HP Memories

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Thank You for Calling Hewlett Packard

- Part 3 -

Starting Over

PART 3 - Table of Contents:

Starting Over

Backing Up

During the search for my next logical career move, I discovered no open jobs that would advance my career or even move it sideways. However, through my networking, I learned that HP had purchased a Northern Telecom SL100 PBX System (The SL100 is a Central Office switch - a BIG Central Office switch). The main node of this system was to be installed at HP’s new Corporate Headquarters (Building 20) with an auxiliary node in HP Labs Deer Creek facility and would serve all Palo Alto campuses. I realized that this was a major undertaking and that this big, new, sleek, state of the art baby was going to bring major changes to voice and data telecommunications at Hewlett Packard and I wanted to be involved in these changes.

I met with Pete Kimball, who was overseeing the installation/implementation of this PBX, to talk about this project. He explained that he had no current openings that I could fill. His immediate need was for a good, strong PBX operator to back up Bea Panetta so that she could devote more of her time to bringing the operators’ room into the 21st century and converting it into a Telephone Operator Control Center. The open job was a non-exempt Level 94 position and would be a huge step backward for me. Pete didn’t suggest that the job might interest me or that he had any interest in having me as part of his team. I’m sure that I shocked him a few days later when I contacted him and asked (not asked, I begged) to be considered for the position.

Aside from the job being a giant step backward for me, my husband worked for Pete and this had the potential to limit my career.  At the time, there were a few husbands and wives working in the same department and none reporting directly to the same manager.  But, Pete had a real need for someone with my expertise, there were no other candidates on the horizon and I was very determined to have a shot at redirecting my career; so, Pete agreed to run the idea of me returning to the switchboard by his bosses and see what happened.  Happily, we discovered that the HP Way was not dead (in spite of rumors to that effect); with a little help from Hal Edmonson and Floyd Peterson the potential snags were cleared and I had the job.

Pete assured me that if supported the Telephone Operator Control Center during the cut over and remained in that slot until the operators were comfortable working with the new telephone system, he would do everything in his power to get my career back on an upward track as soon as practical.

A "Hello Girl," again

Reverting to a switchboard operator’s job and working for Bea Panetta again was not without some frustrations. In spite of Pete’s assurances that HP gave raises and promotions on a merit basis, some of Bea’s staff refused to believe that my return to the switchboard didn’t take away their seniority and they resented it. My PC skills were more advanced than those of the average operator and I resented not having access to larger variety of programs to help me do my job.

Occasionally, I forgot that Bea was a stickler for knowing exactly what each operator was doing and my independent attitude annoyed her. I involved her in my problem solving only when absolutely necessary.  My motto was, “I would rather beg pardon for mistakes, than to ask for permission before acting.” When I encouraged my peers to do the same thing, Bea cautioned me that I was becoming too flippant and my behavior bordered on insubordination.  So I backed off enough that we managed to avoid major problems.

Overall my return to the switchboard was a success. I took pride in my contribution to bringing the new Telephone Operator Control Center on line. In spite of our differences, Bea and I held real affection and respect each other.  This helped us work out our differences and become an effective team. Bea ensured that I was among the first to receive Attendant Console Operation training and she allowed me time away from call answering duties to develop computer based processes and procedures that made the conversion to the new PBX system easier everyone in the department. I did everything in my power to support her as she helped the operators adjust to their new work environment.

Moving up, again

Even before the installation of the new PBX system was complete, Pete began preparing me for the next chapter in my career, he:

• Arranged for me to attend a series of Train the Trainer, Lead Instructor, and Service Order Entry training sessions that the vendor conducted locally,
• Ensured that I had hands-on training on the hardware and software associated with managing SL-100 system,
• Sponsored and supported my involvement in TeleCommunications Association (a national association of telecommunications professionals) at the Chapter, Regional, and National levels.

