Ok, just a few points from me, If I may be so bold.
Firstly - my background is in TS for Unix systems, I have been doing this for a long time, and feel qualified to comment on these issues.
The idea of call screening can (and in my firm does) work - but only if done correctly.
If you have all calls coming to a central group of "receptionists" (although I feel that this is not a good word to use, as these people will need basic troubleshooting skills) who can clear the real simple calls straight away (yes sir, there is an outage in your area - our engineers are working on it, or you can't see if it is plugged in - why not turn on the light - oh you have no power - thanks for calling
) and ensure that the other issues go to the correct area - BB support or Dialup, etc.
The trick with this system is to ensure that the customer is aware of how it works, and can understand the value of the extra 2 minutes talking to the "receptionist"
Whether this would work in the NTL environment - I cannot say - I have never worked for NTL (and in all probability never will
), but the idea in itself is sound and proven.
That said - the current system does have issues - seen from both th TS and the Customer side - unless NTL suddenly get twice (or 3x etc) as many staff, there will always be occasions where you don't have an agent free - especially if there is an outage developing.
The customer has to wait, and gets a little cranky - the TS gets a little bored of saying "yes, there is an outage in your area - our engineers are investigating this - please check the server status line for further updates".
This is not unusual - it happens in any number of support teams. Thats why TS people tend to change jobs every few years - at least you get to deal with a different set of problems/people.
At the end of the day - the support is free - you can ring the freephone number or use 151 (I think it is 151 - but I'm sure someone will let me know if I am wrong).
If I was paying for the support directly, then I would expect a higher level of service. As I am not (bar a few pence here and there on a phone call) I will live with what we get.
<slight rant - sorry>
Why must we resort to personal slurs and abuse - this is a forum for exchanging ideas and support, not growing egos and attitudes.
I have had my fair share (some would say more than my fair share) of the cutomer type that we all know and loath - from the "I have been working on these machines since before you were born, and I'm telling you that I don't need to run that diagnostic because that isn't the problem" to the "ls -l , is that minus with a capital m?
", and have found that the best thing to do is just get on with it - just because they sound condescending doesn't necessarily mean that they don't have a point (occasionally they proved to be right, and I was wrong
)
</rant>
edit
wow - just realised this was my 100th post - what a away to reach a century