ISP Information:
A gate is a tiny electronic switch. These switches, when linked together, can perform logical functions. Basically, gate is the logical term for transistor.
ISP Glossary:
Gate - These Days, Consumers May as Well Keep Their Complaint To ThemselvesBy Caroline E. MayerWashington Post Staff WriterWhen Mary Culnan's three-year-old Kenmore washing machine broke inFebruary, it took three appointments before a Sears repairman showedup. Before he even examined the machine, he blamed the problem onCulnan, telling her that she had not only used the wrong detergentbut also the wrong cycle. The permanent press setting, he said, couldhave burned out the machine's contacts. "I have no idea what thatmeans," said Culnan, a Boston area professor. The repairman finallytraced the problem to a defective circuit board, which fixed things-- for a while.When Scott Rozett bought a family cell phone plan last June, thesalesman assured him he could make and receive calls in San Franciscoat no extra charge. But in November, one month after the Idahoresident visited the Bay area, he received a $160 bill for roamingcharges. When he called AT&T Wireless to protest, a customer servicerepresentative told him the company was not responsible for promisesmade by a salesman.When an error in Manon Matchett's Sprint PCS bill caused her serviceto be disconnected in December, she spent three days trying to get itrestored. She called at least twice a day, she says, and each timewas transferred from one department to another as she tried to getcredit for payments that had never been posted to her account. Shetalked to at least nine people, but "no one could make a definitivedecision," said Matchett, an office manager in the District. Norcould she ever reach a manager, even in the middle of the day. "I wastold no managers were available. It was pure hell," Matchett said.Forget voice-mail hell. As Culnan, Rozett and Matchett havediscovered, customer service has deteriorated into a new kind ofpurgatory, one in which companies pass the buck, frequently from onecorporate division to another. Or customer service representativespin the blame on other companies. Or even, worse, they fault theircustomers.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28784-2004Mar27.html
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