Get the Most From Your Call to Technical Support

I have spent a lot of time taking help desk and technical support calls. I often wonder how much of my time is spent actually solving problems over the phone as opposed to dealing with all the other things that don't relate or hinder the troubleshooting process. I decided to make a simple little guide that everybody should follow when calling a support line or their help desk for their technical related problems.

1. Stop complaining and let me solve your issue
 

Us people that take support calls, we are problem solvers. We want to solve your problem and get you off the phone. Ok, so your issue has been happening for a while, and you've been dealing with other people in my department, I understand that. Can we please get to solving what you called for please? If I can just do that, there will be no reason to complain. I can understand some level of venting, but when it goes on forever it hinders our ability and desire to help you.

2. Follow our direction and do nothing else

Call, describe your problem and then let us take over. It's now time for us to direct you now. Click only where we tell you to click and type only when and where we tell you to type. Forget about the screens you were on before or other areas where there was a problem. Bouncing around and doing your own thing will only result in a longer call.

3. Don't say that you are a tech

If you are a computer tech yourself and you feel you are going to win points with the tech you are calling by saying "I'm a tech.", forget about it. Understand that 9 out of 10 people that claim they are "techs" aren't able to follow the simple direction they are provided. If you truly are a tech, you won't need to tell me, because I will know just by the way you follow direction. I also know you want to solve the issue now by trying your own things in the middle of what I'm trying to tell you, but please see #2. People that say they are technicians are the #1 violators of rule #2.

4. Have the error message written down

If there was an error message, please be sure you can recite it to the tech when you call. That way we can search for it in our knowledgebase or on the internet and come up with a quick solution. If you don't have the exact error message VERBATIM, it helps us very little. Don't just make up an error message that sounds similar to what you read.

5. Be in front of the computer when you call

It amazes me how many people call and think that a problem can be troubleshooted while they are on their morning drive miles away from their computer. This should be a no brainer, but I guess people feel they are somehow saving time instead of wasting mine.

6. I can't help you in getting compensation

If you want money back because your computer problems are making you suffer, I can't do anything about it. Seriously! I have no "pull" in that direction, nor do I care to. Take all that up with your salesman or our billing department. We are problem solvers. We solve the technical issue you are having and that is our only function.

7. No, we don't know it all

Some people expect all of the answers to their problems right now. They get frustrated when they don't get them right away. Please understand that things need to be researched and that may take time.We also may give information that is not true from time to time. Again, we don't know it all and we are human and may slip up from time to time. It doesn't mean we are stupid or have less knowledge than somebody else.

8. Before calling support, please try restarting your computer

I hate asking people to restart their computer, but sometimes I have to. Sometimes I don't even remember to ask until an hour into the call because this should be tried by the user before they even call. Computers malfunction and sometimes just need to be restarted. If that does the trick, then move on. By doing so you avoid wasting our time and your own.

9.Be sure you are calling the right people
 

Check to make sure the product you are using is supported by the people you are calling. If you bought a Dell computer loaded Adobe software on it, Dell is not going to help you with it. They know nothing about it. Call Adobe.

Most tech's really want to help you out, although there are a few that have a bit of attitude. In that case, ask for a manager, or just hang up and call again to get somebody else. In most cases though, you can simply follow these guidelines and you will be ensured your problem gets solved as quick as possible.

This article is featured at Technipages where you can find articles and downloads related to anything technical. Submit your own technical article or post a message at the Computer Help Forum to obtain free computer help

An Internet Web Site Hosting Provider with a Great Technical Support

There are some hosting providers that will promise you heaven and earth but as soon as you sign up with them, they just leave you to your fate. You should avoid any internet web site hosting provider that has this kind of service. So how do you make sure that you don’t fall into the trap of an internet web site hosting provider that offers a poor service? It’s very simple – just continue reading this article to find out.

Make sure that internet web site hosting provider has a technical support that functions 24/7 before you can decide to order for their services. You also have to make sure that an internet web site hosting provider has in-house workers that will be monitoring the servers not only on weekdays, but also on weekends and public holidays. This will give you confidence that the servers are being monitored and taken car of in case of any server outage.

Don’t believe any internet web site hosting provider that advertises 24/7 technical support until you test them. The fact is that the majority of these web hosting providers don’t have the kind of 24/7 technical support that is being advertised. You can test any internet web site hosting provider by simply sending an email at midnight. You can also further test the quality of an internet web site hosting provider by sending an email to them on a Saturday night or Sunday morning. If the response of an internet web site hosting provider is quick to pass all these tests, then it means that the said internet web site hosting provider’s technical support is great.

