TechnicianSpotlight: Interview with Eric

Eric’s Path to Kanokla

Tell us a little about yourself. How did you find your way to Kanokla? I was moving back to Kansas and had a few friends tell me to apply at Kanokla, so I did.

What did your career path look like before becoming a fiber technician? I had spent many years driving a mobile repair truck for a railcar repair company based out of Chicago.

Do you remember your first day in the field at Kanokla? What stood out to you? I started out in construction and saw how Whitney had brought the fiber from the handhole near a road, up to a house and placed the NID on the side of the house and ran fiber to it. I transferred to fiber tech months later and was out in the field with Brian on a new install and saw how it goes from the NID to wherever the customer would like the internet router placed inside the house.

What really stood out was that setting up the router or other equipment was NOT a “plug and play” process as I have seen in my past when buying a router from WalMart.

What It’s Like to Be a Fiber Technician

What does a typical day look like for you—or is there really no such thing as a “typical” day? The typical day can vary in ways of emergency locates, internet service installs, troubleshooting various internet/phone issues, assisting co-workers if needed or just a router or mesh unit install.

What do you enjoy most about your job as a fiber technician? Being away from a desk and helping make customers happy with internet and/or phone services.

What part of the job surprises people the most when you explain what you do?

When it comes time on a new install for them to decide where they want the service ran to inside their house. First, I ask what are their plans with the router? (use wireless or hardwire a device to the router) Second is to decide placement that works best for the WiFi coverage in the house, third is to pick an SSID (name of WiFi) and then a password for the router WiFi. Lastly, is setting up the Kanokla WiFi app up on customers phone (if they’re interested) and running through the functions it has to offer with their service.

What skills or traits make someone good at this kind of work?

Patience and understanding of how various equipment operates that Kanokla uses. There is a great amount of overall knowledge amongst the company to go to if I am ever stumped or need assistance in any way.

Helping Customers Understand Their Internet

What’s one thing you wish customers understood better about how fiber internet works?

No matter how great the equipment may be, there are still times that the service will throw fits or go down. Also, do NOT ever reset the router by poking a paperclip into the reset hole! (just unplug the router for 20-30 seconds to reboot it)

Are there common issues you see inside homes that can affect internet performance? Absolutely, There’s WiFi distance issues with anything that’s metal sided if you want WiFi signal to reach outside of the structure. There’s issues if you want to get WiFi across a body of water like a large pool or pond. The most common issue is that a router is placed in a basement location, let's say on the south end of a larger house and it's surrounded by concrete walls and metal HVAC ductwork and there’s little if no WiFi signal on the north end of the upstairs part of the house.

How do you help customers feel more confident about their home network?

Once the service is installed and the router is up and running, I walk the customer through the steps to get their device(s) connected to WiFi. If they are unsure about anything, while setting up their service, I work with them until they understand a little better if able to. Otherwise, I tell them to just call the office with their question or concern and the CSR or CO tech can assist them or send a field tech out to resolve any issues.

Moments That Stick With You

Are there any customer interactions or experiences that really stand out to you?

Not really, as most customers are just happy to have internet/phone services and happy on a troubleshoot to get back up and running in a timely manner.

Have you ever helped someone in a way that made you stop and think, “This is why I do this job”? Well, that’s quite a few customers that I have had the pleasure to install, repair or update Kanokla services for. I enjoy going the extra step if I’m able to.

What does it mean to you when customers trust you in their homes and rely on your expertise? I grew up in a small town (South Haven) and trust, respect and integrity means a lot to myself and customers when they tell me that a certain door is unlocked or where a key might be if they can’t be on-site to let me in.

Living & Working in Rural America

What do you enjoy most about living and working in rural America? It’s hard to answer this because I’ve lived in FL, IL and VA and there’s good and bad people and places that I have encountered. I guess, for me, it was coming back to where I grew up and am in a position to help connect customers in the Kanokla coverage areas.

How is working in a rural community different from working for a large, national company? It’s more personable and responsive no matter the issue, concern or question a customer or potential customer may have when calling or visiting the Kanokla offices.

What does it mean to you to serve people who are also your neighbors? It is nice to be able to help answer any questions or give help if possible if they are having a simple issue.

The Human Side of Kanokla

How would you describe the team culture at Kanokla? It’s good to have other departments to refer to if a customer has a few different services that a field tech gets stumped on or can’t answer a specific question.

What makes Kanokla different from other places you’ve worked? It’s smaller, but I have been really fortunate to have been employed by other big companies with the same focus on the employees as Kanokla.

What are you most proud of when you wear the Kanokla logo? Mainly that the company is in a positive position with customers and the service(s) offered are wanted by many people. (there’s more pros with Kanokla services than cons)

Looking Ahead

What excites you most about the future of fiber and technology in rural communities? Being part of a company that can give future generations the usefulness of internet and hopefully help customers grow with the technology.

If customers could take away one thing from this article, what would you want them to know? I appreciate each and every one of you that I have encountered in my time with Kanokla and THANK YOU for your interest in Kanokla!