AB3A's Journal: How do you inform users of network problems?

Well, if you're the IT department where I work, you send an e-mail to everyone telling them that there are network problems.

I couldn't make this stuff up. Honest. It happened this morning when one of my colleagues tried to boot his PC. It apparently couldn't find the domain controller with both hands. Sure enough, after about two hours of frustration, he finally got logged in and there it was: an e-mail from the IT staff telling us what we had already figured out.

Didn't Dilbert do a cartoon about this a few years ago?

Better solution

[nizo]

Have the secretary stand by the front door with a sticky notepad. As each person comes in, have her write "THE NETWORK IS DOWN" on a sticky note and paste it on the incoming employee's forehead. Keep bat-wielding monkeys in the closet to unleash on anyone who later calls or comes by asking if the network is down.