There is also one more thing – you have to make sure that the technical support team of an internet web site hosting provider is knowledgeable enough to respond and help you solve any of your problems related to hosting your website. Any internet web site hosting provider that has a functional technical support is competent enough to host your website.

Sam Ayodeji has helped countless individuals to choose the right web hosting services. If what you seek is an internet web site hosting provider that has a great technical support as discussed in this article, then you should look no further than this reliable internet web site hosting provider

LIFE is a Partnership - Technical Support

How many team members does it take to…? How would you complete this sentence? Recently, I was surprised how I finished this thought.

I added a new creative partnership to my portfolio. It entails working with website and graphic programs publishing and designing. The business that I newly represent had given me all the information to connect to their website. I was ready to begin making the changes. I only had to connect to the website to download the site files. I predicted that it would only take the usual few minutes.

To my amazement, I was wrong. For 3 days, I tried everything to connect to the website but to no avail. I changed from being passive FTP to not being passive. I re-entered the password. I tried 3 other FTP programs. I called some of my colleagues to ask for some ideas and tried them. I went to Google to troubleshoot the connection as well as to Dreamweaver. I tried everything that the search results asked me to do. But nothing seemed to work.

Finally, after exhausting every other possibility, I decided to give my technical support a call just in case my local internet connection settings were not right for the work that I was trying to do. I figured that I had nothing to lose.

During the phone call, I explained my situation - that there did not seem to be anything wrong with the remote information I was entering for the website but that I was just not able to connect. After looking into the difficulty, they called me back to let me know that indeed my settings needed to be reconfigured so that I had a static IP address. Right on the spot, we went into the settings on my router and it immediately worked just fine.

So to complete the sentence…How many team members does it take to design and edit a website? At least 3. It not only takes the designer and a business owner to provide the website work for the designer, it takes a reliable and supportive internet connection provider.

Biography of Wanda Reinholdt

Wanda is a forward-thinking pioneer in the arts and in business, desiring to bring them together in effective self-sustaining partnerships.

For the past 6 years, Wanda has directed numerous semi-professional and community theatre productions. She also founded Reinholdt Productions, a theatrical production company specializing in the systemic design of projects. By using her experience, along with her BA’s in theatre and music, she brings to her company a combination of directing, teaching, writing, and problem solving skills. Wanda’s abilities are best used in a community where partnerships of theatre and music are formed, particularly through producing and directing.

In addition, Wanda has developed her skills in business partnerships in the form of administrative and strategic relationships, mentoring opportunities and leadership and personal development coaching. These skills act as a magnet attracting resources that enable her clients to contribute with strength to their world.

Getting Technical Support Help Online

Sometimes your PC will start acting strange for no apparent reason or a program which you use regularly will all of a sudden stop working as it should. This can be a frustrating experience especially if you have no idea where to go for help. If this happens to you, don't panic! Here are some simple tips which may turn your frown upside down.

1. Don't assume that your problem is unique. The chances are that someone else has had that problem and it has already been solved. Google is a great place for getting technical support help believe it or not. You may have to experiment with wording your problem and refining your search, but it's worth a try. For example my Outlook email client stopped showing me the 'Subject' field when I was composing new email. As a result all of my email was going out without a subject. After a bit of experimenting with wording the problem I found the answer by searching on the phrase "Outlook subject field missing". Someone in an online discussion group had the same problem and the answer was provided. When you find good discussions groups bookmark them for future use. I have a bookmark I call Technical Support Help and it's full of great web sites.

2. The Google trick is good for lots of software but you should always try the web site of the program's manufacturer as well. Sometimes your problem is really a bug and there may be a new release or work around available. Many software web sites have FAQs, discussion lists, and help desks available that provide free support. Sometimes there is a telephone number that you can call but you may have to pay for live help.

3. There are companies that offer free general help for simple questions and then charge a sliding scale for more complicated ones. Support Freaks (www.supportfreaks.com) is a good one to try. Even if you have to pay, the rates are reasonable. Click on the "Freebies" link, under the "Quick Links" menu to see if your question is eligible for free help.

4. There are probably any number of local PC support groups that meet in libraries and other locations near your home. Some of these groups are very specific in nature and some are general. Try searching Google for "PC Support Group" or "PC User group" and the name of your town. Also check with your local librarian and computer stores. They often know of these groups.

