Looks like next year will kick off with the merging of BFS into AFO. This is aligning with the one title tech as mapped out earlier. As a previous DT I hate to hear this because AFO does not treat people well. If I was a DT still I would move to construction asap. Otherwise be prepared for a lot of residential work and a whole new set of guidelines you will NOT like.
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@19r Fortunately for Legacy NTS's they will be left alone even though they moved to AFO. They are already down to minimal numbers across large distances. They probably would only see downsize due to retiring techs and rearranging for coverage. They are critical backbone support for internal, client enterprise, and ATT mobility and that cannot be left to small pockets of local techs due to the nature of there long haul routes. They need to be separate with their own long haul crews so troubleshooting and restoral across long spans to be effective and efficient. They are really some of the last to go if big changes happen to any techs within AT&T. Im always keeping an eye out for one of those positions. Its like winning the AT&T tech lottery.
Glad I’m a Comm Tech
@19r it will be business as usual with metrics that afo gives us.
GTFO in the end result
So what do you guys think of the announcement of Legacy T techs going in under AFO? What effects to you predict for those poor souls?
AFO can keep all those gpon orders,bussiness and residential....in special services we have a lot of work and doubt prem techs can handle an ASE job with router turn up.
Actually, BFS has turned into a largely overpaid prem/wire tech agency.
BFS is just a cheap labor agency
@10j. Well said!
AFO is not a good organization. I've been both a WT and a DT.
This will be detrimental for DTs.
There's a reason why Wire Techs couldn't complete and jepped every business order that the pulled, leading to abysmal completion rates.
WT's are just playing the hand they're dealt by the company. Yes, there are some smart, young techs out there that haven't had the spark beat out of them by the company. They'd make great DTs if they can cut it.
But, there's also a lot of guys that jepped every business order because the company only gave them 1.5 hours for a new GPON order and they're trying to hit their numbers for the month so bossman doesn't put them on a PIP plan. AFO drove these guys to abysmal completion rates.
Then again, there's lazy DTs out there. Just a lot less of them. Lazy wire techs seem to stick around if they know how to play them game.
There needed to be a path for wire techs to move up. Just not sure this is the right move.
There's a lot of different technologies in specials. There's a reason why theres a test to get the title.
Some guys should not be in the office and stick to the terminal to the house.
Just sayin.
Saw an Option 81 (5 column) and Octel 350. Wonder who the heck is keeping that thing alive...
The last 2 post are correct. The BFS uppers, terrified of massive craft & management layoffs within their department due to the loss of work from specials migration to newer services, pirated the “business” uverse work, and it was easily pirated due to the poor completion performance rates happening in the prem/wire tech world…..and I’m sure the BFS won’t miss any of that work that gets “taken” from them
Most AFO folks (all the way up the chain of command) are very ignorant to any part of the business that doesn’t align with GPON- Drop/NID/Homerun/RG work to a consumer residential dwelling.
The BFS portfolio of responsibility is broad and covers everything from the 4-wall CO, loop electronics, corporate communications, complex CPE (routers, switches, PBX, etc), ADE, ASE, IPFR, ADI, AVPN, OSP cable locates to Enterprise WiFi at the customer premises, not to mention absolute ownership of all 911 PSAP solution delivery and maintenance. If you can’t break any of this down to “hang drop” and “run wire” or “place RG”, the AFO folks have an incredibly difficult time digesting it.
BFS pirated retail GPON business work from AFO several years ago as part of a work transfer agreement. Unfortunately, a significant portion of that retail business GPON work is at a 4-wall residential dwelling because no mechanism existed in the ordering schema to distinguish the dwelling type.
AFO wants that residential dwelling work back (thousands of dispatches worth) now is all and with this move, they will simply take it back (and in turn, give whatever cr-p they don’t want to BFS) and then declare a surplus of the BFS workforce.
Been like that for nearly 2 decades.
ABF-Uverse work was given to the BFS groups mostly due to the abhorrently dismal job completion rates of the Prem/Wire Techs. Vast improvements since then. Granted, T may be paying 2 or 3xs more for a BFS tech, but I guess you get what you pay for.
@nc Maybe one day you'll move up into the core and see what it's like to be a real technician.
There's much more to the network than residential work.
You'll see one day, kid. If you can hang in there long enough running fiber through attics and crawlspaces. Somebody gotta keep the Netflix playing. Lol.
Lol...okay. Sure, kid.
Keep on feeding fiber and installing GPON.
@n7 oh and a “ring down circuit “ that feeds fire stations are all but gone also , and it’s tip and ring my friend tip and ring
@n7 keep telling yourself that you are a genius and that no one can do your job. The analog circuits are all but gone and the admin circuits you talk about are mostly tip and ring. I can assure you are not as “smart “ as you think you are , how many were there before you? If you quit tomorrow another flunky that can dial a tech support number will take your place whether it is a DT or a wire tech it will get handled with or without you. So keep telling yourself that the phone company will shut down when you leave if it makes you feel better.
@k4 lol...I'd love to see a wire tech work a ring down circuit that works through multiple offices on a 911 trouble.
The software side of 911 is the easy part. It's all the antiquated circuits that still feed a lot of the admin side these PSAPs.
@kf never they are the smartest of all the imbecile titles and the company will never get rid of them. DT s and sts are Neanderthals
Systems technicians are sc--wed and going the way of the dodo bird
“ Try sending a wire tech on specials or 911 jobs. Lol.”
The system is what makes those decisions. There are specific parameters for different job types and they are built into a tech’s profile based on qualifications. If built correctly a wire technician shouldn’t be dispatched on a job they can’t work.
@gr what are you saying? That a wire tech can’t pick a phone up and dial tech support like a DT can? This is 21st century, those young wire techs are way more technologically advanced than an old crusty DT. PERIOD
People forget DT's do way more than just business GPON. Try sending a wire tech on specials or 911 jobs. Lol.
AT&T Field Operations... I hear it's the org with the second class tech titles
@OP what AFO stands for and what rype of jobs they do??
With legacy declines accelerating over the next few years, there will not be a need for near as many techs. Just facts. Combining into 1 title/role makes a lot of sense to do Fiber work. A business install vs a residential install isn’t much different.
@OP gpon is not hard just tedious sometimes, but a monkey could do it . Business and Residential are same thing. Just different prices. So why not have WT do it all.
I believe a majority of the surplus will happen in AFO/BFs in the next two years. There was an NDA earlier this summer and then we’re looking to unload this part of the business. I think the southeast strike assignment allowed them to test having contractors do more work. I would be prepared to look for a different job.
Yep, a little birdie also let me know today that Wire techs (SE Prem Techs) in the SE are now being assigned new bucket vans. Checked and it’s absolutely true.
Things are about to get really awful for Specials techs and Managers in the BFS realm. AFO will gobble them up and surplus them into a memory.
One title makes sense. Most WT smarter then DT anyways. So they can do each other work. They could create new title and get around the contract if needed. It will be so much better for the customer. That’s what matters the most.
Makes good business sense.
They are saying the fiber build out will take 3-4 more years to complete. What happens to those techs where a lot of that work has been completed. Is there still a lot of work in the pipeline.
Combine, then surplus.
@a3 they won't, we are allowing Legacy T to be divested.
When are Legacy T NTSs and Mobility Wireless Techs/MTSO Techs going to merge?????
I saw this coming once they started dropping small business GPON tickets on me during a Saturday 911 callout.