The caller ID information associated with my lab phone was wrong, so I was instructed to use a web form to update the information. Fully automated, seemed convenient. But wait...

Unfortunately I can't link you to the page because it's behind our firewall. So I'll just describe it. It's a simple HTML form that you fill out and it submits the information to a script which, presumably, changes your caller ID information in the PBX. Some issues:

1) The "Requesters Name" field only accepts 15 characters, making my name "Richard William" which of course won't match any records in their database.

2) The "First Name" field for what you want your caller ID info to look like only accepts 5 (five!!) characters, so my options are Richa or Mouse.

3) The "Last Name" field only accepts 7 characters, so I'm Richa William.

4) When you click the submit button, it's not actually going to a CGI script... it's a mailto: link which, for me, is bound to my gmail account (not my lab account). And of course their server rejected it as coming from an off-lab address.

So I had to cut and paste the content from the mailto: and put it into the proper account, then go in and change three of the ten field values in order to get it to work. I don't even know if it has worked as it sends no confirmation of receipt. For all I know, it borked on the fact that someone actually had a first name longer than five characters and died.

Wow. I wonder if they hired Scott Litman for this coding?