On-line service requests hit with glitches

Some residential maintenance requests have been delayed or lost by Trammell Crow's Texas-based server. Students wondering why the shower nozzle is still broken and the light bulb in the bathroom hasn't been replaced in a week shouldn't blame the repairman. If the complaint was filed over the Internet, it may never even have been received. Trammell Crow Co. -- the Dallas-based facilities-management company responsible for the operation and maintenance of almost every University building -- handles the maintenance requests sent in via the University's Residential Living World Wide Web site. But because such e-mails are sent first to the company's central server in Texas and then bounced back to Philadelphia, some of the complaints are either delayed or never received, according to an e-mail sent to Hamilton College House residents by House Dean Roberta Stack. Several students complained that officials never responded to the multiple maintenance requests they filed. "Our oven door is broken so heat radiates and the dials are melting off," said Engineering senior and Harrison College House resident Mahesh Swaminathan, adding that officials have not responded to his numerous on-line complaints. When student complaints are filed from the Trammell Crow Web site, the output from those forms is sent to a University e-mail account and then forwarded to the main server in Dallas. From there, a work order is sent back to Philadelphia to be handled by local Trammell Crow employees, according to Director of Facilities Services Linda Kinder, who works for Trammell Crow. But Kinder said employees have "looked at the program to make sure that it is working and it looks fine." She added that Trammell Crow's manager of Information Systems sent a test e-mail complaint that was routed back to Philadelphia without a problem. Trammell Crow General Manager Ty Chilcote admitted, however, that there have been "some delays" and that the problem is under investigation. And Penn Vice President for Facilities Services Omar Blaik added, "We found that a problem does sometimes occur and we are looking into how to resolve it." Chilcote said the complicated system for reporting complaints through a server based in Texas is necessary due to existing rules that govern interaction between universities and commercial operations. "Penn does have a responsibility not to allow the [Trammell Crow] server to operate directly on Penn's data networks," said Dikran Kassabian, technical director of Penn's Office of Information Systems and Computing. Kassabian explained that Penn's tax-exempt status could be jeopardized if it provided e-mail access to for-profit corporations such as Trammell Crow. Stack sent the e-mail over a week ago informing residents of the problem and asking that they report maintenance issues by phone rather than over the Web until the problem is solved. And Blaik said, "Using e-mail is convenient but the [Trammell Crow] hotline is really the main method of reporting problems." Stack referred all questions about the issue to Kinder.

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