Technology without service is a big Zero !

Yesterday I was in Bangalore for a short business trip. Bangalore recently had an amazing Airport called BIA or Bangalore International Airport (thank god they could think of some other name than the Gandhi Clan) . Let me first admit here that this new airport definitely has infrastructure at par with any other place in the world. Terminals may not be as big as what you have in America but , everything is at par when it comes to facilities but .....

Yes a BIG but , the service ! It is a perfect example of "How to create a State Transport Bus Stand with an International Airport facility !" , when I landed I heard one strange announcement which I have never heard before , "We are waiting for a plane to clear our way and hence we may need around 10 minutes to go to our bay !" . So the flight from Pune to BLR was 1.15 hours and another 20 minutes for reaching your bay ! . While landing it was an Indigo flight so it landed at some remote corner probably meant for high-jacked flights and we had to cross the entire airport in a bus to reach the exit.

The drivers of these buses need some real international training , our driver was probably driving in Majestic Circle till the previous day so it was honking all the way for us till we stopped. Overtaking , blocking other vehicles path was at par with what they do at Delhi airport !

The motorised vacuum cleaners were the gadget of interest for everyone and when they were cleaning the pathways , there were many onlookers watching these vehicles from mars.

Toilet cleanliness is another area which needs some fundamental training , I mean for those who clean it and also for those who use it . Now you know why Royal Challengers can not get anyone run out ! The background music in the toilet was the Radio of one of the ground staff , full volume with everything in Kannada and couple of "Roger" here and there.

Best part was the baggage claim - the first lot came in around 10 minutes and then we were waiting for 45 minutes for the second lot of baggage to arrive ! Entire plane-load of lagguage was lost on the airport !

When you come out of the terminal, hundreds of touts were there "Taxi Saar ?" kind of question and the Volvo drivers were shouting "Whitefield , Whitefield , Whitefield onely for 100 rupees saar" , why cann't they stand stop private Taxis like what they have done at Hyderabad ? (Incidently I was in HYD couple of weeks back and situation there was far better than BLR)

The moral of the story is you may fit one of the best technologies like RFID in your library but unless there is no proper training and the correct attitude and a commitment to service your library will soon turn into a Bangalore International Airport ....

That brings me to my favourite topic RFID about which I will be writing for some time now ..