is this service? Even if there is a cheaper DSL package, nothing. If you found out yourself, you have to pay 10 bucks to switch in a cheaper rate. What is this? Together with the whole day taking support adventure (DTAG bears 50% of the blame) I’m really thinking about switching back to the Telekom. And by thinking about I mean, I already ordered a T-Entertain Package for my new apartment. What the remaining members of the flat share are going to do with the phone extension and problems with Alice should not be my problem anymore.

That should be much more than enough but I had to write this down. Well, I’ll try to keep this blog a bit more updated with different stuff I’m feeling the need to put on here. If you have to comment on my english, do it, but try to give me ideas for improvements instead of just telling me that I suck.

Rgds.

We just added some new pictures from the “Bar Music Hall”, our “Burger Cooking Evening” and our “Pizza Cooking Evening” to the leisure time gallery.

Well, just take a look.

Being in London just over a week, we can conclude that it is a mind-blowing experience. We were looking forward to our trip and it is even exceeding our expectations.

Working at the college is very nice and comfortable. Everybody is helpful and supportive. The first week was kind of demanding, because the college celebrated its 20th Anniversary and on Friday there was a graduation party for the students who finished their education at the college. So we did some unusual things (like catering) to help the staff over here.

Apart from these two days our usual tasks are different. There some things on the rota which every workplacement at the college has to do throughout the week. The rota includes:

• covering the reception
• checking all the classrooms after the last students left the building
• at the end of the day taking care of the mail out by franking the letters and, if necessary, taking them to the post office

In addition to that our tasks include creating an inventory list for all the moveable furniture in the building, like the chairs and tables. Also we’ve installed the new Office 2007 Suite and the Microsoft Prooving Tools on every PC, which are very important for the IOL (Institute of Linguists) exam. There is also a little application where the teachers are able to book projectors and laptops for the classrooms. Therefore we have to check for new bookings every morning. If needed, we have to set up the projectors and laptops.

Furthermore we had to work at the first two weekends, for the simple reason that many student are taking part-time courses at the college that are structured over weekends.

Background Information about the College

Established by the German-British Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 1988, the European College of Business and Management (ECBM) specialises in customised business and management training for European companies and individual students. The College has strong links with the university sector, including the University of East London, and is an accredited centre for EDEXCEL, the London Chamber of Commerce and the Institute of Linguists.

The ECBM has over 20 years experience in providing both employees and employers with the necessary skills to operate in an international business environment. Students from Germany, France, the UK and other countries have benefited from the College’s short-term Professional Development Programmes and long-term Business and Management Programmes, which not only give students recognised national qualifications but also fast-track access to international qualifications such as the Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Master of Business Administration (MBA).

Duties and Responsibilities

Each member of the Work Placement team is assigned to a line manager (Alex). The members of the Work Placement team are expected to assist the College’s staff in the day-to-day running of the business in their respective areas of responsibility which are administration, marketing, information technology (IT) or teaching preparation.

The tasks of a General Administration Assistant include general organisation, preparation of teaching material, management and organisation of their line manager’s working environment, correspondence between the College and its customers/suppliers, and other general administrative duties.

Marketing, both in the UK and abroad, is central to the College’s success. Thus, in order to develop new course programmes, an Administration Assistant may be required to collect and analyse background information as well as search for sources of financial support for new courses. Writing press releases and creating promotional material belongs to the sphere of public relations, just as much as liaising with companies who are interested in the College’s educational programmes. Members of the Work Placement team often fulfil these duties with a great deal of independence and have the opportunity to put forward their own ideas.

Another important area for the College is IT (Information Technology). In the role as IT-Co-ordinator’s assistant, you will maintain and assume overall responsibility for all equipment, stand-alone computers and software and secure all valuable items. You will work to ensure that day to day running of hardware and software is possible in the library, offices and classrooms, help students and colleagues with their operating difficulties, train new staff and students on software (PowerPoint, Excel etc), e-mail and internet, maintain and upgrade the college network and server.