I am looking for someone to help escalate an abuse case at AT&T (if it
matters, specifically the former Southwestern Bell servicing the San
Francisco area). I have been emailing abuse@sbcglobal.net, abuse@swbell.net, and abuse@att.com since 3/35 and all I have received are
automated responses with case numbers. I have also attempted to call
800-648-1626 numerous times with no success. I can provide case numbers off
list.
We're experimenting with Twitter as a means to communicate anytime there are system-wide outages (in addition to regular maintenance notifications). Adoption is slow but I foresee growth once we really get the word out.
Being a data and VoIP provider, certain events can effect both email and telephone communications, so having a truly OOB method of contact is potentially invaluable.
It would be awesome if there was a service like twitter that wasn't down as often as it is.
If your email and phone communications are down due to a connectivity
break, and your customers get connectivity from you [assume no backup
links, by default .. you'd be surprised at how many smaller customers
get by with a single link and no backups at all. If their
connectivity is down too - they just cant get to twitter right?
And there's quite likely to be assorted HR policies that say "no
goofing off on the internet at work, and that includes twitter,
facebook etc"
I'd suggest gather as much backup contact info as you can - cellphone
+ landline (presumably from another carrier, and wired instead of
voip), mailing address etc. Use it in series. It is quite scriptable
(and even the bulk postal mail part can be automated to some extent).
If your email and phone communications are down due to a connectivity
break, and your customers get connectivity from you [assume no backup
links, by default .. you'd be surprised at how many smaller customers
get by with a single link and no backups at all. If their
connectivity is down too - they just cant get to twitter right?
I can post status updates to our noc twitter account from my cell phone (so no reliance on local network) and any customers who are using a smartphone device can get updates from their mobile, also wholly OOB from our network. I imagine there's a way to get updates via pure SMS too. I think it's the melding of the mobile with the Internet that is what gives Twitter its real power.
I agree however that if the only Twitter access is via regular computer it loses most of its value in this situation.
Twitter, in line with the subject line, has got out of band - updates by SMS.
So the general lesson is that even organisations with single homed connectivity can post updates to colleagues, peers, customers, if they build tools that let them do so from their cellphones... whether this is via twitter or an externally hosted blog, or status page, or something else.