5. Speaking of computer stores, you can often pick the brains of the more knowledgeable salespeople if you are lucky enough to find any. Many times these employees love computers so much that they will act as your big brother or sister if you need some quick help. Sometimes they moonlight as consultants at a good rate.

This ought to be enough information to get you started on the road to solving your next PC or software problem. If you are having Internet connectivity problems then your ISP is the first place to start. If you can't get online at all, and you don't think you know their phone number, think again. I'll bet that it's printed on every bill that they send you. You'll also need your account number and you can bet that it's printed on the bill as well.

Remember -- When it comes to getting technical support help, the first rule is: Don't Panic!

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Web Based Helpdesk Software

The term “Helpdesk” itself gives an overview of the software. Web based helpdesk means an interface where the clients are provided help with respect to spam mail, web forms, etc. Any problem encountered by a company working with computers can be solved by the web based helpdesk software with immediate effect. Helpdesk software is the perfect way to solve any technical anomalies faced by the clients.

The best part of the web based helpdesk software is that the client can access the helpdesk through any computer, anywhere in the world. The benefit of this software is that it is very flexible compared to its earlier versions. Given below are some of the advantages of the web based helpdesk software:

· There are many times when an employee tries to solve clients queries, some other employee solves the problem. This generally happens when your company is using a standard e-mail format to help your customers. Helpdesk software provides a separate interface through which each employee has the right to own and solve the query received by him.

· Some web based helpdesks also allow their clients to create their own trouble tickets. Besides, creating a trouble ticket is easy as filling up any web application form. This saves the company’s time as well as money.

· Some web based software also offers FAQ menus to their clients for better results. In this way, the clients will be able to solve their queries through mere interaction without any assistance from the technical support.

· The term “software” may sound too technical, however it is not. There is no need to buy the software at all. All you have to do register yourself and set the ‘settings’ to default mode and simply copy-paste the HTML code. That’s all you have to do and you have your own web based helpdesk!

· Just so that you get to experience the web based helpdesk software before registering for it, you can avail the trial offer in which the first twenty requests (queries) are free of charge. Besides, the monthly subscription fee for this web based software is about $9.95 per operator. This makes the web based helpdesk software very cost effective.

· Compared to e-mail based customer service desks, the web based helpdesks are more productive. E-mail based services generally use the format of multiple addresses which can create a lot of confusion. By using web based software, companies can direct the customer queries directly to the technical support.

There are many web based helpdesk software namely, HelpDesk Software, BLive 2.5, CRMdesk, etc. Web based helpdesk software can easily help to generate more revenue for any company by providing customer satisfaction with its unique features and immediate results.

If you need a powerful solution for your support make sure you check out a great Web Based Helpdesk Software for more info.

Orange SPV M700 - Help Desk on Work - Always

Making a lot of things easier for you, present digital assistant devices are too good to be your reliable professional pals. The Orange SPV M700 is also a personal digital assistant, which comes with a balanced profile to take a very good care of your professional needs. Actually, the Orange SPV M700 is specifically designed for business professionals and busy workaholics, who do not want to waste a single second of their highly busy lives. Besides being a reliable gadget, the Orange SPV M700 also looks good in its overall profile. It has been duly finished up with various latest functionalities to enable you manage all your tasks in the easiest possible way. It comes in two simple colours with Black and White. You would find it quite easy to carry around, as it comes with a smooth and glossy surface.

The Orange SPV M700 is a consummate personal assistant, which can make a lot of things easier for you. It uses the popular Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 platform to run various sorts of computer based applications. Well, this PDA device supports the popular Tri-Band technology with HSDPA and UMTS to enable you enjoy unparalleled connectivity with high-speed Internet. Hence, you get that desired connectivity with your Orange SPV M700 – throughout the whole world.

There are other superb connectivity features with Infrared, Bluetooth which enables you to make the most with wireless data exchange. On the other hand, it also comes with USB port, which allows you to transfer all your data from your computer to the mobile handset by using a wire. Besides that, it is also conferred with Wi-Fi, which enables you to enjoy wireless Internet access. The Orange SPV M700 is endowed with two cameras, with a 2 mega pixels camera, which is used for imaging and another camera, which lets you enjoy video calling. Thus, the Orange SPV M700 provides the desired digital assistant, which you would certainly relish in your mobile phone.

Carly Charu is an expert author and the webmaster of Mobile Phone deals. The website having details of Contract Phones and Sim Free Mobile Phones

Providing Excellent Customer Support on a Small Budget

An integral part of any successful e-commerce website is an effective customer support solution. Your online business must be able to quickly respond to inquiries from potential clients and from existing clients, and then be able to address those inquiries accurately and efficiently.

