Darn fancy technology with its on/off switch!

This company has about 50 Wi-Fi phones, and users really seem to like them, reports a pilot fish on the scene.

"The phones use our company's wireless computer network for voice traffic, and people seem to pick up on the advanced features of the phones," fish says.

"But the learning curve was a bit steep for one of my less tech-savvy users."

That's the user who calls the help desk and begins by saying, "When the phone is in the charger, I can see the little battery thingy on the display. But when I take it off the charger, the phone is completely dead. Why won't it charge?"

From there, the user goes on to complain about how stupid the new phones are and proceeds to work himself up to a full-blown rant.

Fish knows that the Wi-Fi phones operate much like some cell phones: To turn the phone on or off, it's necessary to press the red on-hook button for three seconds.

"I interrupted the user's tirade and asked him to press and hold the button with the red power symbol on it," says fish.

"The user continued the stream of complaints, then stopped in midsentence and said, 'Oh, the display is turning on. ... Never mind.'

"Then he promptly hung up on me."

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