Back to work gremlin-free

By STAFF REPORTERS

Some faxes got confused about the date and a few lifts would not operate but otherwise it was a Y2K-free day for businesses returning to work yesterday.

Thousands of people had their first day at work of the New Year but few found millennium bugs lurking in their computers and mechanical systems.

The Y2K Readiness Commission was on standby for problems in case the return to work triggered problems through either increased demands on communication and power networks or people switching on systems for the first time.

But, as with the changeover at midnight on January 1, nothing significant eventuated.

Banks and power companies said everything had gone to plan.

The phone company Clear said that although phone traffic was not as busy as on a normal business day, no problems had emerged.

Spokesman Ross Inglis said many customers had turned off equipment such as switchboards and devices for directing the flow of data before New Year's Eve.

"People would have done that to protect themselves from things like power spikes or anything else Y2K-related."

At the peak, more than 100 businesses had switched their equipment off; yesterday, 30 remained off.

One of the few problems to surface affected a Tauranga woman who found that the clock on her blood-sugar reader had not worked since midnight on December 31.

Jean Collins said the device, bought three years ago by mail order from Diabetes New Zealand, still took a reading but could not store information with a date attached, as it used to.

"When the diabetes nurse came I could go through and show her what the readings were. Now I'll have to go back to keeping a record on paper," Mrs Collins said.

A spokeswoman for Diabetes New Zealand in Oamaru said there had been no other complaints about any devices. Distributor Roche Diagnostics said the complaint was its first and the company was keen to hear from Mrs Collins.

The State Services Commission Y2K project director, John Belgrave, said all Government agencies had so far escaped unscathed.

The only glitches were several fax machines and elevators malfunctioning briefly, he said.

"But it was nothing that could not be fixed quickly. Reports we've had from money payment and revenue agencies thus far show they are working."

Mr Belgrave said a lot of hard work had gone in from the state sector and he rejected any suggestion it was a waste of time.

"Back in February, when the group was set up, quite a number of agencies were behind the benchmark but, to be fair, once they realised the Government was serious they got on with it.

"Some of the complex agencies like police and Winz had a lot of work to do. The effort was well worth it."