Realizm

Internet stopped working earlier, called Cox and they said they "provisioned" the modem after it hadn't been done for a year, and now it works again..

Wtf does this mean?

Mephisto2

Provisioned is techy speak for "setup" or "enabled".

So when a service provider provisions an ADSL line (for example), what they mean is that they have set it up, configured it and "turned it on"...

It's a phrase that has no specific meaning in general conversation (though some SPs will have it clearly defined in their inhouse documentation), but as long as you consider it to mean "enabled" you won't be too wrong.


Mr Mephisto

Realizm

Why would it need to be setup or enabled after having worked for so long?

Was on the net one second and the next moment I was knocked off.

shakran

could just be that someone clicked the wrong icon back at the home office.

Mephisto2

Or they could simply be "bullshitting" you, but using 'technical jargon'...

Most consumers wouldn't argue if a techie bamboozled them with jargon

Mr Mephisto

irseg

Rule of thumb: When you see a noun being used as a verb, it means some jackass is trying to sound intelligent.

I've actually encountered people who, instead of saying "let's do this", they say "let's action this". It took every bit of restraint I had not to punch them in the head.

cowlick

It means they broke something and are too wimp to tell you about it.

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krazykemist

I am a tech for a local ISP and I use that term and those like it all the time.

I do not use them to make myself sound more intelligent because there is no need to. If someone calls you to help them with a problem they are having then it is normally assumed that you have more knowledge on the subject matter. Anyone who does speak to make you feel beneath them, whether its terms or tone, is in my book an ass.

The number one reason being to confuse the customer.
75% of the time if the problem is the lack of computer literacy of the end user the easiest way to get them off the phone is to speak using terminology they do not understand.

Not to say that I do not do my job but we are only responsible for providing a connection to the internet as well as providing information for retreival and sending of email and the like. It is not my job to figure out why you get no sound when playing games on Yahoo or why Netscape is causing your computer to reboot. We provide no software or support for software and hardware.
Customers commonly believe that it is the job of the ISP to provide support for the computer in general. This is in part the fault of some techs at least in the office where I work. They will commonly diverge from the protocol if its something they know how to fix (like installing a sound card for instance) then they help them and the next time that customer has a problem they call us. When I tell them we cant help them with that then they inevitably give the "well so and so did before" and get pissed.
In times like these it is easiest to confuse them with 'tech jargon' and most of the time they do the right thing and take it to a repair shop.

There are also plenty of times a day I do use these terms 'legitimitly' with Network admins or resellers who actually know what they mean.

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irseg

I've done ISP tech support as well. Holy crap is that ever a lousy job.

If they called wondering why they couldn't get their printer to work or whatever, I'd just tell them that we only handle issues directly relating to their Internet connection. If I was feeling really nice I'd give them the manufacturer's website/phone number and that would always get them off my back. I've never felt any need to use a bunch of bullshit words to make them go away.

Realizm

Ok so you use it to bullshit people when they ask about non-internet/modem/service related.

This was said in direct response as to the question as to why I was not connected to the internet. Surfing along, thrown off, call them, they say they provisioned the modem, and now it works again.

They also said something "looks terrible", the next day it happened. Maybe that one's bullshit, but there's obviously some sort of problem related to the cable modem/service.

Mephisto2

Hey, I was being cheeky!

I'm sure there was some technically correct reason they needed to reprovision his line.

Mr Mephisto