There is no other area of an e-commerce website that is as important as customer service and support. If your online business fails to address this one issue, your business is nearly doomed to failure.

Small business owners usually rely on a simple email address or a contact form on their website to direct inquiries. The reasons for this choice are obvious.

Most small businesses are one person operations. There is seldom any need to provide anything more elaborate provided there is only one person handling all communications.

In the event that the site is being managed by only one person, it is recommended that you provide your customers a simple contact form attached to a simple contact script which can be found for free in numerous places online. A good starting point is: http://cgi.resourceindex.com/Programs_and_Scripts/Perl/

This is the recommended method because spammers ruthlessly use email harvesting software to gather email addresses from websites for their spam games. If your real contact email address is hidden inside of a CGI script, then the spam harvesters cannot find your address, thus protecting your email address from large amounts of spam email.

Anyone who is operating a website for profit and has no intention of ever expanding his/her business beyond current levels should not worry too much about expanding beyond a simple CGI contact script to run their customer service and support.

However, if you find yourself growing to the point of needing something better, then please keep reading.

Small business people often find themselves in the mode of needing to add extra support staff, but still being small enough to not be able to yet afford a customized support software solution.

Software driven help desks can be an expensive proposition. WonderDesk is a decent application to serve this market, but starting at $499 and going up to $8499, it can be a really expensive solution.

http://www.wonderdesk.com

Facing costs like this, many small businesses choose to try bringing on extra staff and trying to manage incoming messages through various POP email accounts.

While this method remains the cheapest solution, it is not always the most efficient. Think about this.

If you have email going to Bob and to Steve --- in a theoretical scenario --- and you have Bob handling sales and Steve handling support, all would seem well.

But what if Bob finds himself extremely ill and unable to work? What then? Now you are stuck with the very real possibility of sales inquiries not being handled until Bob can return to work. So the way to handle this becomes making sure that everyone has access to the accounts that handle sales inquiries and support inquiries. So, you make arrangements for both Bob and Steve to be able to get the email from the POP accounts.

Of course, this introduces a whole brand new problem. Now, both Bob and Steve are getting email from both accounts. But now, if Bob answers an email, Steve really has no way of knowing that Bob has already answered the email. If both Bob and Steve answer the inquiry, then your company now looks as if it consists of a couple of bumbling idiots. That is definitely not the image you want to portray of your company. Additionally, you don't want Bob and Steve answering inquiries that have already been answered because it is a waste of human resources.

Facing this problem, it would seem wise to use a web-based email interface. Problem here is that you will have to constantly monitor a web-based email account for new inquiries. Can you imagine the pain of relying on web-based email for the operation of your business? Unless your web mail system contacts you immediately upon the arrival of new email, then you must maintain an open browser window to your web mail account and continually refresh the window to see if there is new email to answer.

Relying upon your web email account for your support inquiries can become very time consuming and inefficient.

The advantages of having the ability to have one email account monitored by a number of people, and having the ability to move some emails to different folders should weigh heavily in your consideration of using web-based email for your sales and support inquiries.

Web-based email had seemed like the perfect solution for the cost-aware business person, but the disadvantage of the troubles of keeping an eye for incoming mail seem to eliminate this as a realistic solution to our problem, doesn't it?

I had argued with myself concerning how to solve this problem for many months. I needed an effective sales and support inquiries system without spending my entire budget to get it. But you know, if you stew over a problem long enough and keep your eye to the horizon, a solution will present itself.

As it turned out, a piece of software I had on my system for quite some time figured into the solution I had been searching for. With the last upgrade of the ePrompter software, I suddenly realized that the final piece of the puzzle was within my reach.

ePrompter is a handy little application that has always permitted us to check multiple email accounts simultaneously and delete messages as we were finished with them. With the last upgrade of ePrompter, the makers enabled us to have the ability to respond to email inquiries also.

With this development, I have handed out copies of the ePrompter to each of my support team members. ePrompter runs in the background and notifies us through an icon in the System Tray how many new messages are present in each of the accounts we monitor. As we answer each email, we either delete it from the server through the ePrompter software, or if we need to store the messages for future reference, we log into the web-based version of the account and move the email in question to the appropriate folders.

To get your copies of the ePrompter software, visit http://www.eprompter.com - this software is free to download and use, and will be absolutely essential to your low-cost (free) sales and support system.

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