Over time, I’ve encountered scores of miscommunication problems in the business world that are due to the variance between standard English and what I’ll call “IT English,” that is, the variant of English spoken by and between IT personnel. It’s not that the words are different, it’s that the meanings assigned them, and particularly the unspoken contextual assumptions, seem to be.
An example: Today I started receiving calls on my office landline from consumers looking for our Customer Service or Payments departments. That is odd and should not be happening. So I talked to one of the callers and asked what number she had dialed to get to me. She said “800-xxx-xxxx.” I didn’t recognize that number.
Now, with the wide variety of companies I work for or have as clients, our IT Department has a stable of 800 numbers on call to be activated or deactivated as needed. So I presumed somebody in IT had accidentally switched one of those numbers to be forwarded to me instead of where it’s supposed to go. That seemed more likely than a number we didn’t control being forwarded to me out of the blue.
So I explain the problem to IT as follows: I’m getting calls on my line I shouldn’t. Those callers say they’re reaching me by calling 800-xxx-xxxx. What’s going on? Please fix.
My unspoken contextual assumption: I’m complaining to you because it’s possibly an 800 number that’s in your jurisdiction somehow.
IT’s response? “I went around asking if anyone had seen that number before, and the people I’ve asked don’t recognize that number. Will continue to investigate.”
FFFFUUUU…., says I. So I talk to the Ops Director, who sighs and calls up IT. As a former IT professional, he speaks IT English fluently and knows how to ask the question properly.
“Hello IT, is 800-xxx-xxxx on your list of phone numbers for which you are responsible?”
[Cluelessly] “Yes, it is.”
“Where does that number forward to?”
“Oh, it forwards to David.”
[rollseyes] “Thank you.”
The Ops Director smiles at me and says, “IT English.” Which leads indirectly to my promised rant, but I’ll finish writing that after Boomershoot.