Ten months after my return to Palo Alto, Pete promoted me into a Technology Specialist position. In this position, 90% of my time was allocated to Site Telephone Services and my duties included:

• Conducting end user training for employees at all Palo Alto entities, including Corporate, HP Labs and International Headquarters,
• Performing statistical analysis of PBX console traffic and generating system management reports,
• Coaching the operators in process improvement procedures.

Working for Mr. Mike

The other 10% of my time was allocated to Site Maintenance and I reported directly to Mike Johnson.  Mike assigned me to work on emergency response procedures and to support safety/security related functions. Among the projects he assigned me were:

• Establishing and equipping a Mobile Incident Command Center,
• Coaching ERT members in the performance of Incident Command Center duties,
• Conducting telephone and radio training for members of the Site Emergency Response Team and the Site Security Officers,
• Overseeing the installation of Emergency Response telephone service in the Executive Suite – including the Executive Dining Room. This allowed me full access to that area, including the key to the liquor locker. Talk about a status symbol – LOL!!

An exciting, special project that Mike assigned to me was supporting a multi-national press conference at which Hewlett Packard and Microsoft announced their Joint Strategy Agreement (to simplify Enterprise computing). Prior to this event, I had never seen so much media equipment or so many reporters congregated in one place. The Building 20 parking lot, lobby and auditorium were full to capacity and we were using space in the atrium on Level A for the overflow. Chatting with Lew Platt and Bill Gates before the press conference, seeing all the smoke and mirrors during the conference, and watching these two men work their way through the media circus in the lobby—all without breaking a sweat—was a fascinating experience.

Earthquake 1989 - Unsung Heroes

An Uplifting Experience

A day or so after the quake, the decision was made that HP not occupy the leased Training Building 18 for the “foreseeable future.” This raised the question of what to do about the HP equipment in the building. Among the Hewlett Packard equipment in the building was some expensive voice and data communication hardware. Once building inspectors deemed that it was safe for clean up and scavenge crews to enter the ground floor and basement the building, it was almost a no brainer that HP would begin removing equipment from those areas. Mike Johnson brought a group of employees, including me, Vern and John Adair, to the building to help with this effort.

The stairs between the ground floor and the top floor had been declared unsafe. While a group of us were taking a break from removing equipment in the basement and on the first, we began discussing possible ways to get equipment off of the top floor. A Palo Alto Fireman inquired if the top floor was safe enough for folks to walk around on and was told yes; it was only the stairs that unsafe and therefore unusable. He offered to take a few people up in the fire department’s cherry picker, help them into the top floor through a window, wait while they loaded equipment into buckets or boxes and then, lower the equipment to ground level.

I told Mike that I would go up in the cherry picker. Vern gave me a look that said, “Have you totally lost your mind?” I had seen that look from him many times before so I ignored it.  I was a bit surprised that he didn’t step up and volunteer to go with me.  However, as soon as John Adair said, “I’ll go with her”, Vern said, “I’ll go, too.”

Without a doubt that was one of the most nerve-wracking experiences I have ever endured. Of course, the utilities in the building were off.  There was an eerie silence on the top floor, no air was circulating and there was no machine noise. Except for the inspectors, we were the first ones to enter the floor. No cleanup or removal of debris, broken glass, etc. had been done. The spilled contents of refrigerators, coffee urns, and cabinets were beginning to smell pretty ripe. To me the sound of water dripping down the stairwell, voices echoing up from the basement and ground floor, and floor boards creaking with each step created a distinctly ghostly effect that gave the entire experience a surreal feel.

I managed to stay in the building and push, pull, kick and punch debris away until the majority of the salvageable equipment was retrieved.  However, I can tell you, without a doubt, that I will never again volunteer for this type of mission.

Wrapping It All Up

My rewarding Hewlett Packard experience occurred late in my career and near the end of what I remember as HP’s golden days. I compare experience with having a great dessert at the end of a remarkable feast.

