Technological Glitch In Templeton

Technological Glitch In Templeton Workers see their reliance on systems when phones and Internet go down

+ click to enlarge News staff photo by Tara Vocino Planning Board Secretary Carl Giacobone tries the phone but it’s still not working at Town Hall on Monday morning. Tara Vocino Reporter TEMPLETON  Dependent on technology – that’s the sentiment of staff during a daylong telephone and Internet outage at Town Hall on Monday morning. According to interim Town Administrator Robert T. Markel, 18 people throughout 11 offices were affected. Town Administrator and Board of Selectmen Senior Assistant Holly A. Young posted an announcement on the town website shortly after 8 a.m. “The Internet and phones are down at Town Hall,” Ms. Young wrote. “Comcast is working on the issue, and we expect to be back online later this afternoon. All offices here are open until at least 3 p.m. today, so please stop in, if you need to.” Mr. Markel said the outage made him realize how dependent people are on technology, especially since Internet systems don’t fail on a regular basis. He doesn’t remember an outage occurring since he began em­ployment in February 2014. He worked off a hotspot with his personal cellular phone and personal laptop. “I threw my laptop in my briefcase this morning,” Mr. Markel said. “Fortunately, I did bring it. Otherwise, I’d be sitting here twiddling my thumbs.” Mr. Markel explained he wouldn’t have otherwise been able to hold budget meetings with his department heads. They sent him electronic copies of budget requests, he said. Staff tried to reboot the system first thing in the morning but that didn’t solve the outage. Planning Board Secretary Carl Giacobone said a few people came in the office saying they were trying to reach him but the phone went straight to voicemail. “People actually have to come in,” Mr. Giacobone said. “It’s old-school. It cripples office communication. Luckily, in a small town like this, people don’t have to travel more than five or 10 minutes to Town Hall to do business.” Mr. Giacobone said the outage wasn’t really a nice break. “It makes the day go by longer,” he said. “I have to hold off everything until tomorrow.” He said he often accepts work over the Internet, including answering questions by email and scheduling appointments. But he used his cellular phone to get a hold of people on Monday. Mr. Markel said staff has something different that they can do with a pencil and paper. “Not everyone has to work on the computer all of the time,” Mr. Markel said. “Staff can also use the Internet on their cell phone or make a call, if they have to.” But a few staff had to work remotely. The treasurer/collector had to go home in order to complete payroll. And the town accountant traveled to the Council on Aging office, Mr. Markel said. As for the other staff, most have work email accounts set up on their cell phone. Mr. Giacobone said he noticed right away that something was wrong. He said the green light wasn’t activated on his office phone, and he couldn’t log onto email on his work computer. He quickly entered the other offices to see if there was also an outage there. Like Mr. Markel, he doesn’t remember an outage in the five years that he was employed at Town Hall.