[BC] technical difficulties with automation

[Donna Halper]

SO, over the past several days, I have heard all sorts of weird problems 
with stations that I know use automation.  This question is going to sound 
really stoooopid, and forgive me for asking it, but I am not an expert at 
programming automation systems-- I just know what button to push if I am on 
the air.  What would cause a station like WBZ, for example, to have a 
commercial playing over the recorded weather, or on WXKS/WKOX, I heard two 
commercials playing on top of each other.  Aren't these systems 
idiot-proof?  I mean, don't they hear some kind of tone and then play the 
next element?  Or do they depend on a human who could in fact push the 
wrong button?  Are there some systems that are more idiot-proof (or less 
prone to error) than others?  [No hidden agenda, I am not writing an 
article or anything-- I've just heard a series of these things this week, 
with elements playing over each other, and I am trying to understand how it 
happens.]