In the early 1990’s, I needed something to motivate me, restore my faith in HP Way, and help me adapt to a drastically changing corporate world, a world in which:

• Voice and data communications were rapidly being absorbed into computer technology,
• Hewlett Packard was phasing out of the instrument/measurement business.
• Bill, Pappy, and John Young were no longer involved in the active day-to-day management of the company
• There was an influx of younger managers who valued technology more than they valued people,
• The HP Way was being diluted by managers with large egos who were displaying less and less appreciation for loyalty, dedication or pride in a job well done.

At this point I found something that gave me hope for the future of the telephone operations at HP - the North American Field Operations Call Management Steering Committee. Wise managers at NAFO created a steering committee and chartered it to “develop a multifaceted program that will provide long-term process improvements and give HP customers grater satisfaction, increase repeat business with HP and promote greater job satisfaction for HP call managers.” NAFO identified call managers as: “every HP employee is a call manager and is responsible for providing customer service to everyone who calls their telephone number and for cooperating with and assisting colleagues who are in the process of managing phone calls.”

Wonder of wonders, I was asked to serve as a charter member of the committee. This paved the way for me to become the Call Management Specialist for the “non-field” sites of HP. It allowed me to work with folks like Alan Blackwood, Paul Horgan, Judy Hathaway, Stan Selby, Hank Taylor, Steve Lum, Dick Warmington, Bojana Fazarinc, and Pete Kimball, to help ensure that Corporate and other “non-field” entities of HP supported NAFO’s efforts.

I spent my last few years at HP wrapping up and tying bow around my career. It was my privilege to create “non-field” version of the on-line North American Customer Assistance Guide and to implement Call Management Training for “non-field” sites.

Before I hang up

I have enjoyed an amazing journey in which I answered HP’s telephone calls, crawled under HP’s desks (to case telephone service orders) and supported one of HP’s most impressive committees. For all these experiences I say, “Thank you!”

“Thank you for calling Hewlett Packard,” and, thank you Hewlett Packard for letting me manage your calls.

Epilogue

If you are wondering what qualifies me to write a history of Hewlett Packard, well, so am I. I’m certainly not a historian, nor am I the keeper of any official HP archives. I’m humbled to be asked to share my memories along with folks like John Minck, Art Fong, Chuck House, Hank Taylor, and others who added so much to the success of Hewlett Packard. I never invented, created, or inspired any hardware, theory or software that made a dime for the company. I’m just a gal who answered phones, became fascinated by telecommunications technology, discovered that I had a talent for using this technology to support internal and external customers.

I believed wholeheartedly that if I did the right thing for Hewlett Packard, Hewlett Packard would do the right thing for me. I was lucky to have been employed by the company when giants walked in Silicon Valley, when Hewlett Packard was home of a wonderful collection of those giants and when those giants helped create and maintain the HP Way. I believe the HP Way was best described by Carl Cottrell in a 2002 article, “The HP Way was a way of life. We ate, slept and breathed HP for much of our careers."

In part, I wrote these memories because I loved being one of those who helped make the HP Way work. I wrote it because of my desire to pay tribute to Bill and Pappy and those executives who made all us Hello Girls, production line workers, maintenance workers, and ordinary employees feel valued and went the extra mile to help us develop to our full potential.

As for this document, I make no claim that it is a complete, or even a completely accurate, history of my time at Hewlett Packard. Each of us sees reality through slightly different lenses, plus, age dims and distorts the memory. Therefore the best I can hope for is to give the readers an “as I remember it” document. I ask the understanding of those that I could and should have included but didn’t. The omission is in no way meant to lessen the impact you had on my life or the contribution you made to HP.

I thank John Minck and Marc Mislanghe for motivating me, for allowing me to share my memories, and for their editorial efforts which vastly improved this final memoir.

Mesquite, NV
June, 2012

Betty Haines

Thank You for Calling Hewlett Packard

- End of PART 3 -

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